A remarkable 274 adventurers managed to reach the pinnacle of Mount Everest in just one day this week, sparking concerns about the increasing congestion on the iconic mountain. With many willing to invest $15,000 for the chance to ascend the world’s highest summit, there are growing worries about the risks of overcrowding.

This surge in climbers far exceeds the previous record of 223 set in 2019, as confirmed by Rishi Bhandari, the secretary general of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal, during an interview with Reuters on Thursday.

“This marks the greatest number of climbers achieving the summit in a single day to date,” Bhandari stated, noting that the count could potentially rise as some climbers have yet to officially confirm their successful climbs.

This season, Nepal has already granted 494 permits for Everest expeditions, each carrying a price tag of $15,000.

POPULAR PEAK MAY SEE RESTRICTIONS DUE TO OVERCROWDING

Climbers walk in a long queue as they head to the summit of Mount Everest in the Solukhumbu district, Nepal, on May 18, 2026. (Purnima Shrestha/Reuters)

Climbers this year are ascending only from the Nepal side of Everest because China reportedly did not issue permits for expeditions from the Tibetan side.

Nepal has already issued 494 Everest climbing permits this season, each costing climbers $15,000. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Mountaineering experts have long criticized Nepal for allowing large numbers of climbers on Everest, warning that overcrowding can create life-threatening bottlenecks high on the mountain in Everest’s deadly “death zone,” where oxygen levels plunge to dangerously low levels.

LEGENDARY MOUNTAINEER JIM WHITTAKER, FIRST AMERICAN TO SUMMIT EVEREST, DEAD AT 97

Mountaineers line up as they climb a slope during their ascent to the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal on May 31, 2021. (Lakpa Sherpa/AFP)

Nepal has attempted to respond to safety concerns in recent years by tightening rules and increasing fees for climbers, though some expedition leaders have defended the high number of climbers.

“If teams carry enough oxygen it is not a big problem,” expedition organizer Lukas Furtenbach of the Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures told the outlet. “We have mountains in the Alps like the Zugspitze where we have 4,000 persons on top per day. So 274 is actually not a big number, considering this mountain is 10 times bigger.”

<!–>

Friday’s game against Tampa Bay proved to be another frustrating moment for the Yankees as they watched yet another lead slip away. This recurring issue underscores what might be the team’s most pressing concern as the trade deadline looms.

The bullpen, bolstered by three key signings last year, has unfortunately been a weak link this season.

Camilo Doval, for instance, has already matched last season’s home run tally, surrendering four in just 20 innings, compared to his total in 65 1/3 innings last year.

Meanwhile, Jake Bird has faced bouts of inconsistency, but there’s been a glimmer of improvement in his recent form. Over his last 10 outings, he has pitched 7 1/3 solid innings.

David Bednar, however, continues to struggle, grappling with preventing runners from reaching base and subsequently crossing home plate.

Of 200 qualified relievers, only 19 have a higher WHIP than Bednar, who’s pitched into some bad luck, but has also seen his strikeout rate dip from his career-best a year ago.

Last week, pitching coach Matt Blake said Bednar’s fastball command had been off, but he’d been impressed with the right-hander’s splitter and he’d look to use it more.

In Friday’s loss, marred by Tim Hill’s worst outing of the season out of the pen, Bednar did go to his split-fingered fastball with greater frequency and it helped him allow just one baserunner in a scoreless ninth.

They’ll target more prominent names as they get closer to the deadline — and also have some internal candidates.

In addition to Carlos Lagrange — still in the rotation at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — and perhaps lefty Ryan Weathers if the rotation is healthy when Max Fried returns from a left elbow bone bruise, the Yankees could look at right-hander Eric Reyzelman, who tossed two scoreless innings in his first outing for SWB on Friday.

The 24-year-old was just promoted from Double-A Somerset.

And they signed right-hander Peter Strzelecki to a minor league contract Saturday, as first reported by The Post’s Jon Heyman.

Strzelecki, 31, last pitched in the majors with Cleveland in 2024, but was selected to Milwaukee’s active roster last week and designated for assignment without getting into a game.

He struck out 20 in 19 ¹/₃ innings over 16 appearances with Triple-A Nashville this season and will head to SWB. 

JD Vance now stands as the sole advocate for non-intervention in Donald Trump’s cabinet, following Tulsi Gabbard’s recent departure. Her resignation has left him more isolated than ever, prompting speculation that he might reconsider his plans to run for the presidency in 2028, according to sources who spoke with the Daily Mail.

