Nepal

The pair reached the summit of Mount Everest at 11.30am on 29 May 1953, cementing a long-lasting friendship between the two climbers that blossomed into ongoing ties between the two countries.

Nepal begun commemorating the date as International Everest Day after Hillary's death in 2008, but New Zealand has not followed suit.

The day has been celebrated in Nepal and by the Nepali diaspora ever since, as an occasion to promote alpine tourism and mark the special bond that exists between Nepal and New Zealand.

Hundreds of rescue workers were scouring the hillside where the Yeti Airlines flight, carrying 72 people from the capital Kathmandu, went down. The weather was clear, said Jagannath Niroula, spokesman for Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority.

Local TV showed rescue workers scrambling around broken sections of the aircraft. Some of the ground near the crash site was scorched, with licks of flames visible.

The Tara Air plane took off from the tourist town of Pokhara, some 125 km west of capital Kathmandu, headed towards Jomsom, about 80 km to the northwest, the officials said. Tara Air mainly flies Canadian-built Twin Otter turboprop planes.

"One search helicopter returned to Jomsom due to bad weather without locating the plane," the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement.

"Helicopters are ready to take off for search from Kathmandu, Pokhara and Jomsom once weather conditions improve. Army and police search teams have left towards the site."

Until now the countries differed over whether to add the snow cap on top. The new height is 8848.86 metres.

China's previous official measurement of 8844.43m had put the mountain nearly four metres lower than Nepal's.

Everest stands on the border between China and Nepal and mountaineers climb it from both sides.

Officials at Nepal's foreign ministry and department of survey said surveyors from both countries had co-ordinated to agree on the new height.

Officials said nearly 400 Nepalese protesters clashed with police in Birgunj, a town on the border with India, on Thursday. 

They belong to ethnic and religious groups dissatisfied with Nepal's constitution adopted on Sunday, and demand more territory and rights for ethnic federal states. The area is nearly 300 kilometers (200 miles) east of Kathmandu, the capital.

Police official Kamal Singh Bam said protesters in Birgunj town were violating a curfew order and attempting to attack the police station when officers opened fire, killing four. The town is about 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of the capital, Kathmandu.

Another protester was killed in Kalaiya town, just east of Birgunj, when residents there also violated curfew orders imposed to stop violent demonstrations.

Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki will be the first to attempt to scale the world's highest peak since the quake. Nepal's tourism minister, Kripasur Sherpa, gave Kuriki his climbing permit at a ceremony in Kathmandu on Sunday.

Kuriki plans to leave for the mountain on Tuesday by helicopter and then reach the summit in mid-September. The autumn season is considered a difficult time to attempt Everest and is generally avoided by climbers.