WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama attempted to paint an optimistic vision of the future of the United States as he heads into his final year in office and works to cement the legacy of his eight years in office.

"I believe in change because I believe in you," he said, echoing themes from his 2008 election campaign in his final State of the Union address to Congress. "That's why I stand here as confident as I have ever been that the state of our union is strong."

Obama dismissed rhetoric from his political opponents and the slew of candidates attempting to replace him that the United States' economy and stature in the world are in decline.
 

"Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction," he said in remarks that took aim at the Republican candidates seeking to replace him in November elections.

The speech was short on concrete policy proposals. Obama instead said lawmakers must address big questions regardless of who the next president is, including: how to provide economic opportunity, make technology work for people, keep the U.S. safe and improve the political climate.

On foreign policy, the top priority is "protecting the American people and going after terrorist networks," Obama said, but stressed that Islamic State does "not threaten our national existence."

He renewed his call on lawmakers to pass an authorization for the military action in Iraq and Syria that he first requested more than a year ago to replace authorization provided after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Obama also urges Americans not "echo the lie" that Islamic State is representative of Islam, but to recognize Islamic State terrorists for "what they are – killers and fanatics who have to be rooted out, hunted down, and destroyed."

He praised the international climate deal reached in Paris last month, the Iranian nuclear deal and the fight against Ebola in West Africa.

He also called on Congress to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal agreed last year among 12 nations and to lift the half-century long trade embargo of Cuba.

Obama sought to expand his speech from a list of proposals for the next year to a broader discussion of the future.

"America has been through big changes before – wars and depression, the influx of immigrants, workers fighting for a fair deal, and movements to expand civil rights," he said.

"Each time, there have been those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes on change, promising to restore past glory if we just got some group or idea that was threatening America under control. And each time, we overcame those fears."

He urged lawmakers to rise above the partisan politics that have often put him at loggerheads with the Republican-controlled Congress and that will only intensify before the election.

A better future is in reach, he said but "it will only happen if we fix our politics."

Speaking directly to lawmakers, he said many had told him they would like to cooperate more, but are beholden to political donors or their partisan base.

He called on the American people not to fall victim to frustration, tribalism and bigotry.

"We can't afford to go down that path," he said. "It won't deliver the economy we want, or the security we want, but most of all, it contradicts everything that makes us the envy of the world."

Story: DPA / Anne K. Walters

MOSCOW — Russia could give asylum to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad if he is forced to leave his country, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published Tuesday.

"It was surely more difficult to grant Mr. Snowden asylum in Russia than it would be in the case of Assad," Putin told Bild, Germany's most popular tabloid, referring to former U.S. intelligence worker turned whistleblower, Edward Snowden, who was given asylum in Russia in 2013.

Putin said it was too early to say whether Russia would have to shelter al-Assad, whose country has disintegrated in a civil war that has lasted almost five years.

"First the Syrian population has to be able to vote, and then we will see if Assad would have to leave his country if he loses the election," Putin said.

Russia has been a key backer of al-Assad and in September launched an air campaign backing up the Syrian leader's overstretched army in its struggle against rebel groups and the Islamic State extremist organization.

In an apparent response to the interview, Syrian state news agency SANA quoted al-Assad praising the role played by Russia and Iran in Syria's "fateful war against extremist terrorism."

"Friendly states, foremost among them Iran and Russia, have had an important role in supporting Syria's resistance over the past five years," al-Assad told visiting Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli.

In his interview with Bild, Putin admitted that he thinks al-Assad has "done much wrong over the course of this conflict."

But he added: "The conflict would never have become so big if it had not been fuelled by outside of Syria – with weapons, money and fighters."

Putin reiterated Russia's position that it is supporting al-Assad, a longtime ally, in an effort to avert a failed state scenario such as in Libya.

"We do not want Syria to end like Iraq or Libya," Putin said. "Look at Egypt: one has to praise President Sisi for taking over the responsibility and power in an emergency situation, in order to stabilize the country."

When asked about al-Assad's military bombing fellow Syrians, Putin said: "Assad does not fight against his own population, but against those who take armed action against the government."

"If the civil population is then also harmed, it is not Assad's fault, but primarily the fault of the insurgents and their foreign supporters," Putin said.

However, he added that "once again, this is not supposed to mean that everything is fine in Syria or that Assad is doing everything right."

Putin also said his country would "resist" NATO member Turkey if that country threatens Russia's national security, referring to Turkey shooting down a Russian warplane in November on the accusation that the plane flew into Turkish territory.

"I very much hope that such events do not grow into large military conflicts. But if Russia's interests and security are threatened, Russia will resist. Everyone needs to know that," Putin said.

He added that, if Turkey attacks Russia, NATO does not need to get involved.

"Turkey is part of NATO, but it was not attacked. NATO therefore does not have to protect Turkey, and our problems with Turkey have nothing to do with the NATO membership of that country," Putin said.

