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London, September 01: Fiji was Tuesday suspended from the Commonwealth after its military rulers failed to commit themselves to staging elections this year.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said the Pacific island-state stands “fully suspended from membership of the Commonwealth with immediate effect”.

“This is an announcement I make with deep regret – it is a step the Commonwealth is now obliged to take, and one that it takes in sorrow,” said Sharma.

Prague, September 01:A steam train left Prague Tuesday on a four-day journey to London in honour of Sir Nicholas Winton, a Briton who saved hundreds of Jewish children from deportation to Nazi concentration camps.

Winton, who turned 100 in May, saved 669 Jewish children from former Czechoslovakia on the eve of the World War II. He arranged to bring them to Britain by train and place them in foster families.

The Winton Train, as it is known, retraces the journey that had saved the children’s lives seven decades ago.

Ciudad Juarez (Mexico), September 01: Four men suspected of committing 211 murders in northern Mexico have been arrested, authorities said.

The killings occurred in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico’s most violent city, where the Juarez and Sinaloa drug cartels have been waging a turf war.

Cristian Enrique Franco Franco, 22, charged with killing 16 people, Edgar Flores Martinez, 30, who faces 87 murder counts, and Omar Castro Rivera, 28, who is suspected of killing 93 people, were arrested by the security forces.

London, September 01: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is to launch a baton relay – one of the longest in history – in the presence of President Pratibha Patil to lift the curtain on the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, organisers said Tuesday.

The Queen’s Baton Relay, a traditional event that has launched every Commonwealth Game since 1958, will be held Oct 29 at Buckingham Palace in London.

Taipei, September 01: Four members of former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian’s family were sentenced on corruption charges Tuesday but Chen himself is not scheduled to be sentenced until next week.

The Taipei district court sentenced ex-first lady Wu Shu-chen to one year in prison and the other three family members were given reduced sentences because they admitted their wrongdoing.

London, September 01: Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage’s famous Bel Air property in Los Angeles has been purchased by fashion designer Christian Audigier.

Cage’s mansion has been in the market for sale since 2007. The actor slashed the asking price by half early this year in a bid to offload the property, reported contactmusic.com.

It is not known exactly what Audigier paid for the house.

“I believe it was a one-to-one deal. Christian knows Nicolas and they did the deal between themselves,” said a source.

Washington, Sept 01: A Tamil journalist, J S Tissainayagam sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment in Sri Lanka for links with LTTE, and whose case has been highlighted by US President Barack Obama has bagged two prestigious international awards.

Global Media Forum and the US Branch of Reporters Without Borders yesterday announced that Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam has been selected as the first winner of the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism. The award would be presented in October.

Washington, Sept 01: The US has taken ‘very seriously’ the reports about illegal modifications made in the American-made Harpoon anti-ship missile by Pakistan, to expand capabilities to strike land targets, a potential threat to India, even as Islamabad has agreed for ‘mutual inspections’.

Los Angeles, Sept 01: Celebrity Indian-American fashion designer Anand Jon was sentenced to 59 years in prison by a court here for sexually assaulting aspiring models.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Wesley announced the judgement following a day-long passionate argument by 35-year-old Jon himself seeking a fresh trial.

In his ruling, Wesley said there were no new grounds for granting such a motion.

Jon showed no reaction as Judge Wesley said he should be incarcerated as long as possible for preying upon young girls and women.

Kabul, August 31: Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s share of the vote in the hotly disputed Aug 20 presidential election shrank to 45.9 percent Monday, but still ahead of his nearest challenger by more than 12 percent, according to official figures.

Figures posted on the Independent Election Commission’s website showed that former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah garnered 33.3 percent of vote with ballots tallied from 47.8 percent of polling centres in the country.