U.S.: No 1-on-1 nuclear talks with Iran
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- There is no agreement between the United States and Iran to hold one-on-one talks on Tehran's nuclear program, an Obama administration official said Saturday.
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor issued the denial after The New York Times reported administration officials in Washington said the first-ever direct negotiations between the two countries were agreed to following what it called intense, secret exchanges.
"It's not true that the United States and Iran have agreed to one-on-one talks or any meeting after the American elections," Vietor said in a statement. "We continue to work with the P-5 [the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council] on a diplomatic solution and have said from the outset that we would be prepared to meet bilaterally."
The Times said word of the agreement to talk directly has circulated among a limited number of diplomats who deal with Iran. The newspaper said it's possible the talks could fail to materialize even if Obama is re-elected Nov. 6.
The Times said the American officials, who it did not name, said they were unsure whether Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has approved the negotiations. The Times said an administration official said the agreement to talk was reached with senior Iranian officials who report to Iran's supreme leader.
One official said some within the U.S. administration want to focus the talks on Iran's nuclear program, while Iran has indicated it wants to get into regional issues such as Syria.
"We've always seen the nuclear issue as independent," the administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We're not going to allow them to draw a linkage."
Cheaper gas on the horizon in U.S.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- American motorists will pay quite a bit less to fill their tanks in the coming weeks, national gasoline price watchers say.
USA Today reported Saturday that following a peak average price of $3.86 a gallon this month, prices will plummet about 50 cents a gallon. Lower demand and rising inventories are the reason, the newspaper said.
"Most of the country is heading appreciably lower the next few weeks," Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service said.
He said he expects retail prices to fall 5 to 15 cents a gallon each of the next three weeks.
Kloza predicts gas will fall to about $3.30 a gallon. Gasbuddy.com analyst Patrick DeHaan and energy analyst Brian Milne of Telvent DTN are forecasting $3.35 a gallon.
Some stations in central Ohio are already selling gas for under $3 a gallon.
Unless something unforeseen happens, prices could remain in that range through early 2013, USA Today said.
Czech Republic bad booze death toll at 29
PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- The death toll from a batch of bad booze reached 29 Saturday in the Czech Republic, a hospital spokesman said.
Slezska Hospital spokesman Daniel Svoboda told CTK news agency the latest victim was a 60-year-old man in Opava.
The methyl alcohol deaths started occurring in early September. CTK said in addition to the fatalities, dozens of people have been hospitalized with some of them going blind.
About 50 people have been accused in the tainted liquor scandal, including Pavel Caniga, executive of Likerka Drak, a liquor producer. Spirits containing poisonous methanol allegedly were found in the storage facility of the firm's distributor in Zlin, south Moravia, DTK said.
The government invoked a two-week ban on the sale of drinks with more than 20 percent alcohol in mid-September and exports were banned. CTK said the government also ordered that alcoholic drinks produced after Jan. 1 must have a new stamp and a "birth certificate."
3 people killed in fall from train roof
CAIRO, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Three people died and at least 12 others were injured Saturday when they fell from the roof of a train as it switched tracks, the Egyptian Rail Authority said.
Passengers vandalized tracks in the area after the accident, disrupting rail service between Cairo and Zagazig in the Nile Delta, Egypt Independent reported.
The train headed to Qalyub in the Delta made the track change to let an express train pass, the authority said.
In another transportation crash Saturday in lower Egypt, 55 kindergarteners on a field trip were hurt when their bus overturned into a canal. Most of the children walked away with only cuts and bruises, but at least two were reported to be in serious condition.
