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Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. Plane crash
A major rescue and recovery operation is under way on Washington’s Potomac River after a passenger jet collided with a military helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
A judge granted leave to the Kerry TD, meaning he can pursue his case after she was satisfied that he surmounted the “relatively low” bar of showing that he had an arguable case and that it had a prospect of success.
Trump made the announcement right before he signed the Laken Riley Act into law as his administration’s first piece of legislation.
“We’re going to send them out to Guantanamo,” Trump said in the White House East Room. He did not elaborate.
8. Jail sentences
Legal restrictions that force judges to hand down jail time to people convicted of a crime have been described as “inherently unjust” by one legal expert while an advocacy group has urged for them to be repealed, Muiris O’Cearbhaill reports for The Journal this morning.
‘Presumptive’ mandatory minimum sentences apply to certain crimes, including non-violent drug offences where the value of the substances seized is worth over €13,000. This measure meant that a 26-year-old man, with no previous convictions, received a six-and-a-half-year jail term this week after he pleaded guilty to driving a van loaded with €4 million worth of cannabis.
9. The Outlook
It’s a pretty mixed forecast for the upcoming bank holiday weekend, but there’s no particularly dramatic weather in the offing, according to Met Éireann’s latest forecast. Saturday will be breezy and dull, there’ll be some rain on Sunday and scattered showers on Monday. Not the worst for early February.
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