• The cost of a permit to climb Mount Everest will soon jump by 36%.
• A permit for the spring season will cost $15,000, up from $11,000.
• A veteran mountaineer says new prices will have little impact on people's desire to climb Everest.

Conquering Mount Everest is no easy feat for the body, mind — and the bank account.

Nepal plans to increase the price of Everest climbing permits by about 36% in the first rise for almost a decade.

Narayan Prasad Regmi, the director-general of Nepal's tourism department, told Reuters the fees "had not been reviewed for a long time. We have updated them now."

From September 1, foreigners must pay $15,000 for a climbing permit for the spring season, up from $11,00.

Permits for the less popular autumn and winter seasons will rise from $5,500 to $7,500 and $2,750 to $3,750 respectively.

The increases may be aimed at boosting Nepal's revenues, but if the intention is also to reduce the number of climbers on Everest, veteran mountaineers like Jake Meyer say it will have little impact.

Business Insider previously reported on the growing discontent in Nepal about the volume of climbers on Everest and all the trash they leave behind.

In 2024, officials began requiring climbers to carry poop bags while scaling the mountain.

"Chances are that the price increases are extremely unlikely to reduce numbers on the mountain," Meyer, who has climbed Everest twice, told Business Insider via email. "There remains an ever-increasing interest by 'climbers' from across the globe to attempt to summit the highest mountain in the world."

Meyer, who compares the costs of climbing Everest to "buying a new car," also said the price hikes may seem significant but only represent "an equivalent average increase of 3.5% a year over the last 10 years."

As the full cost of Everest expeditions can range from $40,000 to $150,000, he said new permit prices might only raise the total price of the cheapest expeditions by 10%.

Meyer added: "What is still very clear is that the 'cheaper' your ticket to climb, the higher the likelihood of death." That's a reference to the number of deaths over the past two years involving climbers or guides on relatively cheaper expeditions.

"The sad reality is that it's often the most inexperienced climbers who sign up for lowest-cost services, which are the ones which essentially require the most self-sufficiency."

• Sweden uses nighttime satellite photos to gauge Russia's economic health, said its economic minister.
• Elisabeth Svantesson said the inflation figures from Russia's central bank are an understatement.
• Images of Moscow before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine are noticeably brighter, she said.

The declining health of Russia's economy is as clear as day — or night, a finance minister said Wednesday.

Elisabeth Svantesson, the finance minister of Sweden, said she and her officials are skeptical of how Russia's official figures describe its economy.

One measure they use instead, she said at a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, was comparing photos of Moscow by night.

The lights there, she said, were darker in 2023 than in 2021, showing a capital and a nation in trouble.

Business Insider found some public photos showing the Moscow skyline in the years Svantesson mentioned. Here is one from March 2021:

And another from November 2023:

It's hard to make a precise comparison — the time of day and cloud cover are different.

But in the 2023 image, the pools of light showing Moscow's suburbs so appear larger and more frequent in the pre-invasion image.

"It's very clear that the Russian economy is definitely not as strong as Putin wants us to believe," Svantesson said.

She said that Moscow's inflation is "much higher than the public figure says." Russia's most recent figure puts it at 9.5%, which Svantesson said was out of kilter with its main interest rate of 21%.

She also said levels of capital leaving Russia suggested a struggling economy, as do the space photos of Moscow.

"There is over Moscow, for example, a much darker picture," she said.

"They're not using as much electricity," said the panel moderator, Ravi Agrawal, the editor in chief of Foreign Policy.

"No, no, no. It's much darker," Svantesson said.

Western countries imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in the wake of its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, mostly designed to cut off the oil and gas exports crucial to its economy.

The Kremlin claims it has withstood the worst potential effects of the sanctions. Per Svantesson, that vision of a strong economy is a tactic, to convince Ukraine and its allies that sanctions don't work.

"We don't know," the true state of Russia's economy, she concluded. "But what we know is that his narrative and his truth is not true."

A deal will get done to ensure that TikTok remains available in the U.S., General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford told Axios during an event on Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland.

Why it matters: General Atlantic is a major investor in TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance. Ford is on ByteDance's board of directors.

