Netherlands

Dutch foreign minister Verhagen condemns Mumbai attacks

HagueThe Hague  - Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen on Thursday expressed his horror over Wednesday's terror attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai.

Verhagen said he hoped the Indian authorities would arrest the attackers swiftly and bring them to justice as soon as possible.

"This attack emphasizes we must remain alert about terrorism and continue the battle against it," the Dutch minister said.

Verhagen added the Dutch authorities have meanwhile managed to contact 80 per cent of all Dutch nationals currently present in India.

Dutch businesswoman of the year and city politician now homeless

Amsterdam - A former businesswoman of the year who later functioned as alderwoman of the city of Rotterdam has been found homeless, Dutch daily newspaper Metro reported on Thursday.

Rabella de Faria's homelessness was discovered after she checked herself in at a local night shelter.

She has lived on the streets most of this year but was now staying with friends, Rotterdam city councillor Driesch Mosch told Metro.

De Faria, 48, was the city of Rotterdam's alderwoman for security and public health on behalf of the Leefbaar Rotterdam party between 2002 and 2004.

Dutch court to hear case of alleged illegal adoption of Belgian baby

Dutch CourtAmsterdam - A Dutch court is to hear the case on Thursday of a Dutch couple's alleged illegal adoption via the internet of a Belgian baby.

The hearing is to follow a request to the court Wednesday by the Dutch child protection service for a ruling on the custody in the matter that is also the subject of a criminal investigation, according to a spokesman for the public prosecutor.

The case was brought to light by Dutch current affairs programme Netwerk, which exposed how the couple, both aged 26, bought the newborn from its Belgian parents, aged 24 and 22, on the internet in the summer.

Dutch to develop new European climate satellite

NetherlandThe Hague - The Netherlands is to develop Europe's next climate satellite, it was announced by the European Space Agency (ESA) at the close of the agency's tri-annual conference in The Hague on Wednesday.

Dutch Economics Minister Maria van der Hoeven had been lobbying for collective European financing of a new climate satellite.

The Dutch government has reserved 78 million euros (101 million dollars) to finance the 115- to 130-million-euro Tropospheric Ozone- Monitoring Instrument, or Tropomi.

Top Dutch financial managers to brief parliament on financial crisis

The Hague - Top Dutch financial managers were due Wednesday to brief the government on the ongoing financial crisis during a special hearing in parliament.

The managers were expected to present their views about the possible consequences of the crisis for the Dutch economy in the coming year.

Chairmen Michel Tilmant of the ING Group, Sjoerd van Keulen of the SNS Reaal Group, and Bert Heemskerk of Rabobank were among those due to address the house.

Board chairmen Jan van Rutte and Jan Peter Schmittman would speak on behalf of the Dutch banking division of Fortis NV, comprising Fortis bank and ABN Amro bank.

Black hole behind formation of mysterious “Hanny’s voorwerp” in deep space

Black holes of all sizes have similar feeding patternsAmsterdam, Nov 26 (ANI): New observations made by radio telescopes have revealed that the bizarre astronomical object known as “Hanny’s voorwerp”, which is a huge green irregular cloud of gas, is being generated by a massive black hole at the centre of a nearby galaxy.

The Voorwerp was discovered by Hanny van Arkel, a Dutch school teacher and an enthusiastic volunteer of the Galaxy Zoo project.

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