Amazon is the largest river in the world

AMAZON RIVER 'LONGER THAN NILE'

The new study puts the Amazon at 6,800kmScientists in Brazil are claiming to have established as a scientific fact that the Amazon is the longest river in the world.
The Amazon is recognised as the world's largest river by volume, but has generally been regarded as second in length to the River Nile in Egypt.
The claim follows an expedition to Peru that is said to have established a new starting point further south.
It puts the Amazon at 6,800km (4,250 miles) compared to the Nile's 6,695km.
Mountain source
The precise length of a river is not easy to calculate and depends on correctly identifying the source and the mouth.
The new claim in Brazil follows an expedition by scientists which is said to have discovered a new source for the Amazon in the south of Peru and not the north of the country as had been thought for many years.
While the exact location has yet to be confirmed from two choices, scientists say either would make the river the longest in the world.
Guido Gelli, director of science at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, told the Brazilian network TV Globo that today it could already be considered as a fact that the Amazon was the longest river in the world.
The Amazon is now said to begin in an ice-covered mountain in southern Peru called Mismi.
Researchers travelled for 14 days, sometimes in freezing temperatures, to establish the location at an altitude of 5,000m.
There has been a healthy academic debate over the world's longest river for some years and the claim from Brazil may not go unchallenged.

Wonders bid for heritage status

Wonders bid for heritage status

IUCN's nominations for the UN World Heritage List









In pictures

Five of the world's natural wonders have been nominated for inclusion on the UN World Heritage List.
A biodiversity-rich rainforest in Madagascar and Tenerife's volcanic landscape are among the sites favoured by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).
A total of 37 natural and cultural sites will be considered by the UN World Heritage Committee.
The committee will make its final decision at its annual meeting, which begins on 23 June in New Zealand.
The prestigious list, co-ordinated by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), was set up to ensure the long-term protection of globally important cultural and natural sites.
The five locations selected for consideration by the IUCN, an official advisory body to Unesco, are:
South China Karst: described as being unrivalled for the diversity of its karst features - a unique underground landscape formed by water eroding limestone and marble rocks





Rainforests of Atsinanana, Madagascar: home to a unique array of species, 80-90% of which are only found on the island nation. Deforestation has destroyed more than 90% of the original forest.



Jeju volcanic island, Korea: includes a shield volcano that is about 1.2 million years old, and an "impressive and significant" system of lava tubes (underground tunnels formed by lava flows)



Primeval beech forests, eastern Europe: found in Slovakia and Ukraine, the woodlands are "an outstanding example of undisturbed, complex temperate forests"





Teide National Park, Spain: situated on the island of Tenerife, the park was nominated for its "mature, slow-moving and geologically complex volcanic system"




The IUCN will also propose that the committee considers taking action to improve the level of protection for existing World Heritage sites that have been identified as being at risk.
These include the Galapagos Islands, where the number of tourists have increased to more than 120,000 per year - a three-fold increase over the past 16 years.
The islands were made a World Heritage Site 30 years ago for their unique plant and animal life.
The diversity of species found on the Pacific archipelago inspired naturalist Charles Darwin and helped him develop his theory of evolution.
Down not out
Charles Darwin's home and workplace in southern England, Down House, has been formally removed from this year's nomination list by the UK government.

Darwin heritage bid stopped
Culture Minister David Lammy made the decision after receiving advice from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos).
The assessment raised questions about the "outstanding universal value" of the bid.
However, the government said it felt the council failed to recognise the site's significance to the heritage of science and confirmed that a renewed submission would be presented in 2009.

Paris Hilton is end back to jail

Paris Hilton is sent back to jail

Hilton has been sent to a jail treatment centre for medical tests
Hilton leaves home Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton has been taken screaming from a Los Angeles court after being told to return to jail to serve out her sentence.
The celebrity heiress was ordered to attend the hearing rather than listen to the proceeding by telephone.
Hilton left jail on Thursday, just three days into a 45-day sentence for violating probation on a driving ban.
Her release from detention, on unspecified medical grounds, had sparked widespread criticism.
Hilton attended court to hear the case for her "reassignment" to house arrest.
I'm just going to keep [Hilton] in a better facility for her condition, meaning one that has a more intense form of medical support
Lee BacaLA county sheriff
She arrived in handcuffs and cried throughout the court session.
The judge said that she would have to serve her full 45-day sentence.
"It's not right!" she shouted in response, before calling out to her mother, who was at the court.
'Severe problems'
Hilton will stay for a few days at a treatment centre at Twin Towers jail in LA for medical and psychiatric examination to determine which jail she will be sent to, sheriff spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
LA county sheriff Lee Baca defended his earlier decision to release Hilton on medical grounds, saying "this lady has some severe problems".
He suggested that her problems were psychological.
"I'm just going to keep her in a better facility for her condition, meaning one that has a more intense form of medical support, and will watch her behaviour so there isn't anything that is harmfully done to herself by herself," Mr Baca said.
She had been held at the Century Regional Detention Centre in Lynwood, California, in a special unit for celebrities, public officials, police officers and other high-profile inmates, and has so far served five days of her sentence.
Specific details of her medical problem have been withheld for "privacy reasons".