Catch up quick: President Trump signed an executive order giving ByteDance 75 more days to work out a change-of-control deal, as required by a law signed last year.

• As of Trump's order, ByteDance had not engaged in negotiations with any potential buyer, despite the pending ban.

What he's saying: "Yes," said Ford, when asked if a deal will get done. "It's in everybody's interest."

• "We'll get on with it, as soon as maybe the end of the week in terms of negotiating what might work ... The Chinese government, the U.S. government and the company and the board all have to be involved in this conversation."
• He added that there could be solutions "short of divestiture."

Zoom in: Ford also argued that the Biden administration is partially to blame for the situation reaching a boiling point, arguing that it wasn't "engaging with us on a real dialogue."

• At the same time, however, he acknowledged that President Trump tried banning TikTok in the waning days of his first term, before changing course during the recent campaign.

Go deeper: TikTok ban timeline

• I had dinner at Gordon Ramsay Steak, located inside the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.
• The wagyu filet was cooked perfectly, and the mac and cheese was full of flavor.
• I'd definitely recommend dining at the Gordon Ramsay restaurant for great food and an upscale vibe.

As someone who has been living in Las Vegas for almost 20 years, I'm always asked about the best places to eat.

Recently though, I decided to take a chance on a restaurant I'd never been to — Gordon Ramsay Steak at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.

The steakhouse chain, which now has six locations in cities like Baltimore, Vancouver, and Kansas City, first opened in Las Vegas in 2012. Here's what our experience at the celebrity-chef-owned restaurant was like.

I visited the restaurant on a Thursday evening.

After making a reservation on the restaurant's website, I visited Gordon Ramsay Steak for dinner on a Thursday.

Once I arrived, I was seated almost immediately. As I walked through the red, neon tunnel into the restaurant, the hostess explained that the entrance was meant to be an artistic representation of the Channel Tunnel connecting England to France.

The restaurant's interior was trendy and elegant.

The steakhouse is laid out in a two-story tiered design. My table was on the second floor and had an amazing view of the rest of the restaurant, including the iconic Union Jack flag painted on the ceiling and a neon-red chandelier.

I later learned the red lighting fixture was designed to represent Chef Ramsay's hands as he cooks.

I started with the warm breads and spreads.

Although all the starters sounded incredible, I decided to try the warm breads and spreads ($17). The dish came with a baguette, a triangle of crunchy lavash bread, and a fluffy roll that was half honey whole wheat and half French onion.

It also came with chimichurri oil, English butter, and another butter made with beef fat and red wine. Both butters were topped with Hawaiian lava salts.

I loved the variety of breads and tried them all with each spread. The baguette, however, was my favorite.

For my entrée, I ordered the wagyu filet, which was cooked perfectly.

Everything on the menu sounded delicious, but there was no way I was going to a steakhouse and ordering anything but a steak. So, I opted for the wagyu filet.

The presentation was beautiful, with a swirl of red-wine reduction and a pyramid of mustard seeds on the plate.

The filet was seared perfectly on the outside and was cooked to a buttery-soft rare temperature on the inside. In my opinion, the 8-ounce filet was well worth the hefty $105 price tag.

The mac and cheese made a delicious side.

Along with my steak, I ordered the mac and cheese, which the waitress said was the most popular side.

The description on the menu sounded delicious, and it also felt like the most robust choice, since all the sides were $19 each.

The amount of flavor in the dish blew me away. Mac and cheese is usually on the heavier side, but it was surprisingly light despite having bacon, smoked jalapeño cream, onion jam, smoked Gouda, and white cheddar packed in with the noodles.

The bacon added texture to the dish, and the jalapeño cream and onion jam added bursts of flavor. The breadcrumbs on top gave it just the right amount of crunch, making the dish immensely satisfying.

I would highly recommend dining at Gordon Ramsay Steak.

From start to finish, my experience at Gordon Ramsay Steak was top-notch. The staff was friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable about the menu and the restaurant.

I would definitely go again, if for no other reason than to make sure I save room for the delicious-looking sticky toffee pudding for dessert.

In my opinion, Gordon Ramsay Steak is the perfect choice if you're looking for an upscale restaurant with a trendy edge.