The British government has rejected calls by human rights organisations to ban Sri Lanka from attending an event commemorating World War I.

Campaigners from Amnesty Scotland had called for the ban for the ceremony in Glasgow, but Westminster has dismissed concerns, according to the Herald Scotland.

A group of monks have raided and shut down an “illegal” Muslim slaughterhouse, which has been operating in Wattala for the past 12 years.

“I got a tip-off a week back from one of the residents of the area about the slaughterhouse,” Buddhist monk Dandeniye Samithananda told the Sunday Times.

“We decided to raid the place ourselves because the residents said that they have made series of complaints to the area police but action wasn’t taken to stop the operators.”

The monk, from a Buddhist temple in Kelaniya, said he was hiding outside the abattoir with other villagers, just after poya day, a sacred day every full moon for Buddhist, when the slaughter of animals is banned.

The Sri Lankan government claimed that the progress it has made in addressing human rights concerns and reconciliation is accepted by many in the international community.

Responding to criticism placed on Si Lanka in the General Debate of the 23^rd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, the Sri Lankan delegation expressed shock at Canada’s claims of “ on-going violations and human rights and lack of reconciliation in Sri lanka.

After deploying the usual rhetoric on resettlement, reintegration of ex-combatants, infrastructure development, the Sri Lankan delegate drew upon the nations membership and role in the commonwealth to validate claims of resettlement and reconciliation.

A senior Sri Lankan police officer - Colombo North's Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Vass Gunawardena - is a suspect in the murder of a Muslim businessman in Bambalapitiya last month, reports ColomboPage citing a local newspaper.

Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has not arrested DIG Gunawardena however. According to ColomboPage, sources in the police state that the CID is awaiting approval from the Inspector General of Police NK Ilangakoon, who is currently in Russia.

Young Tamil activists staged a demonstration outside the Swalec Cricket Stadium, where the Sri Lankan cricket team played their first game of the International Cricket Champions Trophy, in Cardiff today. Calling for a boycott of the Sri Lankan Cricket team, the activists handed out leaflets to raise awareness about the atrocities that were committed by the Sri Lankan government, and the on-going human rights abuses of  Tamils in the North-East of the island.

The activists handed out  leaflets to spectators that outlined the oppressive ground realities in Sri Lanka whilst inviting them to ask further questions about why a boycott of Sri Lanka was necessary.