Paris

He is a Muslim of Moroccan origin. He was 15 years old when his family migrated to Holland. He has a bachelor?s degree in engineering but he was first a journalist before going into politics. He has double-citizenship; Moroccan and Dutch. Ahmed Aboutaleb is 53 years old; he has been the mayor of Rotterdam for six years.

After Ahmed Merabet, a French policeman, was killed outside the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris last week, his brother Malek said: "My brother was Muslim and he was killed by two terrorists, by two false Muslims. Islam is a religion of peace and love."

For the Ottomans, the concept of ambassador as someone who was stationed in a foreign country where he represented his own country was late in coming. Nor was diplomatic immunity a concept that was honored 100 percent of the time. Certainly there were plenty of examples starting from the 17th century when the first European ambassadors applied for residency in Istanbul.

Five people were charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group in Belgium on Friday.

This comes after a series of anti-terrorist raids carried out by Belgian police on Thursday evening during which two suspects were killed, the BBC reports.

The armed man, who took hostages at a post office in the French town of Colombes, has surrendered to the police with no casualties suffered.

The abductor, who was in the possession of military weapons, took at least two hostages at the post office of Colombes, north-west of Paris, the Guardian reports.

Spain?s provision of Patriot air defense missiles to Turkey will ensure its security and stability as a NATO ally, Spanish Defense Minister Pedro Morenés has said.
   
Turkey was exposed to terrorist attacks because of its borders with conflict-ridden countries, Morenés told Anadolu Agency on Jan. 16 in Madrid.

A gunman has taken at least two people hostage at a post office in the Paris suburb of Colombes on Friday, according to French media reports.

The gunman claimed to be armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and grenades.

A helicopter was seen flying overhead the post office building in Colombes, about 10 km west of the centre of the French capital.

Secretary of State John Kerry clasped French President Francois Hollande in a warm embrace Jan. 16 and said the US shared France's pain after its deadliest attack in half a century.
      
In an unusual move, Hollande trotted down the steps of the Elysee Palace to greet Kerry, who hugged the French president in front of a phalanx of photographers.
      

The head of Bosnia's Islamic Community, Grand Mufti Husein Kavazovic, has condemned what he called "disgusting" a cartoon image of the Prophet Muhammed published in Wednesday's special issue of the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo.

It shows a weeping Prophet holding a "Je suis Charlie" ("I am Charlie") sign below the words "All is forgiven".

Belgium was on high alert Jan. 16 after two suspected jihadists were killed in a police raid, while German and French police made fresh arrests to put Europe on edge a week after the Islamist attacks in Paris.