The Davis arrives in Spain

The Davis Cup is already in Spain. The heroes of the third crown of the Spanish tennis landed close to 5.00 in the morning at Barajas. Despite the marathon trip, their faces showed more happiness to tiredness. Verdasco, Feliciano, Ferrer, the captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario and the president of the Federation, Pedro Munoz, and of course ... Cup, if only a replica. [The pictures] [See more videos]

After the festival celebration yesterday, the players in the Davis had lived a quiet trip. Tired by the festivities in Argentina, on the way back to Spain, there was hardly festive mood, as confirmed Fernando Verdasco, the last to make act of presence, nothing more to get to Madrid.

However, the big absentee was the 'Salad Bowl', which will arrive next week to Spain, as it is being recorded in London under the name of the winner as Spain and Argentina as a runner. It will be the third visit of the trophy this year, as was shown last January at the headquarters of the Community of Madrid during the presentation of the sponsorship of 'Madrid Tourism' to the Davis Cup and the month of September at headquarters BNP Paribas during the draw for the 2009 edition.

Fernando Verdasco, hero of the final to secure the point which gave the victory to the Spanish team, said that what is living "is a dream come true." "Since I started giving my first hit with the racket and dreamed of living a moment like this. I still do not think so," said the player.

On the withdrawal of his friend Rafa Nadal shortly before the final, said: "We were confident of victory but, following the withdrawal of Rafa, we enjoyed less pressure and could play more relaxed despite the harassment of the fans argentina" .

Madrid player, visibly tired by the long voyage and the celebrations, did not want to position themselves to the continuation or not of Pedro Munoz at the head of the federation, considering that it was not the most appropriate time to discuss that topic.

Meanwhile, Feliciano Lopez and David Ferrer, were happy for the victory but admitted that still are not very aware of what they have accomplished. "In the coming days we will we realized what we have achieved."

Feliciano, who won two of the three points with which Spain secured the victory in the Davis Cup, has assured that, no doubt, are the two most important matches of his career. "Right now all I can say is that I'm living through one of the happiest moments of my life."

Today is a day of rest for the new golden boys of our tennis to recover from the shocks of the weekend. But starting tomorrow will begin visits and tributes. The recognition is well deserved.

Sanchez Vicario bet by Albert Costa

Emilio Sanchez Vicario, until now the captain of the Spanish Davis Cup team and its players, considered to Albert Costa as better suited to replace him in office, said this morning on arrival at Madrid-Barajas airport coming Argentina.

Sanchez Vicario, having reaffirmed its decision to leave the post after achieving the third Davis Cup for Spain, the first outside the home, indicated that meets Albert Costa, in his view, technical and human qualities to play office successfully.

"I think it is my natural successor, is very close to the group of players that make up the core of the team and has proven its qualities as a coach directing Feliciano, who has shown remarkable progress in the last period," said Sanchez Vicario .

Past master who taught the journalists and the few fans who were waiting given the time you have taken your land trophy as the winner of the Davis Cup, expressed his happiness at the success achieved in Argentine and lands for having shared the last three years "with the best generation of tennis players that Spain has had."

Israel carried out an operation in the Gaza Strip, killing five militants, Hamas "

On the night of November 5, Israeli Air Force, for the first time since the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in June 2008, attacked by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. As a result of air strikes on targets in the Khan Yunis area (south of the Gaza Strip) were destroyed, four militants of Hamas, carrying a mortar attack on Israeli territory. Before the evening was killed in an exchange of field commander of Hamas, several militants were wounded, said NEWSru Israel.

The message of the death of militants came from the Palestinian side, Israeli military only confirmed information about the air strikes.

Earlier, army press service said that Israeli units had a local operation to destroy a tunnel near Al-Bureij (central Gaza Strip). The tunnel, according to the Israeli military, preparing fighters for new attempts abduction of Israeli soldiers. "It's - reaction to the imminent threat is not a violation of the truce" - quoted military news agency.

On the Israeli side, according to preliminary data, one soldier was slightly injured. The Palestinians have one killed, which is identified as field commander "Brigad Izzeddina al-Kassama" Mazen Saad.

Ruling in the Gaza Strip, Hamas confirmed that the fighters of its military wing - "Brigad Izzeddina al-Kassama" engaged in fierce armed clashes with the Israeli army. In a statement motion also says that his response will be strong, and the enemy will pay a high price. "

In response to the operation in the Palestinian territory on the night of Wednesday, militants fired rockets into Israel - in the south fell at least 21 shells, transmits Interfax, citing an Israeli radio station "Seventh Channel". There were no damage to buildings only.

According to preliminary data, Palestinian terrorists fired mortar shells from the war also. As a result of mortar attack, three soldiers were injured: two was moderately wounded, a third wounded easily.

The Israeli army invaded the pocket the first time since June this year when it signed a truce for six months. Previously, and the one and the other parties have repeatedly expressed interest in preserving the regime of calm.

The ceasefire agreement was concluded with the Egyptian brokered between Israel and Gaza ruling Hamas movement on June 19, and its validity expires in mid December. During that time, drastically reduced the number of rocket attacks from Gaza by the typically small groups beyond Hamas.

