An island off the coast of Jaffna has been declared a sanctuary for horses by the Sri Lankan government, reported The Island.

Wildlife Conservation Minister Vijith Wijayamuni Zoysa said yesterday that the government wants to protect and safeguard the animals. Zoysa also said that EPDP chief and Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister Douglas Devananda also requested the move.

The Sri Lankan government has sharply rebuked the British Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Hugo Swire, whilst rejecting the notion of a resolution being brought before the United Nations Human Rights Council in March 2014.

The comments by External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunathilake Amunugama, come after Swire spoke in the British Parliament, telling the house that Sri Lanka was regularly discussed with the UK's international partners and the contents of a resolution were being discussed.

An Australian hotelier, and founder of the Galle Literary Festival, has been denied entry into Sri Lanka after allegedly flying the Sri Lankan flag upside down.

Geoffrey Dobbs, who owns four luxury hotels in the Galle region, was accused of flying the flag upside down and at half mast, outside each of his hotels in the run up to the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting last month.

Shops and traders in Nagapattinam and Nagore are closed today, in solidarity with the over 3000 fisher folk protesting since Saturday for the release of over 100 fishermen, arrested and detained by the Sri Lankan Navy earlier this month.

Four further skulls have been found at a site in Thirukketheeswaram in Mannar, according to the police.

Last week construction workers found two human skeletons.

A spokesperson from the police told AFP,

"The Sri Lankan authorities have handled the case in a painfully slow manner... They are trying to brush it under the carpet in the hope that people will forget about what happened and that we will stop fighting for justice."

"We will never stop fighting for justice."

"The loss this family has suffered is unbearable and I've seen for myself the pain in the parents' eyes as they struggle to come to terms with what happened to their son".

"I do not want another Christmas to pass with Khuram's killers still walking free."

The Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse has urged expatriate Sri Lankans ‘from all communities’ to return to the island and support its growth.

Gotabhaya said the government was keen on creating an environment conducive for professionals to live and work in Sri Lanka, reported Colombo Gazette.