Gabbard stepped down, citing her husband’s battle with a rare cancer as the reason for her decision.

However, the buzz within the corridors of power in the West Wing suggests another issue at play: Iran.

With his primary ally in non-interventionism gone, Vance is left to navigate these political waters alone. Despite expressing heartfelt sympathy for the loss of his ‘dear friend’ on Friday, insiders revealed to the Daily Mail that Vance is deeply contemplating his political future, particularly as his opponents ready themselves for battle.

“Vance is a non-event in the West Wing,” commented a source with close ties to the President, speaking to the Daily Mail.

Vance’s isolation comes at a moment when Marco Rubio’s stock inside the West Wing has never been higher, with the Secretary of State helping to plan an invasion of Cuba, while the Vice President flails in peace negotiations with Iran.

The Vice President’s dovish brand of foreign policy has set him on a collision course with Trump, the sources say, the rift deepening as Trump embraces his wartime-leader image. 

‘The President has made it very clear in recent months that he doesn’t abide by this strong, silent Gary Cooper style approach to foreign policy,’ a White House insider told the Daily Mail.

‘He’s loud, he’s active. These guys prefer to speak softly and carry a big stick, but Trump speaks loudly and carries a massive cannon,’ the source added.

Vice President JD Vance uses his cell phone as President Donald Trump speaks at a dinner for members of his administration and law enforcement organization leaders, during National Police Week, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, May 11 

Vice President JD Vance (L) and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) listen US President Donald Trump (C) speaks to the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on April 23 

Vice President JD Vance speaks as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard looks on during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on March 5, 2025 in Eagle Pass, Texas 

Vance privately urged Trump against authorizing full-scale strikes on Iran in February. 

He encouraged the president to authorize a limited, punitive strike instead of a full-scale operation, and warned him that a wider war could trigger regional chaos and heavy casualties, according to the New York Times.

Trump himself has since acknowledged the divide, conceding that his Vice President was ‘maybe less enthusiastic’ at the start of the war and ‘philosophically a little bit different’ on the decision to strike.

Gabbard, who like Vance, was viewed as a brake on Trump’s hawkish instincts, never quite fit the new mold either.

‘I don’t think she was as opposed as a lot of people think she was. She recognized that her job was to serve the President,’ the same insider said.

But Vance, unlike Gabbard, has no graceful exit on offer.

As Vance’s non-interventionist influence faded, Rubio’s expanded, with the Secretary of State emerging as the dominant foreign policy voice in Trump’s orbit.

‘Rubio has more mojo than Vance. The President listens to him. Vance is out of step and has been for a long time,’ the White House insider said.

The source cautioned that Rubio’s dominance may prove fleeting. By championing an unpopular war effort, the Secretary of State risks burning through political capital in real time and alienating both Trump’s base and the wider American public.

Vice President JD Vance, left, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio attend a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House, March 3 

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard looks on during an event with UFC fighters in the Oval Office of the White House on May 6, 2026 in Washington, DC 

Rumors are also circulating in the West Wing that Vance is weighing whether to step back from the 2028 race entirely as a tactical move, according to the source.

The insider noted it may be better for him not to ‘own everything that’s gone on in the last couple of years.’

The Vice President is just 41, and allies have floated political alternatives that would let him sit out the next cycle and re-emerge later.

But a separate source close to the Vice President told Daily Mail that sitting on the sidelines would be folly.

‘Anyone who wants to be a viable nominee for president has a very small window. And if you don’t go when that window is open, most likely it never opens up again,’ the source close to Vance said.

Time can be unforgiving.

A 2032 run would pit Vance against a sitting incumbent, and only Jimmy Carter, George HW Bush, and Donald Trump have lost a re-election in the last half-century.

A 2032 or 2036 bid for the presidency would require Vance to remain politically relevant for a full decade out of elected office.

The source said this task would be ‘extremely hard when you’re out of the limelight.’

‘Age-wise he’d be young enough. But momentum-wise, there’d be a shinier penny on the street.’

Vice President JD Vance listening in the Situation Room at the White House while Trump was in Mar-a-Lago during Operation Epic Fury

Vance’s only viable path to a future in the White House runs straight through 2028, according to the source.

Gabbard’s resignation follows the March departure of Joe Kent, another key Vance ally inside the administration, who stepped down in protest over the Iran war.

Kent submitted his resignation to Vance alongside Gabbard’s the day before it went public.

The Vice President reportedly urged Kent not to disparage the President or the administration on his way out. Kent disregarded the advice, later accusing Israel of misleading the President into the war with Iran.

