Dec 4 2008- AMSTERDAM. Dutch labour MP Martijn van Dam has asked the world's major cellphone manufacturers to stop using the Congolese mineral coltan - to stop child-slavery.

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands -- Two loggerhead sea turtle babies have crawled ashore in The Netherlands within just a month.

One of the most successful self-help projects in Tanzania is the Lease-A-Cow project with its 110 participating female farmers.

GRONINGEN -- The Dutch have opened the hunt on the giant, amphibious beaver rat, which was imported into northern Europe from the subtropical regions of South America. It now thrives because of milder winters.

A windmill-laden Dutch freighter is braving the piracy-haunted sea lanes of the Gulf of Aden-- accompanied by a Russian and a Dutch frigate.

In a momentous vote, the Swiss government approved a legal heroin program to help addicts with an 86% favourable vote, while at the same time rejecting decriminalizing marijuana.

Police in Holland's main harbour city Rotterdam are providing local businesses with DNA tagging equipment to combat the growing number of armed robberies.

Meeting at the weekend in Paris, the heads of states of the eurozone have agreed a response to the banking crises. The eurozone comprises the 15 countries that use the euro. This meeting was the first such, since the euro was launched in 1999.

Prostitutes working in Dutch cities are to be awarded good behaviour points. The scheme is to encourage women off the streets and into better employment. As opposed to air miles, these ladies can collect 'street miles'

After protests Dutch Christian naturalists have canceled a second nude Mass in Zeewolde, Netherlands. The first service was in June with a clothed priest presiding.