Amsterdam - The main index of the Dutch stock exchange AEX rose sharply on Monday following the US government's bail-out of American largest mortgage banks Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Sunday.

By 10:23 am (8:23 AM GMT) the AEX had risen by 3.89 per cent, with the financial funds gaining most.

Belgian-Dutch bank and insurance company Fortis rose 8.65 per cent and stood at 9.907 euros.

Insurer Aegon stood at 8.525 euros, up by 7.68 per cent, followed by ING Bank which rose by 7.64 per cent. Employment agency Randstad came in fourth, with shares rising 7.02 per cent.

Dutch-British food company Unilever was the only one to drop, down by 0.10 per cent.

The Hague - Threats posed by global warming to large parts of the Dutch coastline and river plains are more serious than estimated and countermeasures requiring billions of euros are needed, an expert group warned Wednesday.

The findings were contained in a long-term study by the Delta Commission set up by the Dutch government under the leadership of Cees Veerman, a former agriculture minister.

Sea levels are rising even quicker than feared, Veerman said when he handed over the study to Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

London, Aug 29 : A 12th-century church tower in the Dutch town of Bedum is challenging the Tower of Pisa as Europe’s ‘most steeply leaning tower’.

Amsterdam - Dutch homes for elderly should not implement a non-resuscitation policy for its residents who suffer cardiac arrest, the Dutch Health Care Inspection IGZ said in a statement to the press on Friday.

The IGZ also released its preliminary findings about the decision last week by of the St. Pieters en Bloklands Home in the city of Amersfoort, not to resuscitate its residents unless they had filled out a special form requesting resuscitation.

The IGZ said the home had acted properly in evaluating its resuscitation policy, but had not provided accurate information to its residents about the consequences of resuscitation.

The Hague  - The trial against former Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic will be presided over by a new judge, the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) located in The Hague said on Thursday.

In a press statement ICTY president Judge Fausto Pocar said the trial was originally assigned to trial chamber one because of its assumed connection with the proceedings against Momcilo Perisic, one of the most senior generals under late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

The prosecution had originally planned to combine the two cases, the ICTY said, which justified the cases being brought before the same chamber.

Amsterdam - The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Moreno Ocampo, confirmed Wednesday reviewing the events in Georgia concerning the alleged commission of crimes under ICC jurisdiction.

In a statement released to the media on Wednesday, the ICC also confirmed meeting with a Georgian government official, while Russia has formally delivered information to the Office of the Prosecutor.