VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Christian emigration from the Middle East is impoverishing Arab culture and Muslims have a duty to encourage the presence of Christian minorities, a Lebanese government adviser told a Vatican summit on Thursday.

Mohammad Sammak, a Sunni Muslim who is secretary general of Lebanon’s Christian-Muslim Committee for Dialogue, told a synod of bishops the declining number of Christians in the region was a concern for all Muslims.

ROME (Reuters) – Christianity may be an agent for peace in the Middle East through its efforts to encourage dialogue with Jews and Muslims, a senior rabbi said on Wednesday during a Vatican summit.

At a two-week meeting to debate how to protect minority communities in the Middle East and promote harmony with other religions, Rabbi David Rosen said Christian initiatives were bringing communities together and helping to rebuild trust.

ROME (Reuters) – The number of people in the world suffering chronic malnutrition fell for the first time in 15 years in 2010, but volatile food prices could hamper efforts to fight hunger, the United Nations’ food agency said on Tuesday.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation said it did not expect to see a repeat of the 2007/2008 food crisis soon, as stocks and production prospects for cereals were still viewed as adequate but it expressed concern about price rises.

ROME (Reuters) – The number of people in the world suffering chronic hunger has declined for the first time in 15 years, due to improving economic conditions and lower food prices, the United Nations’ food agency said on Tuesday.

About 925 million people are undernourished in 2010, down from a record 1.02 billion last year, which was the highest number in four decades, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a report.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, data showed on Friday, as exports surged ahead though domestic demand stayed weak.

The euro zone’s fifth-largest economy grew by 0.9 percent in the three months to June, after revised 0.5 percent growth in the first quarter, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) said on Friday. Economists had expected 0.7 percent growth in the second quarter, a Reuters poll showed.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Cities, neighbourhoods and living rooms across the Netherlands fell silent on Sunday night after the national team lost to Spain in the World Cup final, shattering their dream of winning soccer’s biggest tournament.

Despite wild cheering ahead of and during the game, the 1-0 loss in extra time sent some 180,000 orange-clad fans trudging away from Amsterdam’s Museum Square, which had swelled into a mass of people so large that authorities said the city was literally full to capacity.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch are hoping to welcome their World Cup team home with a victory canal parade although Amsterdam houseboat owners are becoming anxious about partygoers climbing onto their homes and sinking them.

Memories are still vivid of Netherlands’ 1988 European Championship win over the Soviet Union when scores of euphoric flag-waving, beer-swilling fans draped in orange clambered onto lived-in houseboats which sank under their weight.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been ordered to give evidence over a “blood diamond” which prosecutors say former Liberian president Charles Taylor gave her, the Sierra Leone war crimes court said on Thursday.

Prosecutors at the Special Court for Sierra Leone sought in May to call Campbell, who has so far refused to testify, saying she can provide material evidence to rebut Taylor’s claims that he never possessed rough diamonds.

AMSTERDAM, June 22 (Reuters) – A Dutch court ruled on
Tuesday that a law requiring utilities to split their production
and supply arms from their networks breaches European Union law,
which could halt the break-up plans of some companies.

The ruling was made in a case brought by three of the
country’s biggest utilities – Essent, Eneco, and Delta – against
the Dutch state, which already plans to lodge an appeal at the
Supreme Court.