A person has died following a collision between a car and a train shortly before 9am today, June 25.

Two people were in the car at the time of the crash.

One was pronounced dead at the scene, and a child has been taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Lindsay Hoyle, Chorley MP and Speaker of the House of Commons, said he is in contact with the Minister of State for Rail and Network Rail.

He said: “I was very sorry to hear of the tragic accident that occurred at Hoghton level crossing today and am in contact with both the Minister of State for Rail and Network Rail.

“I extend my sincere condolences to the family and friends of all those involved.”

Several trains between Preston and Blackburn have been cancelled due to the crash.

Tricia Williams, managing director of Northern, said: “We can confirm the 7.51am Colne to Preston service was involved in a collision with a car at a level crossing in Hoghton this morning.

“Our thoughts are with the person who sadly died in the collision and the other passenger in the car who has been taken to hospital.

“There have been no injuries reported from passengers or staff who were on the train.

“We are now working to support the emergency services, Network Rail and Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) and will co-operate fully with the investigation into what happened.”

British Transport Police, paramedics, and the fire service attended the scene.

A British Transport Police spokesman said: “We are currently on scene at a level crossing in Hoghton, Lancashire, following reports at 8.50am today (June 25) that a train had struck a car.

“Two people were in the car, and, sadly, one was pronounced dead at the scene, the other is being taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

“There have been no other injuries reported from passengers on the train at this time.

“Enquiries to establish the full circumstances of this incident are ongoing, and anyone who witnessed what happened who hasn’t already spoken to police is asked to text 61016 quoting reference 152 of June 25.”

A spokesperson for the North West Ambulance Service said: “North West Ambulance Service responded to an incident in the Hoghton area of Lancashire after reports of a collision between a train and a car at 8.50am today (25 June).

 “Several clinical teams attended the scene, including our hazardous area response team and two air ambulances.

 “Sadly, a child has sustained life-threatening injuries and has been taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital for further treatment.

 “No passengers travelling on the train required treatment from ambulance crews.”

Lancashire County Councillor, Usman Arif, said: “Thoughts and prayers are with the families of the person who sadly died in the incident this morning in Hoghton near Preston, I hope the injured child makes a swift recovery.

“Many thanks to Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service for their efforts in tackling the tragic incident.”

Police are urging anyone who witnessed the incident and has not yet spoken to officers to get in touch by texting 61016 and quoting reference 152 of June 25.

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday halted President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to create a federal voter list and limit who can receive a mail ballot.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, sided with a coalition of nearly two dozen states that challenged the Republican president’s order in granting a summary judgment. Her ruling applies to this year’s midterm election cycle.

Plaintiffs argued in two lawsuits, both filed in federal court in Boston, that Trump’s order should be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. The judge agreed, saying in her ruling that the provisions of Trump’s order seeking to create a federal list of eligible voters and using the U.S. Postal Service to determine who can receive a mail ballot are “legally void” because they “unconstitutionally violate the separation of powers.”

It was the second ruling in as many days against executive orders Trump has signed seeking oversight of the nation’s elections. A separate ruling Wednesday prohibited an executive order he had signed last year that would have required people to show documents proving their citizenship when registering to vote.

Order targeted mail voting, administration likely to appeal

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, whose state was among the plaintiffs, celebrated the court’s decision.

“Millions of independents, Republicans and Democrats across Arizona have voted by mail for decades,” she said in a statement, noting that nearly 80% of ballots in the state are cast by that method.

Mayes, a Democrat, singled out military families, voters in the state’s rural expanses and Native Americans who cast ballots from tribal lands.

“Donald Trump’s executive order targeted all of these voters,” she said. “But today, the courts affirmed what the Constitution makes clear: States run their elections, not the President.”

Trump’s executive order, the second one aimed at elections during his second term, comes as he continues to raise the specter of widespread voting by noncitizens as a reason to change election rules. But states already have detailed processes aimed at keeping their voter rolls accurate, and voting by noncitizens has been shown to be rare. It also is a felony that can be punishable by deportation.

Trump issued his second order in March after a bill he supported to overhaul voting stalled in Congress. The order would have had the federal government — through the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration — create a “state citizenship list” of eligible voters. It then directed the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to those on the list.

Election officials argued that it was ripe for abuse and could cause chaos.

The Postal Service has published a proposed rule required by Trump’s executive order in the Federal Register. Among other things, the rule would not apply to primary elections or overseas ballots.

Postal Service workers have pushed back against the order, saying they are not equipped to determine who is eligible to vote in each state. After Trump issued his order last spring, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association said forcing its members into such a role “risks politicizing one of the nation’s most trusted public institutions.”