Kent’s departure was an early warning sign that the Vice President’s faction was being pushed out of Trump’s national security orbit.

Gabbard’s exit now leaves Vance without his two most visible internal allies opposing the war.

Vance, in his statement, credited Gabbard as a ‘great asset to the administration’ and pointedly mourned the loss of his departed ‘loyal confidante.’ 

‘This story is just a flimsy compilation of completely illegitimate sources who have no idea what they’re talking about,’ a Vance spokesperson told the Daily Mail. 

Officials delivered an update on Saturday regarding the health of an Indiana sheriff’s deputy who sustained critical injuries during a shooting at a hospital in Michigan City, Indiana, last Friday.

The La Porte County Sheriff shared the information on behalf of Deputy Jonathon Samuelson’s family.

According to the sheriff, Deputy Samuelson underwent approximately eight hours of surgery at a South Bend hospital. Medical professionals have deemed the procedure successful. He remains in critical but stable condition.

Reports from the Indiana State Police indicate that Deputy Samuelson was acting as a good Samaritan on Friday morning. He stopped to assist a man he believed to be in distress, only to be shot three times by the same individual in the emergency room of a hospital.

A suspect from Chicago has been apprehended in connection with the incident.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

The shooting took place at Franciscan Health Michigan City in the 3500-block of Franciscan Way.

Authorities said Deputy Jon Samuelson was on his way to a training session at about 6:45 a.m. when he came across the suspect in a disabled vehicle on State Route 2.

“This officer thought he was helping a stranded motorist and it turns into this,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield said.

The deputy then transported the suspect to the hospital at the suspect’s request. When the deputy discovered the suspect may have been involved in previous criminal activity, the deputy returned to the hospital to speak with him.

“Deputy was informed of his criminal activity, and that the suspect was a suspect of that or involved in someway and went back to discuss it with him, and that’s when this physical altercation took place and resulted in him being shot,” Sgt. Fifield said.

After an altercation, police said the deputy was shot three times. The suspect then fled the scene and was later located in a wooded area and taken into custody.

Deputy Samuelson was then airlifted to South Bend Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition Friday.

La Porte County Sheriff Ron Heeg said Deputy Samuelson, 33, is a 12-year veteran. Sheriff Heeg said the deputy’s father is a retired Michigan City police officer who worked security at the hospital and was on-duty at the time of the shooting.

“We are asking the community to keep everyone affected in their thoughts and prayers while we work through this situation,” Sheriff Heeg said.

The superintendent of South Central Community School Corporation in Union Mills, Indiana, is calling Deputy Samuelson a friend and supporter of the school district, who often held safety days and K-9 demonstrations for students.

In a statement, the school leader said “we stand in support of him, his family, and all members of the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office.”

Authorities said the suspect is a 22-year-old man from Chicago.

The suspect remains at the Porter County jail after being transferred from the La Porte County jail. Charges are pending.

Investigators did not detail how the suspect was able to get inside the hospital in Michigan City with a gun, but did say the weapon used in the shooting was recovered.

Indiana State Police is leading the investigation, which continues.

Franciscan Health released a statement saying, “The health and safety of our patients and staff is always our top priority. There is no active threat to patients, staff or the community at this time. The emergency department remains on ambulance bypass, but walk-in patients are being accepted through the main entrance to the hospital. Franciscan Physician Network medical offices on site are closed at this time. All other services and departments remain open as normal.”

The United States has detained the sister of the president of GAESA, a vast network of military-operated businesses in Cuba, over her suspected connections to the communist government.

GAESA has been accused of misappropriating millions of dollars in aid intended for the Cuban populace, allegedly acting under the direction of the government, according to a statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday via X.

Adys Lastres Morera was apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the State Department rescinded her lawful permanent resident status, as reported by Rubio.

Authorities claim that Morera, who was residing in Florida and managing real estate assets, supported the communist regime in Havana.

ALLEGED CUBAN MINISTRY OF INTERIOR MEMBER ARRESTED BY ICE IN MIAMI

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters in a departure lounge at Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis, on Feb. 25, 2026. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool/Reuters)

Her status termination was carried out at Rubio’s discretion. Morera entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 2023, Reuters reported. 

“Today, Adys Lastres Morera, a Cuban national with ties to the communist regime in Havana, was arrested following the Department of State’s termination of her lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, at my direction,” Rubio said.

