The route’s maiden flight will launch June 24, with 14 total flights scheduled until August 24 — an average of one flight every five days.

The airline’s announcement follows a route opening between Hong Kong and Hualien late last year, part of local government efforts to promote the eastern county as a tourism transportation hub outside Taoyuan and Taipei.

According to Hualien Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim, the routes give the local tourism industry a boost due to certain “political reasons,” and allows the industry to ween its dependence from Chinese tourists in favor of quality tours geared toward those who want a more in-depth experience with the eastern county known for its beautiful beaches and other natural wonders.

The unusual rally, drawing Chaplin fans of all ages from all over Europe, took place at a museum dedicated to the artist at his former home in Corsier-sur-Vevey, western Switzerland.

“There have been big Charlie Chaplin gatherings in the past, but this is the first to be certified by an officer of the law,” Annick Barbezat-Perrin, a spokesman for the museum, told AFP.

Chaplin was born in London 128 years ago on Sunday. He died on Christmas Day, 1977, aged 88, after spending the last decades of his life in Switzerland.

The Chaplin’s World museum, which opened a year ago on Sunday, also said that it had had around 300,000 visitors in its first 12 months of operation, far outstripping estimates of 220,000.

The South Korean and US military said the latest launch — conducted as tensions rose over the North’s nuclear ambitions — was a failure.

“The missile blew up almost immediately,” the US Defense Department said of the early-morning launch from near Sinpo on the North’s east coast.

The type of missile was not clear.

The test came after North Korea displayed nearly 60 missiles — including what is suspected to be a new intercontinental ballistic missile — at a parade on Saturday to mark the 105th birthday of its founder Kim Il-Sung.

It was also staged hours before Pence arrived in South Korea on a tour which will also include Japan, Indonesia and Australia.

North Korea has a habit of firing off missiles to mark major political anniversaries, or as gestures of defiance to top US officials visiting the region.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the latest test but had “no further comment”.

“It is likely that this launch is a test for a new type of missile or an upgrade so the possibility is high for further provocation in the near future,” said Kim Dong-Yub, of Kyungnam University’s Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said that by conducting the latest test just a day after showcasing a series of missiles, “North Korea has threatened the whole world”.

Tough stance

Last August a submarine-launched ballistic missile tested from Sinpo flew 500 kilometres (300 miles) towards Japan.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un hailed that test as the “greatest success” and said it brought the US mainland within range of a mobile delivery system.

Pyongyang’s rogue atomic ambitions have come into sharp focus in recent weeks, with Trump vowing a tough stance against the North and threatening unilateral action if China failed to help curb its neighbour’s nuclear programme.

Trump has repeatedly said he will prevent Pyongyang from developing a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland United States.

With speculation mounting that the North is preparing to conduct a sixth nuclear test, he sent an aircraft carrier-led strike group to the Korean peninsula.

But a White House foreign policy adviser travelling with Pence played down Sunday’s test, saying the missile — probably a medium-range one — failed after about four to five seconds.

While Washington had a “wide array of tools” at the president’s disposal, “for this particular case, if they (North Korea) took the time and energy to launch a missile that failed, we don’t need to expend any resources against that.”

Asked if a nuclear test was still expected, the adviser said Kim Jong-Un had stated he wanted to do both a nuclear test and a missile launch.

“We’ve seen one — it doesn’t prevent him from doing the other.”

The North has reiterated its constant refrain that it is ready for war with the US, and its army vowed Friday a “merciless” response to any US provocation.

Recent satellite images suggest its main nuclear site is “primed and ready,” according to specialist US website 38North, and White House officials say military options are already being assessed.

China, the North’s sole major ally, and Russia have both urged restraint, with Beijing’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi warning that “conflict could break out at any moment”.

The UN Security Council has imposed six sets of sanctions against the North since its first nuclear test in 2006 — all of which have failed to halt its drive for what it insists are defensive weapons.

Pyongyang has carried out five nuclear tests — two of them last year — and multiple missile launches.

It has yet to formally announce it has an operational ICBM, but experts and intelligence officials have warned it could be less than two years away from achieving an inter-continental strike capability.

Operational submarine-launched devices could give the North the ability to strike without warning from a vessel somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

They could also reduce the effectiveness of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), which Washington and Seoul are deploying in the South to counter missile threats, to the fury of Beijing.

