Noted filmmaker, Deepa Mehta, known for issue-based movies, will produce and direct a film from the 600-page script she will co-write with Salman Rushdie, based on the writer's prize-winning novel 'Midnight's Children'.

Jakarta  - The bodies of three Indonesian Muslim militants who were put to death by firing squad early Sunday for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings have arrived at their respective home villages for burial.

A helicopter carrying the bodies of brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas, alias Ali Ghufron, landed at Tenggulun village of East Java province, before being brought by ambulances to their relatives' residence.

Another chopper bringing the body of Imam Samudra had also reportedly landed at police headquarters in Banten's provincial capital of Serang, then brought by an ambulance to his family's residence, witnesses and media reports said.

Hong Kong  - Some of Asia's wealthiest people were Sunday preparing to shrug off the slump by spending hundreds of thousands of US dollars on a small, pungent, edible fungus.

The super-rich, including nine Hong Kong tycoons, were gathering in Tokyo to take part in the 10th Annual World Alba White Truffle Auction.

The Hong Kong bidders have a rich history in the annual charity auction and are favorite to win Sunday night's auction for the delicacy which is nicknamed "white gold" because of its rarity and high price.

Last year, the winning bid at the Alba Truffle Auction came from a consortium of property developers from Hong Kong who paid bid 208,000 US dollars for a comparatively small 750 gram truffle.

Washington - Congressional leaders Saturday joined president-elect Barack Obama's call for support of the ailing auto industry, sending a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to tap money from the 700-billion-dollar financial rescue package.

"A healthy automobile manufacturing sector is essential to the restoration of financial market stability, the overall health of our economy, and the livelihood of the automobile sector's workforce," said Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Havana/Miami - Cuba was battening down its hatches for the third powerful hurricane this season as Hurricane Paloma barrelled toward the Caribbean island Saturday with category 4 winds.

The center of the storm was expected to approach the coast of south-central Cuba Saturday evening and emerge into the Atlantic Ocean late Sunday, the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami reported.

Maximum sustained winds were 230 kilometres an hour, making Paloma an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the centre said.

Wellington - After nine years of liberal centre-left government, New Zealand has taken a decided swing to the right in Saturday's general election, but how far remains to be seen.

The conservative National Party's leader and prime minister-elect John Key says the organisation is "arguably more centrist and probably a little more pragmatic" since he became its leader two years ago.