Amsterdam - Archaeologists have found a settlement dating back to the Bronze Age just north of Eindhoven, a city in the southern Netherlands, Dutch archaeologist Nico Arts told Dutch media Friday.
The discovery was made during preparations for the building of a highway junction at Ekkersrijt, north of Eindhoven.
The settlement may be the largest ever discovered in the Netherlands, and is definitely the largest settlement ever found in the southern Netherlands.
Bronze Age settlements (1500-850 BC) have also been discovered in the province of Drenthe in the eastern Netherlands. However, these are smaller than the Eindhoven settlement.
Amsterdam - A Dutch internet cartoonist was arrested and then released again earlier this week on suspicion of publishing work that is discriminatory against Muslims and people of colour, Amsterdam police disclosed Friday.
A police spokesman said the cartoonist's home was searched. The arrest took place Wednesday, but he was released a day later.
The spokesman could not confirm whether the cartoonist, who goes by the artistic name Nekschot - Dutch for "shot in the neck" - would be charged by the public prosecutor.
The arrest follows an investigation by the public prosecutor after imam Abdul Jabbar van de Ven, a well-known Dutch convert to Islam, filed a complaint about Nekschot's cartoons in 2005.
Amsterdam - A robot built entirely from LEGO bricks by Dutch students has won the LEGO robot championship held in Tokyo, Japan, the Dutch newswire ANP reported on Thursday.
Brasilia - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is set to start a four-day visit this week to the Netherlands and the Czech Republic on a tour focused on ethanol and other bio-fuels, a sector in which Brazil is a global leader.
Brazilian presidential spokesman Marcelo Baumbach said Monday that Lula will tell European leaders that bio-fuels are "a cleaner alternative that causes less harm to the environment."
Lula's official visit to the Netherlands is scheduled to start Thursday. The Brazilian president plans to visit The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam and will meet with Dutch Queen Beatrix and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.
