Sri Lanka Blames China For Its Energy Crisis

January 31, 2014

Power and energy Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi blamed China for the  power shortages and high electricity prices in Sri Lanka saying the island’s biggest power station built by a Chinese company has suffered frequent breakdowns, The Business Standard reported today.

Pavithra Wanniarachchi

Wanniarachchi said problems with the 300-megawatt coal-powered plant, the largest single electricity generator in the country, was forcing Sri Lanka’s main state-run energy company to buy more expensive electricity from private firms.

“The coal power plant is breaking down frequently. We are asking the Chinese to fix it,” Wanniarachchi told reporters in Colombo. “These failures are not good for the image of China.”

The Lakvijaya Power Station at Norochcholai was commissioned in 2011 with the promise of reducing energy costs to Sri Lankan consumers. The second phase of the project which is due to add 600 MW of electricity is to come into operation soon. The US 1.2 billion dollar plant which has obtained the nick name of “Always breakdown” was build with high interest loans from China. The costs for this plant is paid for by the public of this county at a phenomenal interest of eight percent per annum.

According to the Central Bank the losses at the The Ceylon Electricity Board is more than Rs 60 billion.

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Gwynne Dyer: Greenland’s race for modernity

Houses in the settlement of Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland.

by GWYNNE DYER on JAN 29, 2014
GREENLAND HAS THE highest suicide rate in the world: one in five Greenlanders tries to commit suicide at some point in their lives. Everybody in Greenland (all 56,000 of them) knows this. In fact, everybody knows quite a few people who have tried to commit suicide, and one or two who succeeded. So it is really a good idea to subject this population to an experiment in high-speed cultural and economic change?

Greenland is not fully independent: Denmark still controls its defence and foreign affairs, and subsidises the population at the annual rate of about $10,000 per person. But Greenlanders are one of the few aboriginal societies on the planet that is dominant (almost 90 percent of the population) on a large territory: the world’s biggest island. And it is heading for independence.
So the debate in this soon-to-be country is about what to aim for. Do you go on trying to preserve what is left of the old Arctic hunting and fishing culture, although it’s already so damaged and discouraged that it has the highest suicide rate on the planet? Or do you put the pedal to the metal and seek salvation in full modernization through high-speed economic growth (while keeping your language and what you can of your culture)?
What’s remarkable about Greenlandic politics is how aware the players are of their dilemma and their options. “If you want to become rich, it comes at a price,” says Aqqaluk Lynge, one of the founders of the Inuit Ataqatigiit (Community of the People) party that ran the government until recently.
Lynge doesn’t want to pay that price, and under the Inuit Ataqatigiit administration, all mining was banned in Greenland. Quite apart from the environmental costs of large-scale mining operations, Lynge said, the many thousands of foreign workers they would bring in would have a devastating impact on what is already a very fragile Greenlandic culture.
But the Siumut (Forward) party won last October’s election, and new Prime Minister Aleqa Hammond sees things very differently. Essentially, she thinks modernization has gone too far to turn back now. Better to gamble on solving the current huge social problems (like suicide) by enabling everybody to live fully modern, prosperous lives. If you’re no longer marginalised and poverty-stricken, you’ll feel better about yourself.
With this in mind, she has issued more than 120 licenses for mining and petrochemical projects, including a huge open-cast iron-ore mine that would ship 15 million tonnes of high-grade iron concentrate a year (mostly to China), drilling platforms for offshore oil and gas exploration, and even mines to produce uranium and rare earths. She has made her choice, and she understands it.
In a recent interview with The Guardian while she was visiting Norway, Aleqa Hammond said: “The shock will be profound. But we have faced colonisation, epidemics and modernisation before. The decisions we are making (to open the country up to mining and oil exploitation) will have enormous impact on lifestyles and our indigenous culture. But we always come out on top. We are vulnerable, but we know how to adapt.”
Brave words, but few Greenlanders have the technical and managerial skills to get senior jobs in these high-risk, high-cost enterprises ($2.5 billion for the iron ore mine alone), and most of them will not want the hard, dirty, dangerous jobs of the workers in the mines and on the rigs. If all goes well, they will no longer depend on the Danish subsidies that currently keep their society afloat, but they will just be shifting to a different source of subsidies.
To the extent that a sense of cultural marginalization and defeat, and a life without meaningful work, is responsible for the Greenlanders’ problems, it’s hard to see how more money from a different source will help. Or how adding a few tens of thousands of foreign workers from places like China to the social mix will help, either.
The epidemic of depression and other psychological illnesses, the rampant alcoholism and drug use, and the tidal wave of suicides that plague the Greenlanders are not unique: almost all the aboriginal peoples of North America, and indeed elsewhere too, have elevated levels of these afflictions. In Canada, for example, the general population experiences a 12 per 100,000 rate of suicides, while aboriginal people in general have double that rate.
But the suicide rate among Inuit people in Canada is 10 times as high as it is among the general population—and among Inuit children and teens it is a staggering 30 times as high.
The Greenlanders live in a different country and have much more control over their lives, but they belong to the same Inuit culture that extends right across the high north from Alaska to Greenland. They also seem to share the same problems at the same heightened intensity, especially as regards suicide. These problems are unlikely to be cured simply by throwing money at them. It could even make matters worse.
Aleqa Hammond is damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t: leaving the people in their current predicament is not a good choice, but going flat out for modernization doesn’t feel like such a good option either. It would be a good time to call in the cultural engineers, if such a profession existed.

Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.

Researchers in Gaza ''Develop Cure for Hepatitis C''

Tim King Salem-News.com-Jan-30-2014

Essentially cut off from the world, they are hoping that scientists in Sweden will take interest in further testing. (Includes Swedish translation)

Salem-News.com

(SALEM/GAZA STRIP) - A team of researchers on the Gaza Strip say they have created a cure for hepatitis type B, and, more importantly, hepatitis type C. Needless to say, cut off from the world and constantly under threat of military attack from Israel, and oppression from the Hamas government inside Gaza, the people here live an endangered life. This accomplishment says a great deal about what Palestinians have to offer this world, and how those who succeed in reaching major goals face immense challenges in communicating their findings to the rest of the world.

The group conducted experiments on people who tested positive for hepatitis (B&C), and after the submission of these patients for the drug, all tested negative with the treatment ranging from 15 to 30 days.

The team says they are fully prepared to discuss the scientific theory with leading scientists. They say a treatment of their new breakthrough drug costs only half a euro.

"This change the world, there will be a quantum leap in the field of medicine," a member of the team said, adding, "We are confident in the discovery that we have reached. We need more medical laboratory scientific tests in order to complete the rest of the theories."

They say their goal was reached after eight years of conducting research on hepatitis type B & C, relying on their developed scientific theory. After testing many on this medication, which consists of several herbs.

They say the patients they treated for hepatitis type B and C saw a 100% success rate. There has been no cure for hepatitis C until now, however type B is considered treatable.

A scan of headlines in recent days shows other related stories about emerging cures for hepatitis C but the team in Gaza says they have the answer today. They are hoping that scientists in Sweden will take interest in further testing.

Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by infection with the hepatitis C virus. The virus causes liver inflammation, which interferes with proper liver function. Hepatitis C can eventually lead to severe, permanent liver damage and cirrhosis and may be complicated by liver cancer. Because the initial symptoms are mild, hepatitis C often goes unnoticed until years later when liver damage is discovered, utopiasliver.com explains.

"We have decided to dedicate this discovery to His Majesty King Carl Gustav and Queen, and this for several reasons; the Permanent Kingdom of Sweden and the Governments and people took a stand next to the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people." They also credit the generosity of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people.

"His Majesty the King showed his position when he wore a Palestinian scarf, we have decided to honor him in our own way."

The team sent a series of laboratory reports, they are attached below, I encourage those with an interest to study the documents, anyone who wants to reach out to the team in Gaza should write to my email below.

