China says Vietnamese vessels rammed its ships more than 1,000 times

A Vietnamese sinking boat (L) which was rammed and then sunk by Chinese vessels near disputed Paracels Islands, is seen near a Marine Guard ship (R) at Ly Son island of Vietnam's central Quang Ngai province May 29, 2014.

(Reuters) - China has accused Vietnam of ramming its ships more than 1,000 times in a disputed part of the South China Sea and said while it wants good relations with its southern neighbor, it would not abandon principles to achieve that. China claims most of the South China Sea and has over the past couple of years been taking various steps to assert its claim, raising tension in particular with Vietnam and the Philippines. A Vietnamese fishing boat sank on May 26 during a confrontation not far from where China has towed an oil rig, accompanied by a cordon of Chinese vessels, 240 km (150 miles) off Vietnam. The two sides have been trading accusations over the incident and last week, Vietnam state television broadcast video showed a large Chinese vessel steaming after two smaller Vietnamese fishing boats, then colliding with a Vietnamese fishing boat which then capsized. The dispute is the most serious deterioration of relations between the Communist states and traditional rivals since a brief war in 1979 following Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia. Shortly after China brought its oil rig into the area, Vietnam sent a large number of vessels, frogmen, and dropped numerous obstacles, including fishing nets, into the sea, China's foreign ministry said on Sunday. "As of 5 p.m. on 7 June, there were as many as 63 Vietnamese vessels in the area at the peak, attempting to break through China's cordon and ramming the Chinese government ships for a total of 1,416 times," the ministry said in a statement. "In the face of Vietnam's provocative actions on the sea, China exercised great restraint and took necessary preventive measures," the ministry said, adding that China sent ships to the area to ensure the safety of its operations. China has communicated with Vietnam more than 30 times at various levels, asking it to "stop its illegal disruption", the ministry said. "China wants good relations with Vietnam, but there are principles that China cannot abandon," it said. "The channel of communication between China and Vietnam is open." Scores of Vietnamese and Chinese ships, including coastguard vessels, have squared off around the rig despite a series of collisions after the platform was towed to the area in early May. Until the May 26 incident, no ship had sunk. The Haiyang Shiyou 981 rig is drilling between the Paracel islands occupied by China and the Vietnamese coast. Vietnam has said the rig is in its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and on its continental shelf. China says it is operating within its waters. The rig's deployment also set off anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam last month in which at least four people were killed. China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, displaying its reach on official maps with a so-called nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to parts of the potentially energy-rich waters.

Thousands of naked bicyclists stage festive Portland protest ride

Cyclists pour into the streets of Portland for the 11th annual World Naked Bike Ride June 7, 2014.

(Reuters) - Thousands of bicyclists, many of them stark naked, poured into the streets of Portland, Oregon on Saturday night for the 11th annual World Naked Bike Ride, a protest that promotes bike riding as an alternative to driving cars. Nude cyclists with lights flashing in their tire spokes rang bells as they barreled down avenues lined with cheering spectators, while a naked, apparently pregnant woman rode in a bike trailer. "This is a party, but it's also a protest," said Carl Larson, a ride spokesman. "It is about oil dependence, cycling vulnerability and body" image. Cyclists showed up in Normandale Park an hour before the ride, shedding garments according to the ride theme "as bare as you dare". The rides are held in more than 75 U.S. cities and in more than 20 other countries, but Portland's is believed to be the largest, with more than 8,000 participants last year. But unlike events in other cities, the Portland ride works with local police, being considered as a protest. Officers direct traffic during what is generally a trouble-free event. "We've had a few complaints from neighbors but overall not many issues of concern," said police spokesman Sgt. Peter Simpson before the ride, adding "for residents who don't want to see it, the best advice is to just not go outside." Jennifer Young, 40, who was at the ride with her 16-year-old son and was painted blue head to toe with fairy wings on her back, saw the goal as showing cyclists' vulnerability, saying "I think it's a little more evident when we're naked." Neighbors looked on as a marching band played and dancers kicked off the start. Later a naked punk band jammed from the sidelines as bikers rolled past. Fred Tebo, 90, wasn't sure want to think of the hoards of naked people in the park across the street from the house he has lived in since 1971. "It's entertaining and it's stupid at the same time," he said, sitting on his steps. But a few minutes later he let a young woman and man clad in their underwear use his bathroom. (Editing by Chris Michaud; Editing by Michael Perry)

Pope says Israelis, Palestinians must seek peace 'undaunted in dialogue'

Pope Francis speaks as he is flanked by Israeli President Shimon Peres (L) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) in the Vatican Gardens at the Vatican June 8, 2014.

