Amsterdam - Policy makers of several Dutch, British and German cities began a two-day conference on Thursday to discuss the subject of radicalization among Muslims, a spokesman for the city of Amsterdam said.

The participants were due to talk about the origin of radicalization among young Muslims and the various approaches to tackling the problem.

The roles of local authorities, schools, youth workers and local communities in the lives of young Muslims were part of the conference agenda.

Local policy makers from the four major Dutch city of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht took part.

Representatives of the German city of Essen and Birmingham in England were also present.

The 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.

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.

Amsterdam - 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.

The 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.