On Monday Pence is scheduled to meet Acting President Hwang Kyo-Ahn for talks on the North’s weapons programmes and on THAAD.

The demonstrations were timed to coincide with the traditional April 15 deadline for annual tax filings, a massive date on the calendar for US households, and resulted in dozens of arrests.

For decades, US presidents and presidential candidates have released their returns voluntarily, although there is no legal obligation to do so. US law requires only the publication of a financial statement that estimates assets, including debt and revenue, but does not give details on the amount of taxes paid.

Trump, a billionaire property tycoon, released a financial statement but has kept his tax returns private, both during the election campaign and since taking office in January.

Protesters and political rivals have said he should make a fuller disclosure to remove any inkling of potential conflicts of interest between his business interests and his political decisions.

“Until he does, we’ll never know what he’s hiding or who his policies are designed to benefit,” said organizers of the “Tax March” demonstrations on its website.

“We need a president who works for all Americans — and a tax system that does, too,” it added.

At least 21 demonstrators were arrested after Trump opponents and supporters clashed at a march in Berkeley, California, US media said.

Real men pay their taxes

In Washington, several thousand protesters of all ages gathered in front of the Capitol building housing Congress, holding signs such as “What is he hiding?” and “Real men pay their taxes.”

A huge inflatable chicken with an orange-gold beak and a swirl of hair resembling Trump’s mane was displayed on the sidelines of the Washington protest, and at other venues.

It was seen by some as the unofficial mascot for the protest — to suggest that the Republican president was afraid, or chicken, to publish his records.

“If he’s got nothing to hide, he should release his tax returns,” said protester Liz Turner, 31.

Asked what she suspected was in them, Turner replied: “Maybe something to do with Russia?”

Ellen Lodwick, 67, a retired corporate researcher from Maryland who has participated in anti-Trump demonstrations since his November 8 election, cast doubt on the president’s businesses.

“There are probably many illegal or questionable investments in things that could affect how he looks at government and legislation, because he’s too connected,” she said.

The protesters then marched along Pennsylvania Avenue towards the White House, shouting “shame” as they passed by the Trump International Hotel.

Trump again at Mar-a-Lago

In New York, thousands also marched, and demonstrations were held from Boston and Philadelphia on the East Coast to Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles out West, and cities and towns in between.

The Berkeley protests saw hundreds gather at a park, including Trump supporters who held a free speech rally, while opponents of the president’s policies shouted and chanted. Several fights broke out, according to the East Bay Times newspaper.

Activists waved signs reading: “No! Pussy-Grabbing! No! Patriarchy! No! Fascist USA! Drive out Trump-Pence regime!” and “Fascist scum your time is done.”

Trump has justified his refusal to publish tax returns by noting they are being audited. Federal tax authorities say that does not bar him from releasing the documents. Trump has repeatedly said he has used legal loopholes to minimize his tax burden.

“Disclosing tax returns is the very lowest ethical bar for a president, and we are going to insist that he clear it,” Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, told the Washington crowd.

Trump was not in the capital during the demonstration; he is again spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, where several hundred “Tax March” protesters demonstrated outside Saturday.

“Pay your taxes!” several shouted One young girl held a small sign that read “Trump is a tax e-VADER” and showed an image of Darth Vader wearing a blond hairpiece.

Dandong city is the main crossing point to North Korea, and every day hundreds of tourists embark on small boats for a cruise on the Yalu border river and a fleeting glimpse of another world.

The boats approach within a few metres (yards) of the Korean shore, giving residents of the world’s second largest economy a view of their impoverished and sanctions-hit but nuclear-armed neighbour.

Further south, the border between North and South Korea is one of the world’s most heavily fortified. But the atmosphere is a great deal more relaxed along the Yalu river, even though the North’s ally China enforces a range of UN sanctions intended to curb its nuclear and missile programmes.

The sanctions have had a limited effect. After a huge military parade in Pyongyang on Saturday, the North Sunday defied international condemnation to test-fire another missile.

Tensions have been rising for weeks and the US has sent a naval strike group led by an aircraft carrier to the region. The North has reiterated it is ready for war with the US, and its army Friday vowed a “merciless” response to any provocation.

But the soldiers seen Sunday appeared notably relaxed — whether sitting on a bicycle, immersed in their reading or puffing on a cigarette next to women busily washing clothes in the river.

