The release of a United Nations report on mass atrocities committed by Sri Lankan troops influenced the decision by the Sri Lankan government to hold parliamentary elections in August, reports Reuters quoting government sources.

The UN report, widely expected to details massacres of Tamil civilians by Sri Lankan soldiers during the final phase of the armed conflict, is due to be released in September. With the possibility of a late August leak, incumbent Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena announced elections for August 17, well before any release is expected.

In doing so Mr Sirisena is attempting to stop an expected rise in popularity for former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was in power during the final massacres. A report that criticises Sri Lankan troops is believed to strengthen his popularity, reports Reuters.

The Union Minister of State for Transport, Pon Radhakrishnan, said India’s government is considering a proposal to establish a rail link between Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu and Talaimannar, in the Tamil-dominated North-East of the island.

The minister, speaking to reporters in Chennai, said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government is considering a proposal to establish a bridge to connect the two countries.

In June India’s road transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari, said that a proposal for bridging the divide across the Palk Strait had been submitted to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), for a pre-feasibility study and subsequent financing, however the Sri Lankan government said it has not held any discussions with India on this issue.

Sri Lanka’s former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapksa says he has applied to have his US citizenship cancelled.

Speaking to Ada Derana in response to conflicting reports regarding the forthcoming elections, the former president’s brother said he will not contest the polls in August, but that this decision was unrelated to the issue of his dual citizenship.

“This has nothing to do with my citizenship issue,” he said, adding that he has already taken measures to cancel his dual citizenship. “I’ve already handed over the relevant documents to the US embassy, in this regard.”

There have been repeated demands that the former defence secretary is prosecuted by US authorities, as he is a citizen of the country.

In March Mr Rajapaksa said that if he was to move to the USA, he would be prosecuted and sentenced to death by electric chair.

The Sri Lanka Press institute (SLPI) “vehemently” condemned the reactivation of the Sri Lanka Press Council by Maithripala Sirisena.

“As we urged for an international inquiry the government is now emphasi

The Sri Lankan military “organised and facilitated” a Hindu temple ceremony at a temple inside a High Security Zone (HSZ) in Jaffna on Tuesday, reports an official military website.

The annual festival of the Veeramanikkathevanthurai Sri Kanngathevi temple, which is situated inside the Myliddy HSZ, took place on June 30 with the Sri Lankan military overseeing festivities.

A senior Buddhist monk says President Maithiripala Sirisena told him he did not know about the nomination of Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest the forthcoming general elections.

Maduluwawe Sobitha, a key figure responsible for Sirisena's victory at January 8 vote, told reporters that he spoke with the president who claimed he was unaware of Rajapaksa getting a UPFA ticket.

The Jathika Hela Urumaya, one of the main coalition partners of the current government led by President Sirisena, says it will leave the UPFA.

The Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister, stressed that the “end of the war did not signify end of conflict,” whilst calling on Tamils in the US to assist in the creation of an environment that allowed Tamils in the North-East to thrive.

The former army commander and suspected war criminal Lt Gen Jagath Jayasuriya is thought to have been denied a visa to enter the United States for a private trip, the Daily Mirror reports.

The visa application is said to have been submitted in May for the trip at the end of June, but while Mr Jayasuriya's wife's passport was returned by the embassy, the former Chief of Defence Staff's passport had still not been returned.

When contacted by the Daily Mirror, a spokesperson for the US embassy in Colombo said that as a matter of policy, they cannot comment on individual cases. “That’s all we have to say at this moment,” he said.

The US has renewed its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits programme with Sri Lanka.

In a statement the Department of Commerce said “The US President signed into law HR 1295 on June 29, 2015 re-authorizing the US GSP Program until 31 December 2017 providing preferential duty free entry into US market for nearly 5000 products from 122 designated beneficiary countries and territories, including Sri Lanka.”

“The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington DC was an active member of the Alliance of GSP countries which joined other US stakeholders in advocating early renewal of the US GSP Program. In 2014, the United States has imported US $ 178 million worth of goods under the GSP program from Sri Lanka demonstrating 12.5 percent increase compared to 2013,” the statement further said.

A review on Sri Lanka's eligibility for the programme was initially carried out after a petition was filed in 2008, outlining shortcomings in Sri Lanka’s recognition of worker rights.