The government has blocked the Lords’ attempt to push through a law aimed at ensuring forced organ harvesting is barred from the UK’s public supply chain on Wednesday. MPs removed an amendment targeting the practice from the Procurement Bill for the second time after peers re-inserted it on Monday. If the clause became law, it would have allowed a contracting body to exclude suppliers found to be involved in forced organ harvesting, which is defined as “killing a person without their consent so that their organs may be removed and transplanted into another person.” Suppliers involved in the dealings of any devices, equipment, or services related to forced organ harvesting would also be excluded....Read more https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/government-rejects-lords-organ-harvesting-tweak-to-procurement-bill-5490749
Beijing on Sept. 13 seemingly offered a rationale behind the state’s partial ban on iPhones while denying that it would outright ban Apple products. “We noticed that there have been many media reports about security incidents concerning Apple phones,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday. Bloomberg reported that the official English translation of the remarks omitted the reference to media reports. “China has not issued laws and regulations to ban the purchase of Apple or foreign brands’ phones,” Ms. Mao said, adding that all companies operating in China need to adhere to regulations, and the government places “great importance” on security.... 
In its latest effort to prop up the faltering yuan, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) met on Sept. 11 to discuss how to stop the yuan’s rapid slide and arrest speculation, and it promised to maintain a stable exchange rate. Experts, however, believe that despite the talking up, the currency is slated to weaken further over the next three months, and PBOC measures are unlikely to bring about a lasting turnaround. “We will not hesitate on taking actions when necessary to firmly correct the one-sided and pro-cyclical market moves, to resolutely address the actions which disturb market order, and to unswervingly avoid the overshooting risks in the exchange rate,” the PBOC, the foreign exchange regulator, said in a statement after the meeting....
China has been preparing for war against the United States for over two decades, including forming new military services specifically designed to attack U.S. assets, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said on Monday. Speaking at the Air and Space Force Association’s 2023 Air, Space, and Cyber Conference on Sept. 11, Mr. Kendall said that China has been optimizing its forces “to prevail against the U.S.” in the Western Pacific for over 20 years. “China has been building a military capability specifically designed to achieve their national goals and to do so if opposed by the United States,” the secretary said in his keynote address....