Briefs, February 22, 2013

Tibetan teenagers in double self-immolation

Two Tibetan teenagers died after setting fire to themselves in protest at Beijing's rule, reports said, in a rare double self-immolation. They were named as Sonam Dargye, 18, and a 17-year-old identified by US-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) only as Rinchen. They died on Tuesday in Aba prefecture, a Tibetan area in the north of Sichuan province, RFA said. The self-immolations followed the reported death on Sunday of 49-year-old Namlha Tsering in the middle of a busy street in Xiahe county in neighbouring Gansu province, RFA said. More than 100 people have set themselves on fire in protest at Beijing rule since 2009, according to reports. AFP

Apple supplier fined for polluting river

A company that supplies accessories for Apple was fined for discharging pollutants and damaging a river in Shanghai. RiTeng Computer Accessory dumped waste fluid into a drainage system, polluting a river in the Songjiang district of the city. The environmental protection bureau of Songjiang has ordered the company to seal off its discharge outlet and clear any waste remaining in the drainage network. Xinhua

300m yuan for Hebei county in poverty drive

Fuping county, a poor area in Hebei , has received 300 million yuan (HK$370 million) from the government - equal to one-and-a-half times the aid it has received in the past 17 years. State media recently quoted Communist Party chief Xi Jinping as saying that lifting millions out of poverty remained a major challenge. Laura Zhou