ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

El Vaticano se blinda para prevenir futuros ataques a su sistema de su seguridad. A partir de ahora los empleados de la Santa Sede tendrán  una tarjeta de identidad con un dispositivo de rastreo  implantado en un microchip. También se han incluido controles más estrictos para aquellos que vengan del exterior y pretendan ingresar fotocopias de los archivos de la Santa Sede, expedientes o documentos, explica «The Telegraph».  Cordón de seguridad en torno al Papa Los apartamentos papales que incluyen las viviendas del Papa Benedicto XVI y las oficinas del estado mayor personal, se encuentran en el interior del Palacio Apostólico y han quedado totalmente fuera de límites a ninguna persona sin autorización estricta. Además, el Vaticano cuenta con el sacerdote esloveno Mitja Leskovar,  un experto anti-espionaje apodado «Monseñor 007 », encargado de implementar los nuevos procedimientos de seguridad con los documentos de identidad previstos para ser introducidos a partir de...

  Nearly 65 feet beneath the icy surface of a remote Antarctic lake, scientists from NASA, the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno, Nev., the University of Illinois at Chicago, and nine other institutions, have uncovered a community of bacteria existing in one of Earth's darkest, saltiest and coldest habitats.Lake Vida, the largest of several unique lakes found in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, contains no oxygen, is mostly frozen and possesses the highest nitrous oxide levels of any natural water body on Earth. A briny liquid, which is approximately six times saltier than seawater, percolates throughout the icy environment where the average temperature is minus 8 degrees Fahrenheit. The international team of scientists published their findings online Nov. 26, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition. Scanning electron micrograph of very small and numerous bacterial cells inhabiting icy brine channels in Antarctica’s Lake Vida, which lies in the Victor...

Within the euro-area, the focus will be on the 'blueprint' of measures proposed by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on November 28. Some of these measures, like the strengthening of macroeconomic policy coordination, are already in progress and require only minor adjustments to be completed. Others, like the movement toward a comprehensive banking union with common deposit insurance, banking resolution, and supervisory mechanisms , are more controversial and are likely to be achieved only in part. Still others, like the centralisation of treasury facilities in the European Commission and the introduction of short-term euro-bills, are much harder to imagine. The new Dutch government has already expressed its opposition to more centralisation of powers in the EU, an attitude consistent with its recent and challenging coalition negotiations. Other governments facing similar challeng...

The fall in borrowing costs since last summer has brought relief to European sovereign debt markets. The 5.34% yield on Spanish ten-year sovereign debt is lower than at any point since March; the 4.50% yield on Italian ten-year debt is the lowest in more than a year. Moreover, the benefit is not limited to countries in the euro-area. The Hungarian government can now borrow at less than 7%, compared to more than 8% last July; Polish ten-year bond yields are now just over 4.2% from just under 5.2%; and the Czech government borrows at just under 2.0%, compared to a mid-July peak of close to 3.5%. The relaxation of tensions is a good sign, particularly against a backdrop of weakening economic growth forecasts both in the euro-area and worldwide . Last week, the OECD joined the chorus of international economic organisations in publishing a sharp downward revision of its estimates for future economic performance. However, the tensions in European sovere...