From Google Translator:

Ett team av forskare på Gaza säger att de har skapat ett botemedel mot hepatit typ B, och, ännu viktigare, hepatit typ C. Naturligtvis avskuren från världen och ständigt under hot om militärt angrepp från Israel, och förtryck från Hamas regering inne i Gaza, människorna här lever en hotad liv. Denna prestation säger en hel del om vad palestinierna har att erbjuda den här världen, och hur de som lyckas nå stora mål inför enorma utmaningar i att kommunicera sina resultat till resten av världen.

Gruppen utfört experiment på människor som testade positivt för hepatit ( B & C ), och efter inlämnandet av dessa patienter för drogen, alla testade negativt med behandlingen från 15 till 30 dagar.

Teamet säger att de är fullt beredda att diskutera den vetenskapliga teorin med ledande forskare. De säger att en behandling av deras nya genombrott drog kostar bara en halv euro.

"Detta förändra världen, kommer det att finnas ett stort steg framåt inom det medicinska området," en medlem av teamet och tillade," Vi är säkra på upptäckten att vi har nått. Vi behöver fler medicinska laboratoriet vetenskapliga tester för att slutföra resten av teorierna."

De säger att deras mål nåddes efter åtta år av att bedriva forskning om hepatit B & C, att förlita sig på sin framtagen vetenskaplig teori. Efter att ha testat många på denna medicin, som består av flera örter.

De säger att de patienter som de som behandlas för hepatit B och C fick en 100 % framgång. Det har ingen bot för hepatit C tills nu har emellertid type B anses behandlingsbara.

En genomsökning av rubriker under de senaste dagarna visar andra berättelser om nya botemedel för hepatit C, men laget i Gaza säger att de har svaret i dag. De hoppas att forskare i Sverige kommer att fatta intresse för ytterligare tester.

Hepatit C är en leversjukdom som orsakas av infektion med hepatit C-virus. Viruset orsakar leverinflammation, som stör ordentlig leverfunktion. Hepatit C kan så småningom leda till allvarlig och permanent skada levern och cirros och kan kompliceras av levercancer. Eftersom de första symptomen är lindriga, hepatit C går ofta obemärkt tills år senare när leverskador upptäcks, utopiasliver.com förklarar.

"Vi har valt att ägna denna upptäckt till Hans Majestät Kung Carl Gustav och drottning, och detta av flera skäl, den ständiga Konungariket Sveriges regeringar och folk tog ställning bredvid den palestinska saken och det palestinska folket ." De krediterar också generositet den palestinska saken och det palestinska folket.

"Hans Majestät Konungen visade sin ställning när han bar en palestinasjal, vi har beslutat att hedra honom på vårt eget sätt."

Laget skickade en serie laboratorierapporterär de knutna nedan, jag uppmuntrar dem som har intresse för att studera dokument, alla som vill nå ut till laget i Gaza borde skriva till min e-post nedan.                                               Read Full Article

Einstein And Buddha: Convergence Between Science And Eastern Philosophy

By Mahendra De Silva -January 31, 2014 

“Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.

“If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.  . (Albert Einstein)

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein is possibly the greatest scientist mankind has ever produced. His general theory of relatively created a revolutionary change on how scientists have viewed the world. He discovered that time and space is always related to the observer. His famous equation  E=MC2  revealed that matter and energy are interchangeable forms of same substance. Einstein being a genius did not confine his interest only on science. The views he has expressed on Religion, philosophy and politics indicates that he was a great thinker who tried to bridge the gap between science and philosophy or religion. Buddha gave us a great teaching which would lead to tap the maximum potential of the mind which will eventually lead to the understanding of everything happening around us and finally to liberate from the cycle of Sansara (Cycle of Birth and death). The difference between Einstein and Buddha is that while former was keen in finding answers to the phenomenon of outside world, Buddha used his own powers of observation within his mind (introspection), intellect and reasoning, grounded in reality, to guide him to his enlightenment. Both Buddha and Einstein did their research on a scientific basis. Buddha advised his followers NOT to accept what he was teaching them at face value or to take his beliefs “on faith.” Rather, he counseled them to test his theories for themselves, and if they didn’t prove true, then reject them.  Buddha found what he was looking for. Einstein after all his discoveries has to admit mankind does not have the wisdom to understand the all the mysteries of the nature. The purpose of this article is to examine the relevancy of some of Einstein’s statement to Buddhist teachings and also to present Einstein’s view about the religion.

