New Delhi

Tokyo  - Naoko Yamazaki was selected to become the first mother and the second Japanese woman to travel into space, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Tuesday.

Yamazaki, 37, was chosen to board the US space shuttle Atlantis on a planned two-week mission in February 2010 to transport components to add on to the International Space Station, where Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi is to stay for six months starting around November next year.

"I would like to have a successful mission by fully demonstrating the result of training," Yamazaki said at a news conference in Tokyo.

Yamazaki's 6-year-old daughter, Yuki, had congratulated her mother for being chosen for the mission, she added.

Berlin  - The mood among German investors remains downcast, a key indicator to be released Tuesday is forecast to show, with the survey representing a key test of sentiment in Europe's biggest economy amid the fallout from the world financial crisis.

Drawn up by the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic Research, the ZEW index is forecast by analysts to have edged up slightly from minus 63 in October to minus 62 this month after signs that an element of calm has returned to global share markets after weeks of chaotic selling.

Wellington  - New Zealand's Labour Party, which was defeated at the weekend's general election after ruling since 1999, elected Phil Goff, 55, as its new leader on Tuesday.

Goff replaces Helen Clark, 58, who had led the party for 15 years, the last nine as prime minister. Clark resigned after the conservative National Party won Saturday's election. She is staying in parliament and will be Labour's spokeswoman on foreign affairs.

Goff, who has been a member of parliament since 1981, apart from three years when he lost his seat, has held the foreign affairs, trade and defence portfolios.

Annette King, 61, becomes deputy leader of the party, replacing former finance minister Michael Cullen.

Tokyo  - Japan's current account surplus shrank for the seventh-straight month in September, slipping 48.8 per cent to 1.5 trillion yen (15.17 billion dollars) as higher energy prices boosted imports, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.

Exports in September increased 2.1 per cent from the same month a year earlier to 7 trillion yen, and imports jumped 32.7 per cent to 6.79 trillion yen.

The goods and services trade surplus narrowed 94 per cent to 96.1 billion yen as overseas demand weakened.

The much-awaited movie of this year ‘Dostana’ is making waves much before its release. With each passing day, the noise about Dharma production’s upcoming film keeps on increasing.

The exciting promos of the movie starring Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham and Priyanka Chopra on the Miami Beach have already caught on big success.

Moreover, the special number ‘Shut Up and Bounce’ featuring the Bollywood hottie Shilpa Shetty is being much talked about.