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Myanmar’s junta has pardoned ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi for some of the offences she denies – more than two years after she was detained as part of a military coup.

Sky News understands the clemency will not fully pardon her and that five charges have been dropped, while 14 remain.

The Nobel Laureate, who last week moved from prison to house arrest in the capital, Naypyitaw, has been in detention since the military seized power in a coup in early 2021.

According to local media, Ms Suu Kyi was taken to a government building last Monday.

She had spent a year in solitary confinement.

She is appealing against the convictions for various offences ranging from incitement and election fraud to corruption.

She denied all of the charges.

Myanmar Radio and Television reported the pardons on Tuesday but an informed source said she would remain in detention.

“She won’t be free from house arrest,” said the source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue, according to Reuters.

Former President Win Myint also had his sentence reduced as part of the clemency granted to more than 7,000 prisoners, which reportedly saw prison terms reduced in a religious ceremony.

The head of Myanmar’s military council, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, granted the clemency order to reduce the sentences in five cases against Ms Suu Kyi in which she was convicted for violating coronavirus restrictions, illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies and sedition, according to a report on state MRTV.

Read more from Stuart Ramsay for Sky News:
Getting inside Myanmar was a risk worth taking

The clemency was announced a day after Myanmar’s military extended the state of emergency it imposed when it seized power from Ms Suu Kyi’s elected government, forcing a further delay in elections it promised when it took over.

Ms Suu Kyi, 78, the daughter of Myanmar’s independence hero, was first put under house arrest in 1989 after huge protests against decades of military rule.

In 1991, she won the Nobel Peace Prize for campaigning for democracy but was only fully released from house arrest in 2010.

She swept a 2015 election, held as part of tentative military reforms that were brought to a halt by the 2021 coup.

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Scottie Scheffler: World number one golfer detained by police near PGA Championship course

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Scottie Scheffler: World number one golfer detained by police near PGA Championship course

World number one golfer Scottie Scheffler has been detained and handcuffed by police for reportedly attempting to get around a traffic jam caused by a fatal accident near a course.

Play in the second round of the US PGA Championship at Valhalla golf club in Kentucky was delayed following the incident in which a pedestrian was hit by a shuttle bus, according to Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD).

The 27-year-old was apparently attempting to drive past a police officer when he was stopped.

An unverified video posted online shows one officer leading Scheffler to a patrol car while another says to a camera: “Right now, he’s going to jail, he’s going to jail and there ain’t nothing you can do about it. Period.”

ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, who witnessed the incident, said on air: “Traffic had been backed up and building.

“Scottie Scheffler tried to enter Valhalla Golf Club using a side median, at which point a police officer instructed him to stop.

“Scheffler attempted to continue to go, the police officer then attached himself to the side of Scheffler’s car.

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“Scheffler stopped the vehicle as he turned into Valhalla Golf Club at the entrance, about 10 to 20 yards from the point at which the police officer first told him to stop.

“At that point the police officer instructed Scheffler to get out of the car.

“He rolled down the window, the police officer grabbed his arm and started pulling at it.

“He reached inside, opened the car door, pulled Scheffler out, pushed him up against the car, immediately placed him in handcuffs.”

A statement released by LMPD earlier, said officers had been called to reports of a collision involving a male pedestrian and a bus at around 5am.

It added: “As a result, the pedestrian received fatal injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene. The LMPD Traffic Unit is investigating.”

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French police shoot dead armed suspect who ‘planned to set fire to synagogue’

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French police shoot dead armed suspect who 'planned to set fire to synagogue'

French police have shot and killed an armed suspect outside of a synagogue, the interior minister has said.

The incident in Rouen, northern France, on Friday morning happened after the individual was intent on setting fire to the town’s synagogue, Gerald Darmanin said.

“I congratulate [national police officers] for their reactivity and their courage,” he added.

According to regional authorities, police rushed toward the man as smoke was rising from the synagogue.

He was carrying a knife and an iron bar when an officer shot him dead. His identity and motive are unclear.

Local broadcaster France 3 reported firefighters were at the scene. A city hall official said shortly before 8am that the fire had been brought under control.

Rouen mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol also said on social media the town is “bruised and in shock”.

He thanked first responders on the scene and said there were “no victims other than the armed individual”.

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The president of France’s Consistoire Central Jewish worshippers body Elie Korchia added police “avoided another anti-Semitic tragedy”.

France has already raised its security level to its highest level ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris over conflict in the Middle East, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the threat of terror attacks.

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Donald Trump trial star witness Michael Cohen accused of lying about hush money phone call

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Donald Trump trial star witness Michael Cohen accused of lying about hush money phone call

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former “thug” and “pit bull”, has been accused of lying about a phone call he says he made to the former US president about payments to ex porn star Stormy Daniels.

Cohen, a lawyer who worked for the Trump Organisation from 2006 to 2017, has been giving evidence in the case about hush money payments to Ms Daniels – in an attempt to cover up an alleged sexual encounter in 2006.

Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, called into question an important detail – a phone call made by Cohen to Trump’s assistant, Keith Schiller, on 24 October 2016.

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Cohen, 57, has maintained that during that call he spoke to Trump (who was either given the phone by Mr Schiller or placed on loudspeaker – we don’t know which) and told him he had paid Ms Daniels $130,000 in hush money on his behalf.

But Mr Blanche called this into doubt – showing the jury a number of interactions suggesting Cohen was in contact with Mr Schiller about a different issue at the same time, namely that he was receiving harassing phone calls and texts from a 14-year-old child.

“That was a lie – you did not talk to President Trump on that night, you talked to Keith Schiller about what we just went through,” Mr Blanche said.

Cohen said that, based on his records, he believes he spoke to Trump about the Stormy Daniels matter.

“We are not asking for your belief,” Mr Blanche said. “This jury does not want to hear what you think happened.”

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Pic: Reuters
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 16th 2024 in New York City, U.S. Steven Hirsch/Pool via REUTERS
Image:
Donald Trump in court on Thursday. Pic: Reuters

That exchange was part of several hours of questioning which apparently sought to paint a picture of Cohen as someone who is eager to see his former boss behind bars.

Mr Blanche played jurors audio clips of Cohen saying the case “fills me with delight” and that imagining Trump and his family in prison made him feel “giddy with hope and laughter”.

“Does the outcome of this trial affect you personally?” Mr Blanche asked.

“Yes,” Cohen replied. He is due to return to the witness stand on Monday.

Michael Cohen (right) leaves his apartment building in New York on Tuesday. Pic: AP
Image:
Michael Cohen (right) was Donald Trump’s fixer. Pic: AP

Cohen worked as the former president’s fixer. He once described himself as Trump’s “spokesman, thug, pit bull and lawless lawyer”.

He once said he would take a bullet for his boss and admitted at the end of questioning on Tuesday that he “violated my moral compass” while working for Trump.

Hush money payouts are not illegal, but Trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide it – a claim he denies.

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