Sri Lankan editor ousted for offending president

The editor of a state-owned Sri Lankan newspaper, the Sunday Observer, has been fired because of he wrote a column that offended the president, Mahinda Rajapakse. The editor, Rajpal Abenayaka, refused a demand by the paper's management to resign but his job was given to another man and he was offered a consultancy, which he rejected. Abenayaka's column in the English-language Observer criticised the president for his lack of diplomacy. The press watchdog, Reporters without Borders, said: "This kind of sanction shows to what degree the state media are under the thumb of the government". (Via Reporters Without Borders)