Their country’s grip of the English language has long been a source of national pride for the Dutch. But some argue a line has to be drawn somewhere and, for the municipality of Amsterdam, that appears to be with the growing use of Shakespeare’s tongue by shops, restaurants and even high-end cheese retailers. The Dutch capital last year launched an initiative to curb the number of shops targeting tourists in its historic centre in its latest attempt to reclaim it for residents. In a court case involving the Amsterdam Cheese company – which has a store on Damrak avenue, a partially filled in canal in the centre – the dominant use of English has been highlighted as a problem.

The owners say they are “Dutch cheese heads” with a mission to “preserve the traditions of the past while embracing the new” and insist that English is the most accessible language to the majority of Dutch customers. The shop, whose slogan is “Say cheese to life”, was ordered to close late last year, losing their first – but not their last – appeal at the Amsterdam district court this week. The company’s advertising, products, pricing and use of the English language were said by the court to be clear indicators that the shop – one of five in the city – was there for the benefit of tourists rather than local consumers. “The official language in the shop is English,” the judge said in summary.(theguardian)…[+]

The Syrian rebel commander stared at photographs of his fighters on the hilly frontline at the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, their pickup trucks stalled in the mud after a torrential downpour of rain. “It’s going to be a tough battle, maybe five or six months,” he said. “[But] we have nobody except Turkey.”The image of the soldiers bogged down in a fight against Kurdish militants captured the central predicament of the Syrian rebel fighters, about 10,000 strong, who are spearheading a battle ordered by Turkey.

Abandoned by all other international allies and very nearly defeated, Syria’s armed opposition now finds itself waging a battle against Syrian Kurdish militias on behalf of Ankara, a patron that in recent months has pursued geopolitical and national security interests that are far more important to it than the opposition’s aim of ousting the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. It highlights the rebels’ deep dependence on Turkey, their one remaining benefactor, and the powerlessness of Syrians to determine the course of a civil war that has now lasted nearly seven years.(theguardian)…[+]

A clear majority of Irish people would vote in favour of liberalising abortion laws and allowing terminations on request up to 12 weeks, according to a poll released as the cabinet prepares to meet to hammer out details of a referendum on the issue.

In response to the question “Will you vote to change the constitution so that the government can legislate for abortion up to 12 weeks, or will you vote not to change the constitution?”, 56% said they would vote in favour, 29% said they would vote against, and 15% said they did not know or offered no opinion.Changing the constitution would mean repealing Ireland’s eighth amendment, which recognises the equal rights to life of a foetus and the mother during pregnancy and in effect bans abortion in almost all circumstances.(theguardian)…[+]