'Cheating'? Papers discuss ethics of using xenon to scale Everest faster

Israel is entering its 600th day of war in Gaza. Right-wing Israeli paper The Jerusalem Post marks the day with a front page, putting the names of more than 1000 Israeli victims of the October 7 Hamas attacks. In another analysis, the paper writes that "the Middle East is transformed". “Six hundred days since Hamas acted on a jihadist fantasy to destroy the Jewish state.” The paper says that the group carried out a “pogrom” that would have made “Nazis proud”. The analysis adds that the inability to bring hostages home shapes how many Israelis view the war. The left-wing Israeli paper Haaretz, however, has a different take. The headline of a critical opinion piece by Israel's former prime minister Ehud Olmert wrote that "Enough is enough. Israel is committing war crimes". The article says that Israel is “waging a war without a purpose, without goals or clear planning and with no chances of success”. It calls Netanyahu’s government a “criminal gang” that is carrying out a “private political war” that is transforming the enclave into a "humanitarian disaster area".

Next to Mount Everest, where the use of a new method helping to speed up mountain climbing, has been polarising locals and climbers. The New York Times reported that a group of Britons scaled Everest in less than a week. An unusually fast time, since climbing high altitudes, can lead to nausea, headaches and in some cases even death. That’s why climbers usually spend some time adjusting at the Everest base camp. But the Brits inhaled xenon gas to help them adjust to the thin air faster and shrink the timeline dramatically. The use of the gas however is fiercely debated – its use remains unclear and some mountain climbers call it unethical. The Everest guide who took the British climbers gave an interview to the Associated Press, defending his move. He said that using xenon gas can make climbing Everest not just faster but also better for the environment. Using it would reduce the amount of waste, like oxygen masks, thrown away in the wild. The climb prompted an official investigation by the Nepalese government. The Guardian reported that Nepalese sherpas fear that the gas could encourage more inexperienced climbers to climb the peak. “The true significance of climbing Everest lies in the traditional way it has been approached,” a local sherpa told the Guardian. 

And finally to the Oval Office, where Donald Trump has been redecorating. The New York Times calls it a “Rococo nightmare”. The redesign has been “significant” says the paper, with a “parade of golden objects”. Just outside the Oval Office, the US president has put a copy of his mug shot on the New York Post front page in a Versailles-like golden frame. There are also two new gilded mirrors that the paper calls “quintessentially Mr. Trump”. 

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