Air China suspends North Korea flights

Air China suspends North Korea flights

BEIJING

State-owned airline Air China has suspended flights between Beijing and North Korea due to a lack of demand, deepening the North’s isolation amid mounting U.N. sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs.

An employee of the airline’s press office who would give only his surname, Zhang, said Tuesday flights were “temporarily suspended due to unsatisfactory business operations.”

Zhang, said the last flight was Monday and he didn’t know when they might resume.

Mall locked down after man sought service for gun

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.

A lockdown of a suburban Minneapolis mall apparently resulted from a man who carried a gun case into a sporting goods store in search of service on his gun.

Eden Prairie Center was locked down midday Tuesday. Police said a mall employee told them during the lockdown that the man with the gun case had entered the Scheels sporting goods store to have his gun serviced.

Police said when the man was told that location had no gun services, he left the mall.

Eden Prairie Center has 120 stores and restaurants, an 18-screen movie theater and an indoor play area in about 1.3 million square feet.

Video shows escape, shooting of N. Korean defector

SEOUL, South Korea

The U.S.-led U.N. command has released a dramatic video showing the desperate dash to freedom, shooting and rescue of a North Korean soldier.

The video released Wednesday shows the soldier speeding down a tree-lined road before he crashes his jeep. Soldiers from the North fire at him and give chase as he crosses the border. South Korean soldiers then crawl up to him and drag him to safety as North Korean troops gather on their side of the tense dividing line.

The U.N. command says the North violated the armistice agreement ending the Korean War by firing across and physically crossing the border in pursuit of the soldier. North Korean soldiers fired about 40 rounds. The defector remains hospitalized after two rounds of surgery that removed bullets from him.

Associated Press