Report: Brother of French physicist at Europe’s Big Bang laboratory denies al-Qaida link

October 14th, 2009 LONDON - The brother of the Large Hadron Collider physicist under investigation for having possible links to terrorism has said that the charges are "completely false" and his brother is innocent. On October 13, French authorities placed Adlene Hicheur, a postdoc at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), under formal investigation for possible 'criminal association in relation to a terrorist undertaking'.

October 13th, 2009 LONDON - A leading nuclear physicist associated with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been charged with terrorism offences by a Paris judge after investigators said that he offered to work with the North African branch of al-Qaeda. According to a report in The Times, Adlene Hicheur, who is of Algerian origin, was arrested last week with his younger brother after intelligence agents intercepted his alleged Internet contacts with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

October 13th, 2009 PARIS - A 32-year-old French-Algerian physicist working at the CERN nuclear research centre has been placed under investigation on charges of "associating with known criminals in a terrorist undertaking", French media reported Tuesday. The suspect and his younger brother were arrested Thursday in the south-eastern city of Vienne after US intelligence intercepted e-mails between the man and people tied to the North African terrorist group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

October 12th, 2009 French physicist questioned as terror suspectPARIS — A French physicist working at the world's largest atom smasher who is suspected of links to al-Qaida appeared Monday before a magistrate who will decide whether to file preliminary charges against him. The 32-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin, who works on the Large Hadron Collider, is suspected of involvement with Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, a North African group that targets Algerian government forces and sometimes attacks foreigners.

October 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A leading nuclear physicist associated with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has admitted to French investigators that he led a second life as an al-Qa'ida "mole". The French police arrested Adlene Hicheur, a physicist working at CERN, Europe's premier particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, on charges of terrorism, on October 8, in the town of Vienne.

October 12th, 2009 Preliminary charges filed against French physicistPARIS — A French investigating judge has filed preliminary charges against a physicist at the world's largest atom smasher who is suspected of al-Qaida links, a judicial official said. The 32-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin, who works on the Large Hadron Collider, is suspected of involvement with Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, a North African group that targets Algerian government forces and sometimes attacks foreigners.

October 11th, 2009 Physicist exchanged e-mails with al-Qaida contactPARIS — A French physicist arrested last week while working at the world's largest atom smasher has acknowledged to investigators that he corresponded over the Internet with a contact in North Africa's al-Qaida branch, a judicial official said Sunday. The Internet exchange vaguely discussed plans for terror attacks, but nothing concrete was planned, the French judicial official said, speaking on condition that his name not be used because the investigation is ongoing.

October 10th, 2009 LONDON - In a surprising turn of events, the French police have arrested a physicist working at CERN, Europe's premier particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, on charges of terrorism. According to a report in Nature News, the suspect, a French-Algerian, was taken into custody by French police on October 8 in the town of Vienne.

October 9th, 2009 Swiss atom lab: physicist arrested on terror linksGENEVA — French police have arrested a nuclear physicist on suspicion that he had links to terrorist organizations in Algeria, the European Organization for Nuclear Research said Friday. The man was one of more than 7,000 scientists working at the organization and has been assigned to analysis projects under contract with an outside institute, said the organization, known as CERN.

October 9th, 2009 Europe atom lab: physicist arrested on terror linkGENEVA — French police have arrested a nuclear physicist on suspicion that he had links to terrorist organizations in Algeria, the European Organization for Nuclear Research said Friday. The man was one of more than 7,000 scientists working at the organization and has been assigned to analysis projects under contract with an outside institute, said the organization, known as CERN.

October 9th, 2009 French arrest physicist suspected of al-Qaida linkGENEVA — A physicist working at the world's largest atom smasher has been arrested on suspicion of links to al-Qaida, adding to the woes of the $10 billion project that ceased operation a year ago — just days after its celebrated start up. The scientist, arrested in France, is suspected of involvement with Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, a French official said Friday.

September 30th, 2009 Hawking steps down as Lucasian professor in UKLONDON — Physicist Stephen Hawking stepped down Wednesday as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University after 30 years in the post. The roughly 350-year-old position has been held by such luminaries as Isaac Newton and Charles Babbage, one of the fathers of modern computing.

June 5th, 2009 Vatican visits CERN's Big Bang machineGENEVA — A senior Vatican delegation visited the world's biggest nuclear physics laboratory, proclaiming that true faith has no problems with science. The Roman Catholic Church was represented by Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, Vatican City's governor, as it toured the CERN facility and its 17-mile (27-kilometer) proton accelerator this week.

May 4th, 2009 LONDON - The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is the biggest atom-smashing machine ever built, is almost ready to run again. The LHC straddles the borders of France and Switzerland and is operated by CERN, the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva.

March 17th, 2009 PARIS - French physicist Bernard Espagnat was awarded the prestigious Templeton Prize, worth 1 million pounds ($1.41 million), the John Templeton Foundation announced in Paris Monday. The 87-year-old Espagnat was named the recipient of the world's most generous individual scientific award for his work in the field of quantum mechanics, particularly for his experimental proofs on Bell inequalities.