U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday he will introduce legislation to beef up and standardize personal data protection on the Internet.

"Right now, almost every state has a different law on this, and it's confusing for consumers and it's confusing for companies -- and it's costly, too," Obama told the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. consumer protection agency.

President Barack Obama rallied to the support of France on Friday after the bloody end to hostage sieges in Paris, vowing to offer all assistance to combat the threat of militant Islamists.

"I want the people of France to know that the United States stands with you today, stands with you tomorrow," Obama said at a speaking engagement in Tennessee, describing France as America's "oldest ally."

U.S. President Barack Obama praised Friday Sri Lanka's "successful and peaceful" presidential elections and congratulated the outgoing administration on a "swift and orderly transfer of power."

"Beyond the significance of this election to Sri Lanka, it is also a symbol of hope for those who support democracy all around the world," the president said in a statement.

U.S. President Barack Obama has invited Tunisia's first democratically elected president to visit Washington, the White House said Monday.

Beji Caid Essebsi won Tunisia's first free presidential election last month. The revolution that toppled long-time ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali four years ago unleashed the so called Arab Spring.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday sent a New Year's greeting to U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, saying the two countries share mutual responsibility to ensure world peace.

In a statement showing Putin's New Year's messages to heads of state across the world, the Russian leader addressed Obama despite the crisis in U.S.-Russian relations over Ukraine, saying the "Russian-American partnership could have been developing successfully."

The last French troops in Afghanistan held a ceremony in Kabul on Wednesday to mark the end of their deployment after NATO combat operations closed down and as a new "train and support" mission takes over.

About 150 French soldiers who had been helping run the military airport handed over responsibility to a Turkish unit which will operate under the new NATO mission.

The United States expressed concern Wednesday over the plight of several dissidents detained by Cuba, just two weeks after Washington's historic move to normalize relations with Havana.

"We are deeply concerned about the latest reports of detentions and arrests by Cuban authorities of peaceful civil society members and activists," the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

Strategic and tough sanctions against Moscow have effectively battled Russian President Vladimir Putin's aggression in Ukraine, US President Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast Monday.

Obama recalled how Putin had convinced many in Washington that the Russian leader "was a genius" for his lightning-quick annexation of the Crimean peninsula and invasion of areas of eastern Ukraine.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Washington was not ready to open an embassy in Iran due to differences over nuclear policy, a position that contrasts with his new approach to Cuba.

"I never say never, but I think these things have to go in steps," Obama said in an interview with National Public Radio that aired Monday, regarding re-opening the long-shuttered U.S. mission in Tehran.

Russia has invited U.S. President Barack Obama to Moscow next year to mark the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, a Kremlin adviser said.