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Ukrainian protester says he was kidnapped and tortured

Missing opposition activist Dmytro Bulatov found bruised and cut outside Kiev reportedly with hands bearing nail marks

Oksana Grytsenko in Kiev and agencies-Friday 31 January 2014

A Ukrainian opposition activist who went missing last week has been found covered in blood, saying he was kidnapped and tortured.

Ukrainian Protester Says He Was Kidnapped and Tortured by nelvely

US criticizes China as journalist forced to leave

By AP News Jan 31, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House criticized Thursday China’s restrictions on press freedom after a New York Times journalist was forced to leave the country.

The departure Thursday of Austin Ramzy came despite Vice President Joe Biden last month raising with China’s leader Xi Jinping the problems faced by journalists working for U.S. news organizations.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the U.S. is “very disappointed” over Ramzy and remains concerned several other U.S. journalists have waited months or years for a decision on their press credentials and visas.

Carney also urged China to unblock U.S. media websites and eliminate other restrictions on journalists, including on travel. He said in some cases, journalists face violence at the hands of local authorities.

“These restrictions and treatment are not consistent with freedom of the press — and stand in stark contrast with U.S. treatment of Chinese and other foreign journalists,” he said in a statement.

Ramzy is the second Times reporter in 13 months to leave the mainland over visa issues, as China intensifies efforts to control foreign media coverage. That appears to reflect wariness about foreign coverage seeping into the domestic audience and sensitivity about the country’s reputation abroad — particularly over reports about the wealth accumulated by relatives of top Communist Party leaders.

China last week blocked access on the mainland to the websites of several European and North American news outlets that carried reports of an investigation that showed the relatives of China’s president and other business and political leaders were linked to offshore tax havens.

Police and plainclothes security officers have harassed reporters in Beijing covering the trials of dissident and activists. Foreign reporters also generally deal with official intimidation of interviewees as well as bars on going to Tibet or troubled parts of ethnic minority regions.

MoD issues threats to TNA ahead of UNHRC


 29 January 2014
Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence has threatened to investigate the Tamil coalition party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), over the party's links to the LTTE, reports a pro-government newspaper The Island today.

Citing a 'senior MoD spokesman', the paper wrote that the investigation would 'focus on the close relationship between the LTTE and the TNA since late 2001, when the political grouping recognised the LTTE as the sole representatives of the Tamil speaking people.  Based on the findings, legal action would be taken against TNA members'.

Responding to The Island's question on the resolutions adopted by the Tamil led Northern Provincial Council on Monday, the Sri Lankan MoD official said, 

"We intend to investigate senior TNA members including those in Parliament and the Northern PC. The investigation is aimed at ascertaining how the TNA influenced the LTTE strategy leading to war in mid 2006."

The threat comes as Tamil organisations including the TNA prepare for the imminent UN Human Rights Council session in March. It also comes shortly after a threat of 'rehabilitation' was issued to the widely popular Northern Provincial Councillor, Ananthi Sasitharan, in order to curtail what the MoD official described as her separatist tendencies.
JVP 'had arms deals' with LTTE

Mr. Weerawansa has accused the petitioner of 'fleeing' from a SLA camp

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has vowed to defeat LTTE terrorism, is also accused of offering at least Rs. 1500 million to the Tamil Tigers before and after the presidential elections.

Sri Lanka parliament agreed to appoint a Select Committee to probe the alleged deal.

   15 February, 2008 

 Sri Lanka President's political ally, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), had secret arms deals with the separatist Tamil Tigers, a senior Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officer said.

Major General (retired) Vasantha Perera told Colombo district court that the JVP was angry that he conducted investigations on the alleged deals.

Maj. Gen. Perera said he informed the then government and took measures to prevent further deals between the JVP and the LTTE during late 80s.

'Era of terror'

The JVP's second armed uprising against the state was crushed down by the then government led by President R Premadasa.

The period was widely known as 'era of terror' as both parties terrorised people in the south with their heavy handed terrorist and anti-terrorist measures.