According to estimates by Israeli special services, the Islamists are interested in extending the truce, at least for another few months. In turn, Israel would also like to maintain the status quo, at least until the parliamentary elections on Feb. 10, 2009 and the subsequent formation of the government.

BREAKING FREE FROM AN ISRAELI ZOO (GAZA)

Moscow will not be a mediator between Sukhumi, Tskhinvali and Tbilisi at the talks in Geneva

Russia will not mediate between the delegations of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia to find a mutually acceptable format for the upcoming 18 November in Geneva, the second round of discussions on the situation in the Caucasus. This is unofficially made clear on Friday in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"We are not going to bother this case the organizers of the discussions. I do not intend to persuade Abkhazia and South Ossetia that they must give and take on the role of second class at the meeting," - told Interfax on Tuesday a source in the Russian foreign service .

Anonymous companion agency recalled that Russia intends to participate only in those meetings, which will be part of the Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Recall the first round of discussions on the situation in the Caucasus after the August conflict was held in Geneva in mid-October and ended with nothing.

At the request of Georgia, representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the negotiations have been allowed to participate in consultations at the expert level. Representatives of the two republics found it impossible to participate in the conference in such a status, after which the delegations of Abkhazia and South Ossetia demonstratively left the meeting, despite exhortations from Russia.

Russia and Georgia then accused each other of breakdown of the talks. In the future, representatives of the two republics have confirmed that they will participate in the Geneva meeting 1-19 November only on an equal footing.

Know to preserve the natural heritage of the Comoros hidden

The 'KNOWN TO STORE: THE NATURAL HERITAGE OF HIDDEN COMOROS' is a response to the call for research proposals "Biodiversity Islands in the Indian Ocean." The goal is to integrate the knowledge naturalists on several symbolic backward, but characteristics of the originality of the archipelago and illustrates the problems of conservation, to propose conservation policies relevant and appropriate to the socio-economic of the archipelago. It will demonstrate the originality of the Comoros and problems of their own in the regional context of the Indian Ocean. Indeed Madagascar has long been a powerful magnet for naturalists, and the majority of research on biodiversity in the region, followed by the Mascarene. Yet the Comoros archipelago is characterized by a rich and unique biodiversity, with rates of endemism may exceed 70% in some groups. Similarly forest ecosystems are degraded and declining at a rate high, raising fears their disappearance in the short term. To meet these degradations, a network of protected areas has been created (Mayotte) or planned (three islands). Neither the impact of damage on species heritage of the Comoros, nor the relevance of the network of protected areas have been assessed on other groups that higher vertebrates, which constitute a small part of biodiversity. Based on groups known (flowering plants, land mollusks, arachnids, insects and bugs Orthoptera) but representative of the richness and originality of the archipelago, this project aims to address three issues critical to developing an effective conservation policy in the archipelago: What is it really the biodiversity of the Comoros? What is the relevance of existing protected areas or planned? Where should I focus conservation actions and what are the priorities for conservation of species for maximum efficiency in a context of limited human and financial resources? The assessment of the distribution and conservation status of species will be based on data collected during field missions led by investigators of the project and the Comorian students and technicians trained on this occasion. But the proposed work beyond the simple inventory of the current situation of biodiversity of the Comoros, as also a diachronic, taking into account the data already available in the collections of museums, giving a fall of more than one century to judge the evolution of fauna and flora. It also introduced several innovative aspects, both on collecting data on further processing techniques Bioacoustique for inventories of insects, use of Recognizable Taxonomic Units for handling wealth communities (saving time by compared with traditional taxonomic studies), analysis of results by modeling ecological niches, to judge the relevance of the network of protected areas. The knowledge developed allow the heritage and conservation approaches and guide the strategy and conservation plans, especially for plants. The project also takes into account the socio-cultural conservation in the Comoros, as it provides awareness of environmental managers, but also to create a sociological approach to the issue of biodiversity conservation. The transfer of knowledge is an important aspect of the project, as managers, teachers and students Comoros will be integrated to work both on the ground in the laboratory (two trips planned a doctoral Comoros at the Museum of Paris). In addition to scientific publications, the results will be visible on the site of the Clearing House on Biodiversity of the Comoros and GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information System), and some of the samples collected will be deposited in local institutions. The GIS developed during this project will be delivered to a Comorian. The project is led by people accustomed to organizing large multidisciplinary missions and their return, in terms of communication and conservation. It is the responsibility of Professor Jean-Noel Labat (National Museum of Natural History Department Systematics and Evolution) and Dr. Benot Fontaine (National Museum of Natural History - Department of Ecology and Biodiversity Management). Partner agencies are: National Center for Scientific Research - Paris National Center for Documentation and Scientific Research (CNDRS) - Moroni Conservatoire National Botanical Mascarin - Meeting National Museum of Natural History - Paris Department Systematics and Evolution - UMR 5202 Department of Ecology and Biodiversity Management - UMR 5173 University of the Comoros - Moroni University Cheikh Anta Diop - Dakar According to Mr Yahaya Ibrahim, head of research on biodiversity in CNDRS, a mission of the team of researchers is expected to Comoros from 18 November.