Cheng Li-wun is the Kuomintang's first sitting leader to visit China in a decade.

The rise in energy prices has hit Asia particularly hard as many nations are heavily reliant on Gulf oil.

The announcement came after a massive wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday which killed 303 people, according to health officials.

At least 182 people were killed and 890 others wounded, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

The requirement to obtain permission had gone largely unnoticed until a German newspaper reported on it.

The megastars kick off their grandest tour, the largest in K-pop history, in Seoul on Thursday after a nearly four-year hiatus.

Ex-President Yahya Jammeh's 22-year rule was known for enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.