"The Turkish leadership had better apologize for shooting the plane down, which was clearly a war crime, instead of calling NATO's headquarters," Putin said.

Story: DPA / Peter Spinella

PHNOM PENH — Travelers who discovered Phnom Penh over 20 years ago and remember the place for its scruffy charm would likely be surprised if they were to return today and taste its international cuisine.

Food and dining has undergone a huge change with a wide array of foreign dishes on offer, but at prices that are still affordable.

The main action is to be found along the Mekong riverside boulevard Sisowath Quay and its many lively side streets with their markets, garden restaurants and supermarkets. Across the river is the equally lively Tonle Sap boulevard with more than 100 restaurants and bistros.

Besides local dishes such as lok lak and hot and spicy stew, the fare offered by the international lineup of eateries will also include wiener schnitzel, grilled sausages, pizzas, filet mignon, bouillabaisse and freshly-pressed mango juice.

One keen observer of the scene is a former German fashion photographer, Peter Dahlke, who is one of the pioneering restaurateurs in Phnom Penh.

"The changes of the past 20 years have been enormous," says Dahlke, speaking in his restaurant, One More Pub, just a few minutes' ride in a tuk-tuk from the Mekong River. His specialties are of the European kind – steaks, flour dumplings and platters of French cheeses.

One particularly popular eatery is the Foreign Correspondents Club restaurant overlooking the Sisowath Quay scene from above.

In the past, war correspondents and United Nations staffers would meet here. Today the clientele is chiefly tourists. Occasionally a backpacker will stop by for a drink, but then head somewhere else to eat where the prices are cheaper.

Amid it all, the traveler will have to come to terms with the hard fact of poverty, evidenced by the many beggars out on the streets. Some have their hands held out, hoping for some coins, while children try to sell pirated copies of travel guides.

Many of the adult poor are physically maimed, a legacy of the horrors and suffering under the Khmer Rouge regime of dictator Pol Pot.

Many restaurant owners, be they Germans, French or locals – try to help the needy, aware that the flourishing tourism industry only benefits a tiny segment of Phnom Penh's 1.6 million inhabitants. Many families have barely USD$100 a month to get by on.

The Veiyo Tonle is one restaurant that gives donations to the needy. And the waiter there is all too happy to comply when a couple from Paris orders two extra meals that he can take later on to two hungry little girls sitting outside near the restaurant entrance.

Among other foreign restaurateurs who have added to the Phnom Penh restaurant scene is another German, Andreas Stanke. His refurbished Riverside Bistro right on the river is already about 20 years old.

Then there is Tassilo Brinzer, from Germany's southwestern city of Baden-Baden who each year stages a three-day Oktoberfest at the Cambodiana Hotel, complete with beer tent, sausages and sauerkraut. And, of course, beer.

The rest of the year, Brinzer runs his La Croisette bistro on the rivierside promenade, serving guests from many nations.

German sausage know-how is also offered by Rolf Lanzinger at his Danmeat store. The German is proud of the fact that even the Cambodian royal family are among the customers seeking his sausages and ham specialties.

"I am really happy that the world is now coming to Cambodia," Lanzinger says. "The people here suffered greatly in a horrific period. They are friendly and ready to help, and deserve to have some tourism."

Story: DPA / Bernd Kubisch

By Weedah Hamzah
DPA

BEIRUT – All the contents of an aid convoy have now been distributed to residents of the Syrian town of Madaya, where almost 30 people are reported to have died of starvation amid a siege by government forces, activists said Tuesday.

"We stayed most of the night distributing the supplies that entered," Mazen Burhan, a member of Madaya's humanitarian committee told dpa via Skype.

Some 44 truckloads of food and medical aid reached Madaya on Monday evening, the first such delivery since October. More supplies are expected on Thursday.

The United Nations said overnight that more than 400 people in rebel-held Madaya were on the brink of death and in need of immediate medical evacuation.

The town, some 25 kilometres north-west of Damascus in mountains near the Lebanese border, has been besieged by a combination of government forces and Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah fighters since July.

Images of emaciated corpses and reports that locals have been reduced to eating grass and leaves led to a worldwide outcry.

Red Cross spokesman Pawel Krzysiek, who accompanied the aid convoy into Madaya, said the effects of the siege on residents were obvious.

Children, women and elderly men he saw on the streets looked "pale, weak and skinny," Krzysiek told dpa by phone.

He confirmed that there was an urgent need for medical evacuation of patients suffering from severe malnutrition, as well as others who were suffering as a result of the limited medical facilities inside the town.

Burhan, the activist, said that locals feared that government forces and their allies in the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah movement would reimpose the siege once the aid delivery had been completed.

One local resident, talking to dpa via Skype, appealed for the siege to be completely lifted.

"We thank God and the good people of the world who worked on sending us the supplies, but we do not want them to stop work on lifting the siege," Abu Hussein said.

"After all, we are Syrian citizens and we have the right to live in our land and have food," he added.

To reach us about this article or another matter, please contact us by e-mail at: [email protected].