RUBIO SAYS CUBA NEEDS ‘NEW PEOPLE IN CHARGE’ AS BLACKOUTS, UNREST GRIP ISLAND

Morera is the older sister of Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, who was sanctioned earlier this month for her role as executive president of GAESA.  

GAESA has been described by officials as an exploitative communist entity that siphons resources from the Cuban population.

The State Department announced Thursday that the department has stripped the residency status of Adys Lastres Morera. (J. David Ake/Getty Images)

“While the Cuban people suffer from the collapse of Cuba’s non-functioning communist economy, GAESA functions to allow a small circle of regime elites to plunder all the remaining resources of the island, squirreling away as much as $20 billion in illicit funds away in hidden overseas bank accounts,” Rubio said. 

He added that Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, as a senior executive, is responsible for managing international assets allegedly used to fund the “lavish lifestyles” of the Castro-era elite, as well as supporting efforts tied to broader ideological influence abroad.

A Cuban flag is seen at a U.S. embassy in Havana. (AP)

Rubio also pointed to worsening conditions inside Cuba, including widespread blackouts and severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, arguing that GAESA is diverting resources away from basic needs under the communist system.

“GAESA’s ill-gotten riches are not spent on repairing the collapsing power grid, stocking empty pharmacies, feeding hungry families, or providing for the most basic and essential needs of the Cuban people. Instead, they are used to enrich Havana’s elites and underwrite their ongoing campaign of espionage, subversion, and revolutionary militancy against the free peoples of this hemisphere,” he said. 

“Do you remember the first time your thoughts were turned to evil things?”

Whenever the film The Devils is mentioned, it inevitably sparks a deep dive into the topic of censorship. This 1971 historical drama, centered around a lascivious priest accused of witchcraft, stands as one of the most controversial films ever made. So contentious was its content that the full version envisioned by its late director Ken Russell has remained largely unseen until now. At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, a pristine 4K restoration, meticulously managed by critic Mark Kermode and slated for release by Warner Bros’ Clockwork imprint, became the most sought-after ticket, attracting a full house and a line of hopeful attendees stretching to another floor. Those fortunate to secure a seat witnessed a cinematic rebirth, its eccentric brilliance matched only by its contemporary relevance.

Rich in bawdy entertainment, spiritual sensuality, and potent political commentary, The Devils is an undeniably peculiar film. Early in the movie, for example, an alligator is casually tossed from a window. Such scenes have solidified its reputation, often targeted for censorship. Inspired by historical events as recounted in Aldous Huxley’s book The Devils of Loudun, Russell’s film portrays the life of 17^th century Roman Catholic priest Urbain Grandier. Played by Oliver Reed, who delivers a performance that both sweats and smolders, Grandier leads the fortified city of Loudun amidst a crippling plague. His political clashes with King Louis XIII, depicted with flamboyance by Graham Armitage, and the king’s cunning advisor Cardinal Richelieu, played by Christopher Logue, lead to accusations of demonic possession. These proceedings echo Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent classic The Passion of Joan of Arc, albeit with considerably more nudity.

The film serves as a stark warning against the dangerous union of Church and State, a theme that resonates strongly in today’s world, with rising religious extremism influencing politics globally. The narrative critiques the moral policing of bodies and sexualities as tools for political manipulation. King Louis, Richelieu, and their cartoonish allies exploit Sister Jeanne des Anges, a hunchbacked abbess portrayed by Vanessa Redgrave, using her unreciprocated love for Grandier to coerce her convent into falsely accusing him of possession by unleashing their repressed desires in a courtroom spectacle.

The trial reaches a hedonistic peak with an infamous orgy involving a statue of Christ, a scene that has sparked controversy and remained largely unseen outside a brief 2002 London screening, following Kermode’s rediscovery of the footage. Far from mere blasphemous provocation, this sequence underscores the Catholic Church’s inadvertent glorification of Grandier. While his promiscuous behavior incurs their wrath, it paradoxically draws him nearer to the human, flawed Christ they refuse to acknowledge. This alignment is subtly woven into the narrative, portraying Grandier as a man who, through suffering for others’ sins, becomes more Christlike than either the Church or the monarchy ever envisioned.

A similarly censored scene that makes its way back into the runtime involves a nun masturbating with a charred human femur. It sounds ludicrous on paper, but remains morbidly and amusingly fulfilling in context — though the less revealed about it before viewers have had the chance to experience it, the better. The delights of this definitive cut, however, aren’t limited to these excised moments. The painstaking 4K restoration, from the original 35mm camera negatives, is an audio-visual miracle, appearing as clearly and vividly as anything shot today. However, its grandiose set and costume designs can’t be taken for granted either, as they imbue The Devils with a tactility that tickles the senses. It’s a lavish, un-real world that shouldn’t exist, but clearly does, born of ceremonial robes and uncanny shadows, and shot from all sorts of mystifying angles, which make the movie feel alive in all the most twisted ways.