	Mr. Premadasa's Govt. is accused of 'crushing' the second JVP uprising

Over 60,000 people, majority of them Sinhala youth in the south, were killed during the uprising.

JVP leader, Somawansa Amerasinghe, publicly admitted that the party was responsible for at least 6000 deaths.

In a television programme on 09 February 2004, JVP propaganda secretary has accused Maj. Gen. Perera of 'fleeing' from SLA camp in Kanagarayankulam as fighting escalated with the LTTE.

Maj. Gen. Perera has worked at the Board of Investment (BoI) after retiring from the SLA as the accusations by Wimal Weerawansa went on air.

Sacked from the job

Mr. Perera has filed a defamatory petition seeking Rs. 50 million from Mr. Weerawansa saying the petitioner lost his job as a result of the accusations.

The JVP, the petitioner says, is angry that he informed the then government the alleged arms deals between the Sinhala nationalists and the Tamil Tigers.

	JVP leader (R) admitted his party killed at least 6000 during late 80s

The JVP that categorically oppose any devolution of power to resolve national question insists on militarily defeating the LTTE.

The party that actively campaigned for Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 2005 November presidential elections, has constantly accused the main opposition, United National Party (UNP), of secret deals with the LTTE.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has vowed to defeat LTTE terrorism, is also accused of offering at least Rs. 1500 million to the Tamil Tigers before and after the presidential elections.

Sri Lanka parliament agreed to appoint a Select Committee to probe the alleged deal.

Colombo district judge, Sisira Ratnayake, postponed the defamation hearing for 05 May.

Tamil People Are Gravely Harmed – ITAK Unanimously Resolves

January 30, 2014

The Central Committee meeting of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi was held on January 26, 2014 at the Town Hall, Trincomalee. The meeting was attended by representatives from all districts in the Northern and Eastern provinces.  The meeting which commenced at 10.30 a.m. under the chairmanship of R.Sampanthan M.P. President of the I.T.A.K. continued until 6.30. p.m.

R Sampanthan

The Central Committee conveyed its sincere thanks to the people of the Northern province who overwhelmingly supported the Tamil National Alliance, and gave the  Alliancea convincing victory at the Provincial Council Elections.

The Central Committee unanimously resolved that the Tamil people were gravely harmed as a result of the following vital issues relating to their future in the Northern and Eastern Provinces not being resolved, though almost five years have lapsed since the conclusion of the war.

.                                                                                                 Read More

Justice Delayed: 228 Diploma Holders From Northern Province Denied Right To Apply For Public Service Posts Allowed To Other Provinces

January 30, 2014

A Fundamental Rights application by 228 petitioners from the Northern Province was taken up in the Supreme Court today (January 30, 2014). The petitioners have stated in their petition that they hold a Higher National Diploma, which is a qualification that the state has consistently recognized as equivalent to a university degree for the purpose of entering the public service. However, according to their petition, these diploma holders have been prevented from applying for the post of graduate trainee in the public service. The petitioners have also alleged in their petition that similarly placed diploma holders from other provinces have been recruited into the public service as graduate trainees. The petition names the Minister of Public Administration & Home Affairs and the members of the Public Service Commission, amongst others, as respondents.

Justice K. Sripavan

The case was fixed for hearing on December 20, 2013 before the Supreme Court. On that occasion, the Attorney General’s Department filed a motion stating that the relevant Minister had submitted a Cabinet Memorandum that proposed to grant relief to the diploma holders. It was claimed that this Memorandum may have an impact on the petitioners as well. On that basis, the Senior State Counsel asked the Court to postpone the case, as there was a possibility of a settlement. However, no copy of this Memorandum was submitted to Court. The matter was taken off the argument list and fixed before Court on January 30, 2014.

On January 30, 2014 (today), State Counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents informed the Court, presided by Justice K. Sripavan, that the Cabinet Memorandum did not apply to the petitioners, and that it only applied to diploma holders from other provinces. Once again, the Cabinet Memorandum was not submitted to Court. Counsel appearing for the petitioners thereafter made an application to Court requesting an order compelling the respondents to produce the Memorandum. However, this application was refused. The matter is now re-fixed for hearing on September 29, 2014. An application to have the matter heard sooner was also refused. The petition was originally filed on July 31, 2012.

