NATION/WORLD

BRIEFING

Small quake centered in Michigan

Detroit — Geological experts said a small earthquake centered in southwestern Michigan on Saturday has been felt around the state and other parts of the Upper Midwest, including Wisconsin.

U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Paul Caruso said the 4.2-magnitude temblor was recorded shortly after noon Saturday, with its epicenter about nine miles southeast of Kalamazoo near Galesburg.

There were no reports of damage or injuries.

Closer U.S. ties with Sri Lanka vowed

Colombo, Sri Lanka — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday championed the new Sri Lankan government’s push for democratic reform and promised closer ties with the strategically located Indian Ocean nation.

“In this journey to restore your democracy, the American people stand with you,” Kerry said, on the first visit to the island in a decade by the top U.S. diplomat.

Kerry met with President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. On Sunday, he planned to see leaders from the Tamil minority.

Sri Lanka’s government is determined to end years of international isolation linked to its long war with Tamil separatists, so it really rolled out the red carpet for Kerry. He entered the Foreign Ministry under a welcome sign bearing his image and was greeted by musicians playing horns and drums and dancers in silver breastplates as he proceeded down a long crimson rug. Samaraweera said Kerry’s visit “signifies our little island nation’s return to the center stage of international affairs.”

The last American secretary of state to come to Sri Lanka was Colin Powell, in early 2005 after the Indian Ocean tsunami. That was before fighting intensified between Sri Lanka’s government and the Tamil Tiger rebels, who wanted to create an independent state. The military crushed the rebels in 2009 in a final offensive that left tens of thousands dead and the two sides trading accusations of war crimes.

Airstrikes in Pakistan:

Pakistan’s military said airstrikes killed 44 suspected militants Saturday in the tribal region near the Afghan border. A statement said 28 suspected militants were killed when jets struck hideouts in the Khyber tribal region. It said separate strikes in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan killed 16 suspected militants, most of them foreigners. Pakistan’s military is in the middle of an operation to clear the tribal regions of militants.