Stem cell scientists are not the only ones to go overseas to seek more permissive regulatory regimes. Animal-rights activists do, too. According to Nature, extremists squeezed by police in the UK have gone to work on the Continent. It cites a number of incidents. Threats forced a Dutch developer to withdraw from a new €60 million biomedical research park in January. Arson at a biomedical research park in Belgium caused €100,000 in damages in February. A few days later, the Barcelona offices of Novartis were vandalised. The Novartis security chief at its headquarters in Basel, Andrew Jackson, observed that there was a big increase in protests and illegal acts last year. "There is a perception that EU law enforcement has something of a soft touch," he told Nature. And he has noticed a correlation between the availability of budget flights to Basel and extremist activity: "It makes for a fun weekend." British activists, on the other hand, attributes the rise in incidents in Europe to homegrown, not imported, activists. ~ Nature, Feb 27