A pauper’s choice

 January 30, 2014  

“Today, only money talks. Intelligent people no longer come forward to contest elections. Women don’t contest. It’s only rich thugs who enter the fray” – Senior Minister D.E.W. Gunesekera, 31 August 2013.
On 31 August 2013, with less than a month to go for the historic Northern Provincial Council election Senior Minister D.E.W. Gunesekera publicly made some prophetic statements. Hailing the Tamil National Alliance candidate list, the Communist Party Leader said Supreme Court judges and former Parliamentarians of vast experience had been chosen to represent the country’s main Tamil party at the election that has meant the most to its people since 1989. “When they win, and they build their cabinet, their conduct will be a lesson for all other Provincial Councils in the country,” Minister Gunesekera said, in a speech that garnered very little publicity at the time.

A pauper’s choice by nelvely

International Pressure: A Necessary Counter To The Rampaging Rajapaksas

By Tisaranee Gunasekara -January 30, 2014

“Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people.” - Charlie Chaplin (The Dictator)

There is a particularly pithy Sinhala aphorism which, in inadequate translation, can be rendered as, ‘If both the fence and the bund eats the paddy, to whom do we tell our plight?’[i] In its original, it is an evocative expression of the tragic and despairing dilemma that is created when protectors turn abusers.

That dilemma is becoming increasingly familiar to Lankans, from North to South. In the absence of an independent judiciary, a non-partisan police and a free media, what is the recourse available to the ordinary and the powerless? To whom do we, the people, turn if the very instruments of justice turn unjust?

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Change In Political Language Of The North And Confusion In The South

By Athulasiri Kumara Samarakoon -January 30, 2014

Athulasiri Kumara Samarakoon

No Suicide Bombers, but Resolutions: Change in Political Language of the North and Confusion in the South

To say that the brutality of the LTTE’s violence does no more exist in Sri Lanka does not explain the entire political reality we are facing today. Otherwise, one can say, new forms of brutalities have emerged in the state under different agencies. However, the violent end of the war has created space for imagining new forms politics aimed at socio-political ‘change’ in the repressive state structure. Yet, none of the core leaders of the separatist movement, who fought till the end, has remained to reflect on the war’s violent lessons. Those LTTE soldiers, who have been detained and given a kind of rehabilitation, and those few remaining core leaders who deserted the LTTE at various points and have joined hands with the Government could still reflect on them at a time when the political leadership in the newly elected Northern Provincial Council have begun to re-write the language of politics sans violence.
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UNHRC urged against considering PSC route

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 January 2014, 12:33 GMT]

Genocidal Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s submissions to the UNHRC seek international pressure on the TNA and the UNP to take part in the deliberations of the deceptive Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC). Rajapakse has not implemented even a single recommendation of his own Commissions and Committees so far. On what grounds can the International Community guarantee that a future for the Tamils lies in Sri Lanka, questioned a media release of the Tamil Action Front, New Zealand, on Tuesday. The media release signed by Mr. A. Theva Rajan reminded Tamils and the international community to never subscribe to the continuity of the catalogue of deceits. 

UNHRC Urged Against Considering PSC Route by nelvely

U.S. Envoy to Visit Sri Lanka as Pressure Builds for War Crimes Inquiry

By GARDINER HARRISJAN. 30, 2014

A top State Department official is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka on Friday, just three days after the United States announced that it would again seek a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council pressing for an investigation into allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka.

Nisha Biswal, the assistant secretary of state for Central and South Asian affairs, is expected to meet with government officials, members of the opposition and others in Colombo, the capital. She is also expected to travel to Jaffna, a city in the heart of the Tamil-dominated Northern Province of Sri Lanka.

The visit comes as relations between the United States and Sri Lanka have become increasingly frosty, largely because, nearly five years after the end of a nearly 30-year civil war in which government forces battled the Tamil Tigers — a notoriously brutal insurgent group — the Sri Lankan government has shown little appetite for any robust investigation into possible war crimes.

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