Lawyers representing the coffee shops oppose what would be the most significant change in decades to the country’s famed soft drug tolerance: turning marijuana cafes into “members only” clubs open solely to Dutch residents.

The Volkskrant reports that the city agreed in 2009 it would buy the building from ING if no-one else came forward within three months of completion.

Director Ann Goldstein said that the museum’s reopening will feature an exposition with works by Carl Andre, Rodney Graham, Joan Jonas, Melvin Moti and Diana Thater.

“It is threatening,” said Ahmet Azdural, director of Turkish lobby group IOT which was set up to promote minority issues. “In the last 10 years, the climate has really changed for immigrants and people who are different.”

Yesterday, Angelina and the girls went on a boat ride – and were spotted making funny faces at photographers as they took a break to eat lunch!

The store is located in the vault of the historic Amsterdamsche Bank, and it’s aptly dubbed “The Bank.”

Starbucks describes the store as a “laboratory” for new coffee concepts and the slow-food movement. It features a stage for performing arts, an open layout meant to facilitate interaction between customers, and a design intended to celebrate “local history and tradition” while “looking to the future.”

The man, who has not been identified, was detained for questioning after making the threat early Monday, a military police spokesman said.

After that, police say the employee started struggling with her and it continued outside. Gifford is accused of hitting the employee with her car as she drove off. The clerk was not hurt. Police found Gifford a short time later. She faces multiple charges.

Ralbag, a US-born rabbi who was made chief rabbi of Amsterdam in 2005, was temporarily relieved of his duties by the board of the NIHS after signing the “Declaration On The Torah Approach To Homosexuality” which called on “authority figures” to “guide same-sex strugglers towards a path of healing and overcoming their inclinations.”

The online document was signed by 180 other US rabbis. Ralbag signed the online petition as “Av Beth Din Agudas Harabonim (Union of Orthodox Rabbis) Rav of Congregation Ahavath Israel, the Young Israel of Avenue K. Brooklyn, NY.” He travels back and forth from Amsterdam to the US.

Contacted by The Jerusalem Post after his reinstatement, Ralbag sent a declaration saying: “I do not believe that I have to apologize to anyone for my Torah-based beliefs; nevertheless, I sincerely regret and apologize to anyone pained by the inaccurate portrayal of my views.”

He added: If a person wishes to live a Torah lifestyle, then that person must refrain from this form of sexual conduct. I am not here to excommunicate anyone from the community of Torah believers. Nor did I ever say that homosexuality is a disease or a sickness…when I use the word ‘healing,’ I am referring to a ‘healing-of-the-soul,’ a ‘spiritual-healing’…. My message was one of inclusion not rejection.”

In its declaration, the NIHS board spoke about the need to reexamine the current long-distance system, in which Amsterdam’s chief rabbi does not live there.

According to one person from the Jewish community involved in reconciliation talks between the parties, who spoke on condition of anonymity, “the message was that Rabbi Ralbag won’t be Amsterdam’s chief rabbi for long.”

The person added: “What happened is that both parties found a formulation that allowed them to climb down from their positions.”

Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that he found it “scandalous that a chief rabbi cannot state the Torah viewpoint for his community without being penalized.”