China's new premier Li Keqiang on Sunday rejected U.S. accusations of hacking, saying that Beijing did not support cyber spying after President Barack Obama stepped up rhetoric on the issue.

"China itself is a major victim of cyber attacks," Li told a news conference after China's parliament meeting. "China doesn't support cyber attacks. Indeed we oppose such activities.

China's new President Xi Jinping said Sunday he will fight for a "great renaissance of the Chinese nation", as the world's most populous country completed its once-in-a-decade power transition.

In his first speech as head of state, Xi called for "the continued realization of the great renaissance of the Chinese nation and the Chinese dream", laying out a vision of a stronger military and ever-higher living standards.

At least 112,000 civilians were killed in the 10 years since the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq that ousted Saddam Hussein, a new report published on Sunday said.

Including combatants on all sides of the decade-long conflict, as well as yet undocumented civilian fatalities, the figure could rise as high as 174,000, according to the Britain-based Iraq Body Count (IBC) group.

The United States condemned the Syrian violations along Lebanese border, lashing out at warnings by the regime of President Bashar Assad that its forces would fire into Lebanon if "terrorist gangs" continued to infiltrate the country.

“The international community has to exert more efforts to isolate Lebanon from the Syrian crisis and prevent it from spilling over,” a U.S. diplomat told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday.

Residents of a South Korean island closest to the tense sea border with North Korea have shrugged off a warning from Pyongyang urging them to flee ahead of "thunderous attacks", an official said Sunday.

The North's official website, Uriminzokkiri, told residents of five islands south of the border to leave, warning of "devastating consequences" if recent cross-border tension escalates into a full-scale conflict.

U.S. conservative activists picked Tea Party favorite Senator Rand Paul on Saturday as their choice to become the 2016 Republican presidential nominee.

Paul, popular among the younger conservatives who thronged to the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, narrowly beat Senator Marco Rubio -- also tipped to seek the White House -- 25 to 23 percent in the CPAC Straw Poll.

The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq overthrew a dictator, but 10 years on the war is seen to have destabilized the Middle East, exposed the limits of military power and left America no stronger than before.

With U.S. forces having withdrawn after the deaths of almost 4,500 American troops and an estimated $1 trillion outlay, there is little soul-searching in Washington today about a war that has faded from public consciousness.

Afghanistan's leading religious body on Saturday warned the presence of U.S. troops in the country would soon be treated as an "occupation" unless the United States hands over detainees.

The fate of prisoners held in Bagram jail has been one cause of a sharp deterioration in U.S.-Afghan ties, with President Hamid Karzai repeatedly pushing to be given full control of the facility north of Kabul.

The United States is ready to abandon the final phase of its European missile defense system, a U.S. official said Saturday, in a move that could revive arms control talks with Russia.

As part of plans announced Friday to deploy more anti-missile batteries in Alaska to thwart potential strikes from North Korea, the United States intends to "restructure" its missile defense program in Europe, an administration official said.

A top Iranian military commander on Saturday told U.S. President Barack Obama that Tehran also had all of its "options on the table," echoing a warning to the Islamic republic by the American leader.

"Mr Obama, do not make a mistake: we too have all our options on the table. Before you get deeper in the region's quagmire, go back home!" Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri was quoted as saying on sephanews.com, website of the elite Revolutionary Guards.