Through blood, sweat, sacrilegious visions, and untamed bodily writhing, Russell’s operatic expression of desire — and the need to control it — remains both an elevated work of nunsploitation, as well as a grounded piece of artistic agitprop, fiercely rebuking the hijacking of cinema, religion and eroticism by political agendas. It has so terrified the moral arbiters of “good taste” that they’ve single-handedly Streisand Effect-ed it into the upper echelons of the confrontational arthouse canon. Though in watching the film today, it’s hard to imagine that it wouldn’t have struck a nerve regardless and enraptured the imagination, even if it had been left alone. There’s no way to be sure, but perhaps overdue, unfettered access to its complete version, which audiences are finally about to have, will tell us more about the ways in which The Devils could have, and should have, belonged to culture at large.

Siddhant Adlakha (@SiddhantAdlakha) is a New York-based film critic and video essay writer originally from Mumbai. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle, and his work has appeared in the New York Times, Variety. the Guardian, and New York Magazine. 

On a recent episode of her podcast, Unfiltered, Brandi Glanville opened up about a health concern, speculating she might have contracted ‘sexually transmitted ringworm.’

During a discussion with former adult film star Lisa Ann, the 53-year-old television personality asked, “Have you come across sexually transmitted ringworm? I suspect I might have it… in my throat.”

The Mayo Clinic describes ringworm as a fungal infection that presents as an itchy, circular rash with clearer skin in the center. The CDC notes that it can be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, including sexual encounters, potentially leading to more serious infections.

Glanville expressed her concerns about this possible infection, especially after a previous incident where a parasite allegedly caused disfiguration to her face.

Lisa Ann pointed out that sexually transmitted ringworm is quite prevalent on adult film sets.

She explained, ‘It’s one of these things that most people don’t know what to look for. 

Brandi Glanville revealed on the latest episode of her Unfiltered podcast that she might have contracted ‘sexually transmitted ringworm’; pictured in 2024

In a conversation with retired porn star Lisa Ann, the 53-year-old host posited, ‘I have a quick question. Have you heard about sexually transmitted ringworm? I feel like I have it…in my throat’

‘We had to train our makeup artists that when a new member of talent would show up, they would have to get naked in a window where there’s good light and they would inspect their body to see if they see any patches because it’s incredibly contagious.’ 

Glanville said she had been dating ‘somebody in [the adult] industry’ who would only ejaculate in her mouth or on her face ‘because he didn’t want to get me pregnant.’

She joked, ‘He didn’t know that ship had sailed. I’m like, ok, whatever, I’m not going to correct you. Alright, honey.’

Despite her suspicions of contracting the sexually transmitted infection (STI), the former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star said her tests came back negative.

‘I really just heard about ringworm yesterday…if it’s in your throat, they can burrow deep into your ears and all that,’ she told listeners. 

MayoClinic notes that ‘no worm is involved’ in the infection, and the name comes from ‘its appearance.’

It comes after Glanville revealed last month on her podcast that she turned to an unorthodox method to try to cure a cold that she caught from her son Jake, 18. 

After perusing TikTok and seeing a video claiming garlic can help clear up sinuses, she stuck a clove of it inside her ear.

Glanville previously said her face was deformed by ‘parasites’ that she caught in Morocco in 2023 while filming The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Ex-Wives Club 2.

Earlier this year, the mother of two went under the knife to replace her leaky, ruptured implants – which she’d had for around 18 years

‘It really went down further, and I had to go to urgent care the next day and get it taken out,’ she confessed to her audience. 

The media personality has been candid about her health struggles in recent years.

She previously said her face was deformed by ‘parasites’ that she caught in Morocco in 2023 while filming The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Ex-Wives Club 2. 

Last year, she was informed that her ruptured breast implants had been blocking her lymph nodes and were preventing her face from healing from the infection. 

The infection led to an extreme facial disfigurement, which Glanville spent around $200,000 trying to fix. 

Earlier this year, the mother of two went under the knife with Dr. Ariel Ourian to replace her leaky, ruptured implants, which she’d had for around 18 years.

Although Glanville said she feels much better since the surgery, she still insists that a parasite is the main cause of her many health issues.