It’s a world away from the thousands of goose-stepping troops and missiles which packed Pyongyang’s Kim Il-Sung Square Saturday to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of the nation’s eponymous founder.

Unconcerned at the prospect of provoking an incident, one Chinese tourist uses a slingshot to shoot a stone into the river as the boat approaches Sinuiju, the North Korean frontier town linked to Dandong by the Friendship Bridge.

From a green wooden observation post, a North Korean soldier placidly watches the tourists through binoculars.

The river cruises are an important money-spinner in Dandong, where dozens of boats offer trips for a modest 70 yuan ($10).

The cruise vessels stop off at a boat where an enterprising trader sells North Korean products: eggs, cigarettes and alcohol.

In the wider world the tensions persist. Sunday’s missile test was a failure, according to South Korea and the US military.

But it came hours ahead of a visit by US Vice President Mike Pence to the South, where the North’s weapons programme will top the agenda.

Over 55.3 million Turks are able to vote in the referendum on sweeping changes to the president’s role which, if agreed, would grant Erdogan more power than any leader of Turkey since its founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and his successor Ismet Inonu.

Polling stations opened in Diyarbakir and other cities of eastern Turkey at 0400 GMT, an AFP correspondent said, with voting in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities getting underway an hour later.

Opinion polls, always treated with caution in Turkey, predicted wildly divergent scenarios with analysts saying the outcome remains too close to call despite the clear advantage in resources and airtime enjoyed by the ‘Yes’ campaign.

As the rival sides held rallies up until the last hour of legal campaigning Saturday to sway undecided voters, Erdogan confidently predicted that the ‘Yes’ camp had victory in the bag.

But he urged people not to succumb to “lethargy” in voting, saying “the stronger result the better”.

“A ‘Yes’ that emerges from the ballot box with the highest margin will be a lesson to the West,” he said in the Istanbul district of Sariyer, the last of a stamina-busting sequence of rallies.

‘Turning point’

If passed, the new presidential system would dispense with the office of the prime minister and centralise the entire executive bureaucracy under the presidency, giving Erdogan the direct power to appoint ministers.

The system would come into force after November 2019 elections. Erdogan, who became president in 2014 after serving as premier from 2003, could then seek two more five-year mandates.

But it could also have even wider implications for the key NATO member, which for the last half century has set its sights on joining the European Union.

Erdogan has warned Brussels that in the event of a ‘Yes’ vote he would sign any bill agreed by parliament to reinstate capital punishment, a move that would automatically end its EU bid.

Western reactions to the referendum outcome will be crucial, after Erdogan accused Turkey’s allies of failing to show sufficient solidarity in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.

“The referendum will mark another turning point, or rather crossroads in Turkey’s political history,” wrote Hurriyet Daily News chief editor Murat Yetkin.

Sinan Ekim and Kemal Kirisci of the Brookings Institution think-tank said in a report the changes if agreed “would set in motion the most drastic shake-up of the country’s politics and system of governance in its 94-year-long history”.

‘Bus with no brakes’

The opposition has cried foul that the referendum has been conducted on unfair terms, with ‘Yes’ posters ubiquitous on the streets and opposition voices squeezed from the media.

The poll is also taking place under a state of emergency that has seen 47,000 arrested in an unprecedented crackdown after the botched putsch.

Supporters see the new system as an essential modernisation step for Turkey but opponents fear it risks granting Erdogan authoritarian powers.

The standard-bearer of the ‘No’ camp, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, warned at his final rally that Turkey was deciding if “we want to continue with the democratic parliamentary system or one-man rule”.

He described the new system as “a bus with no brakes and whose destination is unknown”.

Key factors influencing the result will include whether the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) can perform the delicate balancing act of bringing both nationalists and conservative Kurds behind the new system.

Jihadists nabbed pre-poll

After a slew of attacks over the last year blamed on Kurdish militants and jihadists, security is set to be a major issue on polling day.

Authorities in Istanbul on Friday detained five people suspected of planning an attack on polling day, following the arrest of 19 alleged Islamist extremists in the Aegean city of Izmir earlier in the week.

The Dogan news agency said a total of 49 IS suspects had been detained in Istanbul alone over the last week.

More than 33,500 police officers will be on duty in Istanbul alone on referendum day, according to Turkish media.