The Bulgarian Parliament reviewed legislation on December 8, 2010 that would dismantle the Bulgarian Academy of Science into separate institutes under the direction of the Minister of Education and the Council of Ministers. The Minister of Finance of Bulgaria has mentioned publicly the advantages of selling the assets of the Academy, according to news reports. ... Continue Reading>>
Bulgaria’s 141-year Old Science Academy Under Attack
The Bulgarian Parliament reviewed legislation on December 8, 2010 that would dismantle the Bulgarian Academy of Science into separate institutes under the direction of the Minister of Education and the Council of Ministers. The Minister of Finance of Bulgaria has mentioned publicly the advantages of selling the assets of the Academy, according to news reports. ... Continue Reading>>
Russian Physicists Arrested
Drs. Svytoslav Bobyshev and Yevgeny Afanasyev, professors at Baltic State Technical University in St. Petersburg, Russia have been detained since March without a trial at Moscow’s Lefortovo maximum-security prison. The professors have reportedly been accused of spying and passing state secrets to unidentified Chinese citizens. The accusations stem from a cooperative relationship ... Continue Reading>>
Bahraini mechanical engineer arrested
Professor Abdul Jail Al-Singace, a scholar of mechanical engineering at the University of Bahrain and Director of the Human Rights Bureau of the Haq Movement for Civil Liberties and Democracy, an opposition political movement, was arrested on August 13, 2010 at Bahrain International Airport, upon his return from the United Kingdom, and taken to an undisclosed location. This followed his address on ... Continue Reading>>
Vietnamese mathematician arrested
Professor Pham Minh Hoang, lecturer in mathematics at Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic Institute, was arrested on August 13, 2010 on charges of participating in a banned opposition political group, the Viet Tan. According to media reports, the arrest followed the interrogation two days earlier of Professor Hoang and his wife at a police station in Ho Chi Minh City, where they were questioned on their ... Continue Reading>>
Iranian physicist murdered
Dr. Massoud Alimohammadi was the victim of a targeted murder in Iran on January 12, 2010. The government of Iran alleges that he was assassinated by Israel and the United States due to his participation in Iran’s nuclear program. According to the journal Science, a publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Dr. Alimohammadi’s field of study was quantum physics, a field ... Continue Reading>>
Attorney General of Virginia Demands Data from Climate Change Scientist
Kennneth T. Cucinelli, Attorney General of the State of Virginia, required the University of Virginia to turn over data and scientific documents related to Dr. Mann’s climate change research between 1999 and 2005, to ascertain whether he committed fraud against Virginia’s taxpayers under state grants. There seems to be no basis to suspect any fraud, instead the move appears motivated entirely by ... Continue Reading>>
Israeli professor denied visa to Egypt
Professor Uri Seligsohn has been denied a visa to Egypt. Dr. Seligsohn, a professor of hematology and director of the Amalia Biron Research Institute of Thrombosis and Hemostasis at Tel Aviv University, has been banned from attending the 56th Scientific and Standardization Committee meeting in Cairo of the International society on Thrombosis and Homeostasis. ... Continue Reading>>
Imprisoned Chinese activist applies for medical parole
Imprisoned human rights activist Hu Jia, convicted unjustly for peacefully exercizing his rights in accord with Chinese law, has served two years and three months of his sentence. He has been in poor health all of this time, with cirrhosis of the liver--a fatal and incurable disease--and lately his condition has deteriorated. Hu Jia is a strict vegetarian and in urgent need of good nourishment and ... Continue Reading>>
Venezuelan scientists terminated
Dr. Reinaldo Di Polo, a physiologist, and Dr. Gioconda San Blas, a microbiologist, were distinguished scientists at the Centro de Biofisica y Bioquimica (IVIC) in Caracas. IVIC faculty retire after 30 years of service and then take part in the Permanence in Research Activities (PLI) program, a program that has been in place for decades. The PLI program includes 3-year terms that are renewable. The ... Continue Reading>>