These smartphone makers are beating Apple in China www.cnn.com

Apple is having a rough ride in China, where its main revenue-generating product -- the iPhone -- is facing increasingly fierce competition from homegrown tech companies.
Apple's (AAPL, Tech30) overall sales fell 33% in China in the second quarter, compared to the same period last year. One reason for the decline is the rise of domestic smartphone makers like Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi.
Together, the four brands account for more than 56% of the Chinese market, according to research firm IDC. Their popularity has pushed Apple (AAPL, Tech30) down to fifth place in IDC's ranking of the top smartphone vendors in China, with an 8% share of the market. Meanwhile, upstart Gionee, which offers phones for less than $100, could also soon be a real competitor, according to Strategy Analytics.
In many ways, Apple's own success is to blame for its current challenges in China. The iPhone design has spawned countless imitations, making it harder for the device to stand out. But it has also struggled to keep up with local rivals' marketing strategies that have helped drive consumer demand.
On Apple's latest earnings call, CEO Tim Cook attributed the its quarterly drop in revenue to China's economic slowdown and the company's stellar year there in 2015 -- a hard one to top.
Here's the lowdown on the homegrown companies that are giving Apple a tough time:
Oppo
After releasing its first smartphone in 2011, Oppo has surged to become the second biggest vendor in China and No. 4 worldwide.
Its sleek phones -- like the 5.5-inch F1s "Selfie Expert" and flagship R9 -- look a lot like the iPhone 6S Plus. They emphasize quick charging (five minutes for two hours of talk); enhanced selfie camera features (including a blemish remover); and a lower price point than most devices with similar specs.
oppo R9
The Oppo R9
Oppo's success comes down to a few key strengths: its presence in smaller and mid-sized cities, use of celebrities to promote its phones and highly specific marketing campaigns.
To keep growing, the company will need to start wrangling more affluent customers away from Apple and Samsung in bigger cities. "That is the next battlefield," said Nicole Peng, China director at tech research firm Canalys.
But that won't be easy. Apple has the strongest pull of any brand -- 40% of existing customers choose to stay with it even when they upgrade their phones, according to Canalys.

Vivo
Oppo and Vivo are direct competitors, but both companies were developed by Chinese consumer giant BBK Electronics, Peng said. That's why there are so many similarities in the way they market their products.
Vivo also uses celebrity product ambassadors and has a strong retail presence in smaller cities. Its stores are set up to make the customer feel relaxed and at home while they play with new devices.
"This is still a more convenient option for consumers living in [smaller] cities, as they can easily head to one of the physical shops for after-sale services," IDC says in its report.
Vivo store
A Vivo store in Hangzhou, China. February 2016.
As the race for market share amps up, Oppo and Vivo may band together to compete, according to Peng. But they're both doing fine on their own right now.
Vivo, whose newer products include the V3 and V3 Max, is currently the third ranked smartphone vendor in China. It trails Oppo in market share by a few percentage points.

Huawei
By far the best known brand in China, Huawei is No. 1 in market share. It's third globally, behind Samsung and Apple.
The company just came out with a new line of Honor smartphones in China and the U.S. The Honor 8 is targeted to people who want a premium large-screen device for a mid-tier price.
huawei honor phone
Huawei hopes to woo U.S. consumers with the new Honor 8.
Within China, Huawei has also advertised its devices based on very specific features. In the Huawei P9, for example, the big to-do has been over its dual-camera.
Like its competitors, Huawei has recently hired famous people to promote its products. But IDC analyst Xiaohan Tay has doubts about this strategy.
"Hiring celebrity endorsers may help increase numbers in the short-term, but this alone may not be sufficient to drive numbers in the long run," she writes.

Xiaomi
Just like Apple -- a company to which it's often compared -- Xiaomi has seen its sales decline over the past year. According to IDC, Xiaomi now has less than 10% of the Chinese market, down from around 16% a year earlier.
The company built a lot of buzz in China by selling to customers directly online. Using flash sales as a promotion, products often sold out, which added to the perception of its popularity. But competitors quickly caught on to this business model and replicated it, says IDC's Tay.

"The hype for Xiaomi seemed to have died down recently," she says. "Their low-end Redmi products are the ones that make up the most of their shipments."
To try to combat the decline, Xiaomi has taken a page from its competitors' playbooks and started to hire celebrity endorsers and build physical retail stores.
A Xiaomi spokeswoman contested IDC's numbers about its performance, saying that reports from other firms like Strategy Analytics are "much closer" to the true picture. Still, the Strategy Analytics report also puts Xiaomi in fourth place after a steep drop in market share.

Bolivia minister killed by protesting miners www.bbc.com

The Bolivian government says its deputy interior minister has been kidnapped and killed by striking miners.
Rodolfo Illanes and his bodyguard were seized earlier on Thursday at a roadblock in Panduro, south of La Paz, official said.
Interior Minister Carlos Romero said "all indications" were that Mr Illanes had been murdered in a "cowardly and brutal" attack.
Two miners also died from gunshot wounds during clashes with police.
Mr Illanes was beaten to death at about 18:00 local time (00:00 GMT), La Razon newspaper quoted Defence Minister Reymi Ferreira as saying.
The authorities could not for the moment retrieve his body, the minister said. More than 100 arrests had been made, he said.
President Evo Morales had been "profoundly affected" by Mr Illanes's death, Mr Ferreira added.
While he was being held, Mr Illanes told Bolivian radio that a condition for his release was that the government negotiate with miners over new legislation.
The miners have been blocking a highway in Panduro since Tuesday.
The National Federation of Mining Co-operatives of Bolivia, once strong allies of President Morales, began what they said would be an indefinite protest after negotiations failed.
Protesters have been demanding more mining concessions, the right to work for private companies, and greater union representation.

