A 53-year-old white British man plowed his minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who were celebrating the city’s Premier League championship Monday, as shouts of joy turned into shrieks of terror, injuring more than 45 people.

The driver arrested was believed to be the only one involved in the incident and it was not being investigated as an act of terrorism, police said.

Dave Kitchin of North West Air Ambulance said 27 people were taken to the hospital, with two suffering serious injuries, and another 20 people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. At least four children were injured.

Firefighters had to lift the vehicle to free four victims trapped beneath it. One of those injured was a medic who had been on duty on a bicycle.

A video on social media appeared to show a gray minivan strike at least one pedestrian and then veer into a larger crowd, carving a path through the group and pushing bodies along the street before coming to a stop.

Maduro’s party claims election victory

Venezuela’s electoral council, stacked with officials loyal to the autocrat Nicolás Maduro, claimed late Sunday that his party had won an overwhelming victory in regional and legislative elections.

No independent vote monitors were present, and critics called the election a performance designed to rubber-stamp a government approved by Maduro.

The results, announced on state television and presented without evidence, stripped the opposition of some of the last few positions it held, including the governor’s seat of Zulia, the country’s most-populous state, and the heart of its oil wealth.

Despite near-empty streets and polling places, the electoral council claimed that turnout was higher than 40%. The electoral council did not post the results online, as it had done in elections before 2024.

NATO leader urges moves to counter Russia

Representatives from NATO-aligned nations concluded a gathering in Dayton, Ohio, Monday to mark the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords, the agreement that ended the Bosnian war, amid Russia’s unprecedented drone offensive in Ukraine.

NATO formed in 1949 to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. It now includes 32 countries. Ukraine is not a member, but participants in NATO gatherings over the past week have said a victory against Russia in the 3-year-old war is crucial to European and global stability.

The anniversary was framed as a celebration of diplomacy and peace. The original accords were negotiated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in Ohio, and signed in Paris later that year.

“The Western Balkans has shown that peace is possible. But today Europe is not at peace. Russia has brought war back to Europe,” said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at Monday’s meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the culmination of the five-day gathering.

Rutte called on NATO member leaders to make the case at home for increasing military spending, suggesting that an increase to 5% of gross domestic product over the next few years could be reached next month, in line with demands from the NATO member U.S.

Divorce impacts children, study says

U.S. children whose parents divorce when they are age 5 or younger have reduced earnings as adults and increased chances by young adulthood of teen pregnancy, incarceration and death, according to a study released this month.

After a divorce, a household’s income typically is halved as a family splits into two households, and it struggles to recover that lost income over the ensuing decade. Families after divorce also tend to move to neighborhoods with lower incomes that offer reduced economic opportunities, and children are farther away from their non-custodial parent, according to the working paper by economists at the University of California, Merced; the U.S. Census Bureau; and the University of Maryland.

The three events — loss of financial resources, a decline in neighborhood quality and missing parental involvement because of distance or an increased workload required to make up for lost income — accounted for 25% to 60% of the impact divorce has on children’s outcomes, the study said.

Longtime N.Y. Rep. Rangel has died

Former U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, an outspoken, gravel-voiced Harlem Democrat who spent nearly five decades on Capitol Hill and was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, died Monday at age 94.

His family confirmed the death in a statement provided by City College of New York spokesperson Michelle Stent. He died at a hospital in New York, Stent said.

A veteran of the Korean War, he defeated legendary Harlem politician Adam Clayton Powell in 1970 to start his congressional career. During the next 40-plus years, he became a legend himself as dean of the New York congressional delegation and, in 2007, the first African American to chair the powerful Ways and Means Committee.

He stepped down from that committee amid an ethics cloud, and the House censured him in 2010. But he continued to serve in Congress until his retirement in 2017.

Rangel was the last surviving member of the Gang of Four — African American political figures who wielded great power in New York City and state politics.

Endurance swim marks ‘Jaws’ 50th anniversary

A British-South African endurance athlete on Monday finished swimming roughly 60-miles over multiple days, becoming the first person to swim all the way around the island of Martha’s Vineyard.

Lewis Pugh, 55, began swimming multiple hours a day in the 47 degree water on May 15 to raise awareness about the plight of sharks as the film “Jaws” nears its 50th birthday. He wants to change public perceptions and encourage protections for the at-risk animals — which he said the film maligned as “villains, as cold-blooded killers.”

“We’ve been fighting sharks for 50 years,” he said after completing the last 1.2 miles of the swim before exiting the ocean at the Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse, near where “Jaws” was filmed. “Now, we need to make peace with them.”

In total, Pugh swam for about 24 hours over 12 days.

— From news services