NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (AFP) - Suspected Maoist rebels have derailed a passenger train in eastern India, killing two people and injuring more than 40, a report said Friday.

JAKARTA, Nov 20 (AFP) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must remain at the core of regional affairs despite competing visions for a new Asia-Pacific diplomatic framework, the bloc's chief said Friday.

KATHMANDU, Nov 20 (AFP) - The legendary French movie star turned animal rights campaigner Brigitte Bardot has written to Nepal's president urging him to stop a mass animal sacrifice from going ahead next week.

MELBOURNE, Nov 20 (Bernama) -- One of two Malaysian men convicted of murdering renowned Sydney heart surgeon Victor Chang must remain behind bars for another year.

SYDNEY, Nov 20 (AFP) - Australian firefighters battled dozens of bush blazes on Friday as record-breaking hot weather sparked "catastrophic" warnings in two states, just months after the country's worst ever wildfire disaster.

BEIJING, Nov 20 (AFP) - Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie will visit North Korea soon, state-run media said Friday, amid efforts to draw Pyongyang back to nuclear disarmament talks.

BEIJING, Nov 20 (AFP) - China has ordered more accurate reporting of swine flu deaths after a doctor renowned for helping expose the scale of the 2003 SARS outbreak claimed the true number of fatalities was being covered up.

WELLINGTON, Nov 20 (AFP) - A cluster of Antarctic icebergs were heading towards New Zealand after being spotted around 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of the country, scientists said Friday.

STANSTEAD, Nov 20 (AFP) - Canadians in Stanstead and Americans across the border in Derby Line, Vermont once lived in harmony as one community, mostly ignoring the imaginary line that separates them.

Malaysia will step up the promotion of Muslim tour packages, including Ramadan attractions, for the Chinese market, said Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen.