Chinese President Xi Jinping officially inaugurated the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Saturday, pledging to make the AIIB a "truly rules-based" regional lender.The inauguration of the AIIB is "historic" event and the new regional lender will become a "truly international, rules-based, high-standard" regional lender, Xi said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the AIIB in Beijing. Xi said the AIIB will become a "professional and efficient platform to promote infr

A dozen people have been found accountable for lapses that contributed to the massive mistaken shipment of live anthrax samples from a U.S. Army laboratory in Utah, an investigation report said Friday.They include Brig. Gen. William E. King, who then as a colonel commanded the Dugway Proving Ground laboratory between 2009 and 2011. The Army investigation report accused him of actions that "perpetuated a complacent atmosphere" among lab workers.Those oversight and laboratory deficiencies may have

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit China later this month for talks on North Korea, the State Department announced Friday, as Washington steps up efforts to win Beijing's cooperation for its push to punish Pyongyang for its fourth nuclear test.Kerry will visit Beijing on Jan. 27 for "meetings with senior leaders of the Chinese government to discuss a range of global, regional, and bilateral issues, including North Korea," the department said in a release without elaborating.Ahead of K

South Korea raised the travel advisory level for Istanbul on Wednesday, a day after a deadly terrorist attack killed 10 people and injured 15 others, including a South Korean college student.A Syrian suicide bomber targeted a popular tourist destination in the Turkish city on Tuesday, with the Islamic State jihadists blamed for the attack.South Korea had previously placed the former Turkish capital on the lowest travel advisory level of "blue" out of the four existing ones.The level has now been

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pledged Wednesday to cooperate on the U.N.'s move to deal with North Korea's latest nuclear test, Seoul's foreign ministry said.Lavrov delivered the message in a telephone conversation with his South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se.He was quoted as saying that Moscow agrees to the seriousness of the North's nuclear weapons development.He added Russia will actively participate in consultations at the U.N. Security Council to punish Pyongyang under the princi

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday that the alliance between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo should be strengthened in the face of North Korea's latest nuclear test."North Korea's nuclear test will never be allowed as it is a grave threat to Japan and South Korea in terms of national security," Abe said during a meeting with South Korean lawmakers in Tokyo.Pyongyang asserted on Jan. 6 that it has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, a claim disputed by outside experts but that still r

An explosion occurred in a popular tourist spot in Istanbul Tuesday, causing casualties including a South Korean national, according to officials here.The blast, probably from a suicide bomb attack, happened at Sultanahmet Square, the city's main tourist hub.It killed 10 people and injured 15 others, Turkish media reported.Those hurt include a South Korean citizen, according to the country's foreign ministry. A finger of the South Korean has been lightly wounded, it said, adding it's trying to s

An unidentified number of Koreans were injured during an explosion Tuesday in Istanbul, local media reported. The consulate general in the Eurasian country’s ancient city is examining the incident in the popular tourist hotspot of Sultanahmet, close to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, but the precise extent of damage remains unknown. A local tour guide told Yonhap news agency that two Koreans including himself suffered “slight wounds” such as on their fingers and “several” travelers from other

President Park Geun-hye will send the ruling party's floor leader to Guatemala this week for a presidential inauguration ceremony, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.Rep. Won Yoo-chul of the Saenuri Party plans to attend President-elect Jimmy Morales' inauguration set for Thursday.Won is scheduled to meet with "top-level" officials of the incoming Guatemalan administration and deliver South Korea's resolve to deepen bilateral ties, said the ministry.The two sides have maintained close partnerships

Mark Lippert, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, said Monday that the country's alliance with South Korea is "ironclad" in the face of North Korea's latest nuclear test."The U.S.-South Korea alliance is unshakable and strong like an ironclad," Lippert said during a meeting with lawmakers at the National Assembly.The National Assembly's foreign affairs committee invited Lippert to discuss actions by Seoul and Washington on North Korea's fourth nuclear test last week.Lippert also noted that B-52

The United States will work with allies and partners to "deeply isolate" North Korea and the communist regime will continue to remain "an outcast" unless it lives up to its denuclearization commitments, the White House chief of staff said Sunday.Denis McDonough made the remark in an interview with CNN in response to a question on what new steps the U.S. will be taking to punish Pyongyang for its fourth nuclear test last week that the North claimed involved a hydrogen bomb."As it relates to what

Calling North Korea a "disgrace," Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Sunday that China should solve the problem as Pyongyang's main benefactor or be forced to see its trade with the United States suffer.It was the latest in a series of remarks that Trump has been making since the North's nuclear test last week to underscore his point that China has "total control" over Pyongyang, and the U.S. should force Beijing to fix the problem of the North."I think North Korea is a disgr