White House rejects North Korea talks
The Bush administration rejected the notion of holding talks with North Korea on Tuesday and said it will not be intimidated by the recent nuclear missile tests the North Korean government allegedly launched Monday, according to the Associated Press.
"This is the way North Korea typically negotiates - by threat and intimidation," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told the AP. "It's worked for them before. It won't work for them now."
According to the AP, North Korean officials said the country would fire a nuclear-tipped missile if the U.S. does not participate in direct discussions with them. South Korea's Yonhap News Agency provided this information to the AP.
Instead, the United States and the United Nations are pursuing strict military sanctions that would include banning luxury and military goods being sold to North Korea, giving U.N. inspectors the ability to examine all cargo leaving and entering North Korea and freezing any assets connected to the nuclear weapons program, the AP reported.
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Oil prices drop below $60 a barrel
Oil prices dropped to $59 on Tuesday, the lowest price in over eight months, as analysts begin to doubt OPEC's previous promise to cut output by 4 percent, according to the Associated Press.
The AP reported that Saudi Arabian officials do not back OPEC's proposed cut of 1 million barrels a day. Other nations are wary of cutting production considering oil prices are double the amount they were in 2003 and despite the fact that oil prices have dropped 25 percent in recent months.
Crude oil prices also dropped Tuesday to $55.52 a barrel, the lowest price since mid-February, the AP reported.
OPEC is not scheduled to meet until December, according to the AP. OPEC has not cut supply since 2004, when it cut production by 1 million barrels per day when oil was trading for just over $40 a barrel.
Michael Guido, director of commodity strategy at Societe Generale in New York, told the AP that if the current decline in oil prices continues, consumers may see oil sold for less than $50 a barrel.
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