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.

Pope Francis appeared before some 150,000 pilgrims massed in St Peter's Square on Sunday for his first Angelus prayer and asked the faithful to pray for him.

"Thank you for your welcome, and for your prayers," the first pope from Latin America said from a window of the papal apartment high above the square. "Pray for me," he added.

Oil-rich Abu Dhabi on Sunday officially opened the world's largest concentrated solar power plant, which cost $600 million to build and will provide electricity to 20,000 homes.

The 100-megawatt Shams 1 is "the world's largest concentrated solar power plant in operation" said Sultan al-Jaber, the head of Abu Dhabi's Masdar, which oversees the emirate's plan to generate seven percent of its energy needs by 2020 from renewable sources.

A French corporal was killed during fighting in northern Mali, bringing to five the number of French deaths since the January 11 intervention to oust armed Islamist groups, President Francois Hollande's office said Sunday.

The statement did not elaborate on the circumstances of the soldier's death and paid tribute to the French forces involved in "the final and most difficult phase of their mission" in Mali.

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.

Syrian rebels have seized several weapons depots in the village of Khan Toman in Aleppo province after days of fierce clashes, a military source told Agence France Presse on Sunday.

"Opposition fighters gained control over weapons and ammunition stores in the village of Khan Toman in southern Aleppo province on Saturday after fierce fighting that went on for more than three days," the source said.

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 body of a Hizbullah member killed in fighting in Syria was buried in southern Lebanon early on Sunday, several residents of the man's village told Agence France Presse.

"The funeral of Hassan Nimr Shartouni, 25, was this morning in Mays al-Jabal after the arrival of his body from Syria where he was killed in fighting yesterday (Saturday)," one resident told AFP.

A probe into the death of a man suspected of gang-raping a student on a New Delhi bus last December blames jail officials for failing to monitor him adequately, an Indian media report said on Sunday.

Ram Singh, one of six men on trial over the deadly assault which sparked mass protests across India, was found dead in his cell in the high-security Tihar Jail on Monday morning where he had been held since his arrest after the crime.

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.