Mercedes-Benz looks to KAMAZ to build car plant in Russia www.rt.com

Russian truck manufacturer KAMAZ is to partner Daimler AG in the construction of a plant to assemble Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles in Russia.

Europe hopes to prepare Ukraine for winter through three-party talks www.rt.com

Russia’s Nord Stream-2 pipeline is a 'bad deal' for Europe - Biden www.rt.com

Speaker meets GEIDCO chairman www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Speaker of parliament M.Enkhbold received Thursday Liu Zhenya, chairman of the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO) and the China Electricity Council (CEC), in the State House.

54 vehicles purchased during ASEM organization www.gogo.mn

Budget expenditure risen by MNT 2.3 billion this year. What was the reason of increased budget expenditure?
This year we have organized ASEM 11th meeting while took part in Rio 2016 Olympics which might caused the budget expenditure. 
According to the glass account of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which obliges the public bodies to make all transactions of the public expenditures and procurement over 5 million MNT (approximately 2,300 USD) open to the public on their websites, products bought in June in scope of ASEM organization have reached MNT 538 million. 
In addition, Mongolia purchased 52 pieces of Toyota Prius, installed police package equipment by total of USD 1,671,904 (per price is USD 32,152) and two Mercedes Benz with USD 258,222 for ASEM organization. The 52 vehicles were transferred to the General police department while two Mercedes Benz were transferred to the State security service.

Apple tackles iPhone one-tap spyware flaws www.bbc.com

Flaws in Apple's iOS operating system have been discovered that made it possible to install spyware on a target's device merely by getting them to click on a link.
The discovery was made after a human rights lawyer alerted security researchers to unsolicited text messages he had received.
They discovered three previously unknown flaws within Apple's code.
Apple has since released a software update that addresses the problem.
The two security firms involved, Citizen Lab and Lookout, said they had held back details of the discovery until the fix had been issued.

The text promised to reveal details about torture
The lawyer, Ahmed Mansoor, received the text messages on 10 and 11 August.
The texts promised to reveal "secrets" about people allegedly being tortured in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s jails if he tapped the links.
Had he done so, Citizen Lab says, his iPhone 6 would have been "jailbroken", meaning unauthorised software could have been installed.
"Once infected, Mansoor's phone would have become a digital spy in his pocket, capable of employing his iPhone's camera and microphone to snoop on activity in the vicinity of the device, recording his WhatsApp and Viber calls, logging messages sent in mobile chat apps, and tracking his movements," said Citizen Lab.
"We are not aware of any previous instance of an iPhone remote jailbreak used in the wild as part of a targeted attack campaign, making this a rare find."
The researchers say they believe the spyware involved was created by NSO Group, an Israeli "cyber-war" company.

Analysis: Dave Lee, BBC North America technology reporter
This is many ways a textbook case of the cybersecurity community acting precisely as it should. Researchers were alerted to a vulnerability, investigated it, and made Apple, the company responsible for fixing it, aware so it could issue a fix. Apple, to its credit, understood the severity and acted quickly - it took them just 10 days.
These types of vulnerabilities are rare and extremely lucrative. A genuine "zero day" - the name given to previously unknown security flaws - can be sold for upwards of $1m when it affects a major piece of software like Apple's iOS. In this case, it looks like several zero days were combined to make a hugely sophisticated attack package.
Now attention is shifting to the secretive organisation said to be behind the attack, the NSO Group, described by researchers as a cyber arms dealer, and described by itself as firm capable of being a "ghost" on victims' devices - working undetected but gathering enormous amounts of private data.
According to Privacy International, NSO Group has sold its products to clients in Mexico and in Panama - but little is known about other deals involving the company which is said to be worth more than $1bn.
Pressure is also being put on Francisco Partners Ltd, the San Francisco-based venture capital firm that has a controlling stake in NSO Group. It is yet to comment on the controversial attack.
"[It is] the most sophisticated spyware package we've seen," said Lookout.
"It takes advantage of how integrated mobile devices are in our lives and the combination of features only available on mobile - always connected (wi-fi, 3G/4G), voice communications, camera, email, messaging, GPS, passwords, and contact lists."
NSO has issued a statement acknowledging that it makes technology used to "combat terror and crime" but said it had no knowledge of any particular incidents and made no reference to the specific spyware involved.
"These are rather rare zero-day flaws," commented security expert Prof Alan Woodward, referring to the technical name for previously unknown vulnerabilities.
"To have several found at once is even rarer. As can be seen from how these have been exploited to date, it represents a serious threat to the security and privacy of iOS users.
"Apple has been remarkably responsive in providing fixes for these issues, so I would encourage any iOS users to update to the latest version of the operating system."

China, U.S. still in talks on trade pact despite challenges: Chinese commerce official www.reuters.com

Japan sees inflation hitting another low www.bbc.com