re: 598 just for interest sake sandune goblin
From Bloomberg this morning - by the way - Bloomberg also has gold at $602.US, kitco about as reliable as public transport in Port Moresby.
Cheers.
Bush Says World Must Double Efforts on Iran Nuclear Talks
By Richard Keil and Catherine Dodge
Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said the U.S. and other nations must ``double our effort'' to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons in the wake of reports Tehran has taken additional steps toward uranium enrichment.
The U.S. should ``work with the international community to persuade the Iranians that there is only isolation from the world if they continue working forward on such a program,'' Bush told reporters at the White House after meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
Bush has been trying to rally world support for new sanctions on Iran if the nation doesn't halt its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Yesterday, Chinese President Hu Jintao and French President Jacques Chirac pledged to work together to push Iran to abide by an Aug. 31 United Nations deadline to freeze the production of nuclear fuel.
Iran's ISNA news agency reported that Iranian scientists have begun feeding gases into centrifuges designed to enrich uranium, a development that could bring Iran closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The U.S. is pressing the UN Security Council to punish Iran for refusing to stop enriching uranium, saying the Islamic Republic is working to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran says the purpose of its program is to fuel power stations.
Afghanistan
Bush said he and de Hoop Scheffer discussed the NATO-led peacekeeping effort in Afghanistan, where the government of President Hamid Karzai is trying to repel a resurgent Taliban.
``You know what I know -- that the real challenge for the future is to help people of moderation and young democracies succeed in the face of threats and attacks by radicals and extremists,'' Bush said.
De Hoop Scheffer said NATO is ``trying to assist the Afghan government to establish democracy, to establish human rights.''
NATO has expanded its mission in Afghanistan and now has responsibility for security in most of the south and east of the country. NATO commanders have said more than 1,000 Taliban fighters have been killed in recent months in an operation that targeted insurgents in Kandahar province's Zhari and Panjwayi districts.
NATO has about 31,000 troops in Afghanistan representing 37 nations, which includes 11,250 U.S. troops under its command performing counter-insurgency operations. The U.S. has another 10,000 troops in Afghanistan under separate U.S. command on counter-terror operations including the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Keil in Washington at [email protected]