(Reuters) - Pope Francis told Israeli and Palestinian leaders they "must respond" to their people's yearning for peace "undaunted in dialogue" during an unprecedented prayer meeting among Jews, Christians and Muslims at the Vatican on Sunday. The pope made his vibrant appeal to Israeli President Shimon Peres and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas at the end of a two-hour evening service in the Vatican gardens, an encounter he hopes will relaunch the Middle East peace process. "Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than warfare. It calls for the courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict; yes to dialogue and no to violence; yes to negotiations and no to hostilities," he said. The pope spoke after Jewish rabbis, Christian cardinals and Muslim Imams read and chanted from the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Koran in Italian, English, Hebrew and Arabic in the first such inter-religious event in the Vatican. At times the chanting made it seem that participants were in a synagogue or outside a mosque in the Middle East rather than a primly manicured triangular lawn, a spot the Vatican chose as a "neutral" site with no religious symbols. In his strong speech in Italian, Francis called for respect for agreements and rejection of acts of provocation. "All of this takes courage, it takes strength and tenacity," he said. Francis, who made the surprise invitation to the two leaders during his trip to the Holy Land last month, said that the search for peace was "an act of supreme responsibility before our consciences and before our peoples" and noted that millions around the world of all faiths were praying with them for peace. SPIRAL OF HATRED "We have heard a summons and we must respond. It is the summons to break the spiral of hatred and violence, and to break it by one word alone: the word 'brother'," the pope said as Peres and Abbas listened intently and read the live translations. He said the children who have been the innocent victims of wars and conflicts made the search for peace an imperative. "The memory of these children instils in us the courage of peace, the strength to persevere undaunted in dialogue," Francis said. It was the first public meeting between the two presidents in more than a year and took place more than a month after United States-led peace talks collapsed amid bitter mutual recrimination. Peres, who is 90 years old and whose mandate expires next month, departed from his prepared speech in English and Hebrew to say that he was an old man who had "seen war" and "tasted peace" and that all leaders owed their children a better future. Abbas prayed to God "to bring comprehensive and just peace to our country and region so that our people and the peoples of the Middle East and the whole world would enjoy the fruit of peace, stability and coexistence". The pope, the two presidents and Patriarch Bartholomew then planted an olive tree and members of each delegation shook hands as music played. The four later held private talks for about 20 minutes before the two presidents left the Vatican. NETANYAHU ABSENT The Vatican has played down any expectations that the meeting - billed as a "pause from politics" - will lead to any immediate breakthroughs in efforts to solve the region's tortuous problems and says it is not meddling in regional issues and does not want to get involved in details of negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the key Israeli decision-maker, is not attending and he refuses to deal with the Palestinian unity government, backed by Hamas Islamists, that Abbas swore in last Monday. Netanyahu has made no direct comment on the meeting, but in remarks on Sunday at a paramilitary police base in Jerusalem he suggested that prayer is no substitute for security. "For thousands of years, the people of Israel have been praying for peace daily. But until peace comes, we will continue to strengthen you so that you can continue to defend the State of Israel. Ultimately, that is what will guarantee our future and will also bring peace," he told the troops. But the fact that Francis's bold move has managed to bring together the two presidents at all shows his desire to engage political leaders, offering inter-religious dialogue as a building block. (Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Editing by David Goodman)

Five people, including two police, dead in Las Vegas ambush shooting

Metro Police officers are shown outside a Wal-Mart after a shooting in Las Vegas June 8, 2014.

(Reuters) - An armed man and woman shouting about a "revolution" opened fire and killed two Las Vegas policemen who were eating lunch in a pizza parlor on Sunday, then fatally shot a civilian in a nearby Wal-Mart store before killing themselves, police said. The two uniformed patrol officers, later identified as Alyn Beck, 41, and Igor Soldo, 31 - both family men - were ambushed without provocation shortly before 11:30 a.m. local time inside a CiCi's Pizza shop, authorities said. One of the two officers managed to return gunfire before the suspects fled to an adjacent Wal-Mart, where they killed a bystander inside the front door, then exchanged gunfire with police who pursued them further into the store, Clark County Sheriff Douglas Gillespie said. Moments later, the female suspect shot her accomplice to death, then took her own life, Gillespie told reporters at a late-afternoon news conference. A city police spokeswoman, Laura Meltzer, earlier told Reuters the two suspects died after they "engaged in what is being described as a suicide pact." She also said the suspects had grabbed the fallen officers' weapons before fleeing to the Wal-Mart, which Gillespie confirmed. Meltzer said preliminary information received by police at the scene, showed one or both of the suspects had yelled a statement, "This is a revolution" as they carried out the initial attack. Gillespie said in the statement this was unconfirmed. He said investigators were also at a loss to explain the attack. "What precipitated this event we do not know. My officers were simply having lunch when the shooting started," he said. He added: "It's a tragic day, a very difficult day. But we still have a community to police, and we still have a community to protect. We will be out there doing it with our heads held high but an emptiness in our hearts." He said no information was being released about the identity of the slain bystander, though the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the victim was a woman. Gillespie said the two slain officers had been on routine patrol in the East Las Vegas area when they stopped for lunch. The Review-Journal, citing an unnamed law enforcement official briefed on the incident, reported that the female suspect approached one policeman from behind and shot him in the head as he was refilling his soft drink, then shot the second several times as tried to draw his pistol. Beck had been with the police department since August 2001 and was married, with three children. Soldo had been on the force since April 2006 and was married, with a baby. (Additional reporting by Karen Brooks from Austin, Texas, and Steve Gorman from Los Angeles; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Eric Walsh and Clarence Fernandez

Zenfone 5 LCD Problem

taken from baidu forum : http://tieba.baidu.com/p/3092476964

His zenfone had this problem and Asus doesn't give warranty to him.

suddenly broken. didn't fall, I do not know Asus does not give me a guarantee

Zenfone 6 Blank screen problem

Put zenfone 6 to my bag, when i take it to use, zenfone 6 shown a black screen with  white light around the edges. Restart are not useful, consider to repair it

source:  http://tieba.baidu.com/p/3089402615

Asus bad quality control ?

Asus bad quality control ?