World digest 01/15/03

U.S. begins checking Turkish ports, air bases

MERSIN, Turkey -- A U.S. military team visited a port and two air bases in Turkey on Tuesday as part of a survey of sites American troops could use to attack Iraq.

The inspections are considered a first step toward stationing U.S. troops in Turkey, though the country has yet to give permission to base U.S. troops on Turkish soil.

The United States has asked for permission to base up to 80,000 soldiers in Turkey for a possible strike against neighboring Iraq and is impatiently pressing Turkey for an answer.

But Turkey has been reticent to commit, caught between the desires of its most crucial ally and a public overwhelmingly opposed to a war.

Paris basilica evacuated after explosives found

PARIS -- Police said Tuesday they evacuated the Sacre Coeur basilica after an explosive device -- but no detonator -- was found inside.

The device, apparently homemade, was put together with gas bottles and flammable liquids, police said.

An official at the church said the landmarkwas evacuated after what she described as a "suspect package" was found Tuesday morning.

Sacre Coeur, which sits on Montmartre hill, is one of the most visited tourist sites in all of France, drawing 8 million visitors last year.

Euro reaches three-year high against U.S. dollar

FRANKFURT, Germany -- The euro reached a three-year high Tuesday against the dollar, driven by fears of a looming war in Iraq and further U.S. economic weakness.

The euro rose as high as $1.0597 in European trading before ending the day at $1.0579, up from Monday's close of $1.0551. The last time the euro traded higher was on Oct. 27, 1999, when it was quoted at $1.0641.

The euro traded at $1.18 when it was introduced on financial markets on Jan. 1, 1999, but soon slid and reached an all-time low of 82 cents in October 2000.

U.S. peacekeeper found dead in Kosovo

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia -- A U.S. peacekeeper serving in Kosovo was found dead in his room at a military base, a statement from the main U.S. Camp Bondsteel said Tuesday.

The soldier, identified as Pfc. Justin D. Jasek, 19, from LaGrange, Texas, was found dead Monday in Camp Magrath near the town of Vitina, about 30 miles east of the capital Pristina.

Jasek, of the 1st Infantry Division, was deployed with NATO peacekeepers in this southern Yugoslav province.

Military police are conducting an investigation, a statement said.

Rally in Cyprus calls for acceptance of peace plan

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- More than 50,000 Turkish Cypriots, many waving olive branches and EU flags, rallied in northern Cyprus Tuesday to push for reunifying the war-divided island, a sign of increasing pressure on leaders to accept a U.N. plan.

The demonstration -- almost twice as large as a similar rally last month -- urged Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to fall in line with political leaders in Turkey who want him to negotiate a deal based on the U.N. blueprint.

The U.N. plan envisages unifying the island into a single country consisting of two component states linked by a weak central government with a rotating presidency.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974.

Queen leaves hospital after knee operation

LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday left the London hospital where she underwent a successful knee operation a day earlier.

The 76-year-old monarch walked out of the King Edward VII hospital with the aid of a crutch and got into a car to travel to her Sandringham estate in eastern England.

Buckingham Palace has said the queen is expected to be "fully active again within a few weeks" of the operation to remove torn cartilage from her right knee.

The palace said the queen had hurt her knee during a visit to eastern England before Christmas.

-- From wire reports