US Politics Live Updates: China ‘seizes’ parts from Australian stealth jet

An Australian businessman who served as executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar has been released from jail after more than 100 days of detention on financial misappropriation allegations, a Myanmar legal official said Wednesday.

Ye Khaung Kyaw, also known as Danny, was freed following a ruling by a court in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, a legal official familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press.

Ye Khaung Kyaw and the two other men charged in connection with the case have said the allegations against them are groundless.

Acting Police Brigadier-General Soe Lin Aung, a spokesperson for Myanmar’s Home Affairs Ministry, confirmed that the court concluded proceedings in Ye Khaung Kyaw’s case on Tuesday but declined to provide further details.

It remains unclear whether he was convicted, had the charges dismissed or withdrawn, or was ordered to be deported.

Addressing the UN for the first time since coming to power, Venezuela’s acting president said her country is coming back strong after Trump ordered US troops to arrest her predecessor.

“Today, Venezuela is being reborn,” Delcy Rodríguez said in her remarks to the General Assembly.

Rodríguez took over in Venezuela after a surprise US military raid in January that captured then-leader Nicolas Maduro and brought him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.

She thanked Trump for being willing to resume US-Venezuela relations.

Rodríguez also told the UN that Venezuela would be holding elections adding that her government has started a “political dialogue with opposition sectors”.

The former vice president took over in Venezuela after a surprise US military raid in January that captured then-leader Nicolas Maduro and brought him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.

Eight US Navy members serving with the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group have reportedly attempted suicide since the beginning of their extended deployment.

The figure was in a letter from a top Navy official obtained by NBC News.

Earlier this year concerns were raised about the mental health impact on crew of the aircraft carrier, which was deployed for nearly 300 days, largely in the Middle East.

There have been no deaths attributed to suicide during the deployment.

The letter sent by US Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand includes details about the sailors aboard the Lincoln aircraft carrier, its air wing and the destroyers that are escorting the warship.

A US Navy official says  the number of sailors who jumped overboard while the Lincoln was in the Middle East  remains at two, as previously reported. They did not provide details about the other six attempts.

The pomp and ceremony Trump put on for Xi's welcome has not gone down well with one Republican senator.

Roger Wicker, a longtime ally of the US president, seemed unhappy with the 'lavish' treatment.

“Had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States, based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party,” Wicker said in a speech to the Senate.

He posted the speech on X, accompanied by a message for Trump.

"I know the President intends to discuss trade and AI with the Chinese leadership—and rightfully so. Perhaps some progress will be made.

"But, during every minute of dialogue, our commander-in-chief should keep in mind that his guest is a brutal, unelected, and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America."

Australian shares are tumbling in early trading on Thursday.

The ASX just opened in the red, 1.2 per cent down. The local bourse tracked earlier heavy losses on Wall Street.

American investors were spooked by a surprisingly strong report on the US economy that raised worries about inflation.

The price for a barrel of Brent oil, the global benchmark, jumped back to more than $US100.

A short time after Xi arrived in the United States, a top Trump official announced the US-China trade truce would be extended.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News the two superpowers would extend their truce to January 10. It had been set to expire in November.

Under the truce, the countries have agreed to scale back on tariffs on each other and not to impose restrictive trade measures.

The extension is “way shorter than China had hoped for,” Wendy Cutler, a former US trade negotiator and now senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told The Associated Press.

The Chinese government has reportedly seized parts of a F-35 stealth aircraft parts that were diverted to Hong Kong while being shipped from Australia.

Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the matter, reports shipping company UPS was transporting a cockpit canopy and weapons-bay door from an Australian military F-35 being sent to the United States during May  for inspection.

Both parts, supplied by defence contractor Lockheed, were coated with advanced radar-absorbing stealth material, sources say.

The Chinese government later confiscated the parts and has not returned them.

US media outlet Politico first reported the matter last week.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said this week officials were investigating.

"We’ve been made aware of this, and we’re obviously working with the United States and Lockheed in terms of how we can assist in this investigation," he said.

Let’s circle back to the United Nations meeting in New York, where on the sidelines, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a security deal with Ukraine’s leader.

Albanese and Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared a hug as the PM praised Ukrainian resistance in its bloody war with Russia.

“I think Russia thought it could just steamroll through in a matter of weeks, and what we have found is the people of Ukraine were underestimated,” he said.

Under the decade-long security agreement, Australia will provide an additional $60 million in support to Ukraine.

Trump’s top diplomat says Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to the upcoming G20 summit in Miami.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Rubio said the Trump administration was hopeful that Putin would accept the invitation despite differences over Russia’s war with Ukraine and other matters.

“In order to solve problems, you have to meet with the people that you disagree with or the people that you might have some issues with, so we’ve invited President Putin to the G20,” Rubio said.

Predictably, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been less enthusiastic about Putin.

In his UN speech, Zelenskyy called the Russian leader “patient zero”.

“Can you even imagine him without war? He is patient zero, the one from whom this idea of war keeps spreading further. And wherever it spreads, it brings only pain, instability, new risks, and of course, new crises,” the Ukrainian president told the General Assembly.

Trump will host G20 leaders at his Miami country club in December.

- With The Associated Press