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Kyodo news summary -8-
[August 08, 2011]

Kyodo news summary -8-


(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, Aug. 8 -- (Kyodo) _ ---------- New Tibetan leader resolves to strengthen free Tibet movement DHARAMSALA, India - Lobsang Sangay was on Monday sworn in as the new prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile and immediately resolved to strengthen the Tibetan freedom movement.



Sangay, 43, an expert in international law, said in his inauguration speech that for the next five years, with unity, innovation and self-reliance the Tibetan administration will strengthen the freedom movement, and sustain it for another 50 years.

---------- Maehara calls for promoting economic exchanges with Russian-held isles SAPPORO - Former Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara on Monday stressed the need to promote economic exchanges with four Russian-held islands claimed by Japan off Hokkaido, after returning from a visit to one of the disputed islands under a bilateral visa-free exchange program.


"When I was a foreign minister, I proposed economic exchanges in a way that would not harm Japan's legal stance" toward the islands, said Maehara, who visited Etorofu Island as part of a tour under the exchange program. "I thought it would be great if (Japan and the island) could cooperate in the areas of fishing, sightseeing and medical services," he told a press conference in Nemuro, Hokkaido.

---------- Elpida posts 7.87 billion yen group net loss in April-June qtr TOKYO - Microchip maker Elpida Memory Inc. said Monday it posted a 7.87 billion yen group net loss in the April to June quarter against a profit of 30.67 billion yen a year earlier, on a plunge in sales due to falls in microchip prices and the yen's appreciation.

The maker of dynamic random access memory chips said its consolidated sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 plunged 45.7 percent to 95.72 billion yen.

---------- Nippon Life boosts premium revenues 18.7% in April-June TOKYO - Nippon Life Insurance Co. said Monday its insurance premium revenues in the April-June quarter expanded 18.7 percent from a year earlier to 1.36 trillion yen.

But its basic profit in the first half of fiscal 2011 fell slightly to 128.74 billion yen from 129.45 billion yen from a year before due to a drop in earnings from foreign investment trust operations.

---------- Study says nuclear fuel at Fukushima reactor possibly melted twice TOKYO - Fuel inside one of the reactors at the crippled nuclear complex in Fukushima Prefecture, which was believed to have been kept cool at the bottom of the pressure vessel after its core suffered a meltdown, has possibly breached the vessel after melting again at the bottom of the vessel, an expert's study showed Monday.

The study by Fumiya Tanabe, an expert in nuclear safety, said most of the fuel at the No. 3 reactor may have fallen into the containment vessel underneath, and if so, the current method used to cool the reactor would need reviewing, which could force the plant operator to revise its schedule to contain the five-month-old disaster.

(c) 2011 Kyodo News International, Inc.

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