It has been advised by Dutch researchers that one should remember a good time by looking at the sky.

Daniel Casasanto and Katinka Dijkstra of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, linked emotion and how humans experience vertical space to how humans

think of memories.

Dutch researchers have found that most bullies are motivated to gain status and affection so they avoid bullying those who are well liked.

15 percent of children are victimized, leading to depression, anxiety, loneliness and other negative outcomes, Researchers at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, said.

Almost 500 elementary-school children ages 9-12 were questioned by study leader Rene Veenstra and colleagues.

It was found by the study that bullies generally choose to gain status by dominating their victims.

Amsterdam  - Dutch Royal Ahold NV saw its third quarter net income increase by 20.8 per cent compared with the same quarter last year, the international food retailer said in its quarterly report released on Wednesday.

Amsterdam-based supermarket chain Ahold said its net income amounted to 238 million euros (354 million dollars) in the third quarter, more than the 188 million euros expected by analysts.

Amsterdam - Two Dutch journalists posing as workers have exposed security flaws at the Dutch royal palace when they gained entry to the palace compound last month, National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism director Erik Akerboom acknowledged Monday.

Akerboom was reacting to a television programme aired by SBS broadcasting Sunday evening in which undercover journalists Alberto Stegeman and a colleague showed how they entered Noordeinde Palace in The Hague unhindered by posing as workers for a renovation company.

Amsterdam - The Dutch economy is no longer in recession, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reported Friday.

The CBS said the economy in the third quarter had increased 0.4 percent - ending four consecutive quarters of negative growth.

However, compared with the third quarter of 2008, the economy shrank 3.7 per cent.

The volume of export of products and services also continued to fall substantially.

Consumer spending fell 2.6 per cent in the third quarter.

Amsterdam - The share value of Dutch financial services group ING rose by 5 per cent per cent Wednesday following the release of third-quarter results that showed a net profit of 499 million euros (680 million dollars).

Last year, the group reported a loss of 478 million in the same period and was forced to seek two bail-out packages from the government amid the financial crisis.

Shortly after the Amsterdam stock exchange opened at 9 am (0800 GMT), share value stood at 10.04 euros per share.

Amsterdam - Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was due in the Netherlands Wednesday for meetings with his Dutch counterpart Maxime Verhagen, with Gaza, the deadlocked peace talks and Iran all on the agenda.

Lieberman also requested to meet with lawmakers of the foreign affairs committee.

The Dutch parliament is deeply divided over Israel's position towards the Palestinians, as well over Lieberman himself.

Amsterdam  - Dutch KLM will be the first airline to fly a passenger flight using bio-diesel, the airline claimed on Wednesday.

The Boeing 747 flight, carrying a limited number of passengers, will take off on November 23 using a mixture of bio-fuel and conventional kerosene jet oil.

The type of bio-fuel is camelina, a substance extracted from an oil plant. Studies have shown camelina-based jet fuel to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 80 percent.

The new fuel mixture does not require any modifications to the aircraft or engine.

Amsterdam  - A Dutch underage teen planning to sail solo around the world will remain under state custody until July 1, the civil youth court in Utrecht ruled on Friday.

The decision comes following two months during which Laura Dekker, 14, was also placed under state custody upon request of the Child Protection Services.

During this period, a court-appointed psychologist evaluated the girl to determine whether she would be capable of undertaking the two-year voyage.

Amsterdam  - Dutch navigation device maker TomTom on Wednesday reported a third-quarter profit of 31 million euros, 10 million euros more than in the previous quarter but markedly less than in the corresponding period in 2008.

The Amsterdam-based company produces portable navigation aids for vehicles and mapping software for handheld computers. TomTom generated 58 million euros in profit in the third quarter last year, a period corresponding with summertime demand for navigation equipment.

Amsterdam  - Dutch financial giant ING Group is to separate its insurance and investment management branches from its banking division, the company announced in a statement Monday.

By 2013, ING is to divest all its insurance and investment management operations as part of its previously announced Back to Basics programme intended to restructure and streamline the bank's activities.

ING also announced preliminary third-quarter results which showed that underlying net results were expected to amount to 750 million euros.

Amsterdam - The Dutch are to raise the legal retirement age from 65 to 67, local media reports said Friday.

From 2020, the retirement age will be raised to 66, and from 2025 to 67. Those wanting to retire at 65 would receive lower state pensions.

There would be special provisions for people with disabilities, people who began their careers very young, and those who worked in physically or mentally demanding jobs, a government spokesman said.

Amsterdam  - Export from the Netherlands continued to drop in August, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said in a monthly report released on Tuesday.

With a drop of 7.9 per cent, the downfall is larger than the 5.9- per-cent drop reported in July, the CBS said. Yet it is still a smaller drop than the average of 13 per cent per month reported between January and June of this year.

The import volume fell 12.6 per cent in August, also more than the 9.9 per cent-drop reported in July but comparable with the average monthly drop reported in the first six months of the year.

Amsterdam  - The Netherlands' DSB Bank on Monday denied reports that it is on the brink of bankruptcy and that it has come under the control of the Dutch Central Bank DNB.

Finance Minister Wouter Bos and top officials from DSB and the central bank met in Amsterdam on Sunday night, to discuss the bank's future.

The daily Volkskrant reported Monday that a court had the bank had been placed under the control of the central bank after talks on a possible takeover between DSB and other banks at the weekend failed.

DSB spokesman Klaas Wilting denied the report.

Amsterdam  - Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende is expected Thursday to face a heated debate in parliament where he is due to defend annual budget for the country's royal family.

Despite the government's aim to cut expenses by some 20 per cent in reaction to the ongoing economic crisis, the royal house - with 319 full-time employees - is due to receive a budget increase in 2010.

Amsterdam - Thousands of labour union members rallied in several cities in the Netherlands Wednesday to protest against government plans to raise the legal retirement age from 65 to
67.

In Utrecht, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague thousands of union members went on strike around noon.

The protests came after the unions and employee associations failed to reach an agreement last week about the long-term financing of the state pensions. The government had requested them to negotiate an alternative to its own plans.

Islamabad - Pakistani police arrested briefly two Dutch diplomats for carrying illegal weapons in Pakistani capital Islamabad a day ago, media reports said on Wednesday.

According to the liberal English-language Dawn newspaper, the officers stopped a suspicious diplomatic car with a camouflaged number plate in a high-security zone near the official residence of President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday.

Amsterdam  - The Dutch military Thursday said it deplored the loss of civilian lives as a result of an air strike carried out by one of its F-16 fighter planes in Afghanistan.

Dutch military chief of staff Peter van Uhm, speaking in Kabul, said however the responsibility for the civilian casualties lied with the Taliban, not with NATO. He emphasized the Dutch pilot observed all regulations.

Amsterdam  - The Dutch government coalition is deeply divided over the question of whether it should support a new military mission in Afghanistan after 2010, reports said Thursday.

During a late night emergency debate that continued through Thursday morning, the Labour and Christian Union parties, who are part of the goverment coalition, said they would not support another mission in Afghanistan's Uruzghan province.

Amsterdam  - The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam on Wednesday set up on YouTube a site to show images of the young Jewish girl whose story became symbolic of the horror of the Holocaust.

"Today the Anne Frank House is launching the official Anne Frank Channel on YouTube containing existing and new images about Anne Frank," a statement by the house said.

"With the Anne Frank Channel on YouTube, people around the world will be able to explore the life and significance of Anne Frank through unique images," it added.