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat whose state was among the plaintiffs, said the executive order illustrated how Trump was attempting to “abuse power in previously unthinkable ways” to interfere in elections.

She said it “strains credulity” to think the U.S. Postal Service could set up a workable system for pre-screening individual voters to determine whether they would be allowed to vote by mail, adding that it would be “a shocking violation of American constitutional rights.”

The Postal Service did not immediately respond Thursday to requests for comment.

Trump’s second election executive order faces multiple legal challenges

The lawsuit seeking summary judgment was filed by Democratic attorneys general representing 22 states and the District of Columbia. Also signing on were attorneys representing Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, which has a Republican attorney general.

The states also told the court that the move imposes a costly burden on election officials to comply and would spread fear about the possibility of prosecution. Stephen Pezzi, a lawyer for the Trump administration, had argued that no one would be prosecuted for violating the order.

The other lawsuit filed in Talwani’s court was by the League of Women Voters and other voting rights groups, which have sought a preliminary injunction against the executive order.

In yet another lawsuit filed against the executive order, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., in May agreed with the Trump administration that it was too early to block the order because it had yet to be implemented. That lawsuit was brought by Democratic and civil rights groups, which have appealed.

Since his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump has groundlessly claimed mail voting is rife with fraud and has launched a federal investigation into that year’s vote, even though repeated audits and investigations, including ones run by Republicans, found it was free of widespread fraud. Trump also has said he wants to “take over” election administration in Democratic areas.

___

Barrow reported from Atlanta and Hanna from Topeka, Kansas.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — It’s halftime at the World Cup. Take a break, everyone.

Wednesday marked the midpoint of the 104-match tournament — technically, just past the midpoint, with 54 matches now in the books and 50 remaining before a World Cup champion is crowned in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19.

The U.S. has reached the Round of 32, which shouldn’t be surprising. Mexico and Canada, the other host nations for this biggest World Cup in history, are also through to the knockout stage. And the stars are positively shining: Argentina’s Lionel Messi has five goals to kick-start what he hopes is a run toward a second consecutive World Cup title. France’s Kylian Mbappé has four, as do Norway’s Erling Haaland and Brazil’s Vinicius Júnior.

Stadiums are mostly filled; FIFA is touting record attendance. And there have been some feel-good stories, most notably the tale of Cape Verde goalie Vozinha and how his mother was able to come to this World Cup.

“The best is yet to come,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino told SNTV earlier this week.

In other words, the second half of this tournament — just like the second half of matches — is when things might get really good.

Who’s in

Through Wednesday’s games, 13 teams have clinched spots in the Round of 32.

Mexico won Group A, Switzerland won Group B, Brazil won Group C, the U.S. won Group D, Germany won Group E and Argentina won Group J.

France, Norway, Canada, Morocco, Colombia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and South Africa also are assured of moving into the knockout stage.

“I know how it feels, but it’s very difficult to explain how it feels,” South Africa coach Hugo Broos said after his team clinched its first-ever appearance in the knockout stage. “I’m very happy for the guys.”

Who’s out

A handful of teams already know they’ll be among the 16 that don’t survive the group stage and reach the Round of 32.

The Czech Republic, Haiti, Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, Qatar and Panama are certain to not advance.

Still hoping

With 13 teams into the knockout round and seven eliminated, that leaves 28 teams for 19 remaining spots in the Round of 32.

Some key matches left:

— Australia-Paraguay is a win-and-you’re-in game.

— A winner of Japan-Sweden would be assured a Round of 32 spot, as would a winner of Austria-Algeria.

— Tiny Cape Verde would be into the knockout round with a win over Saudi Arabia.

— Colombia-Portugal will decide the winner of Group K.

The U.S. path

This much is clear: The only match the U.S. might play in the Eastern time zone will be the World Cup final.

The Americans will begin the Round of 32 in Santa Clara, California, on July 1. If they win, they’ll go to Seattle for the Round of 16. Win that, and it’ll be off to Inglewood, California, for the quarterfinals. Win that, and Arlington, Texas, will be calling for the semifinals.

The most likely opponent for the U.S. in the Round of 32 is Bosnia and Herzegovina. After that, it would seem likely that Egypt could be waiting.

What happens now (or starting Sunday)

Once group play ends, the drama really begins.

It’s called the knockout stage for a reason — if you don’t win in this round, you’re knocked out of the tournament. (The only time that won’t apply is the semifinals, since the losers of those games will get sent to Miami Gardens, Florida, to decide third place.)

A team will have to win five elimination games to win the World Cup title.

Scoring is up

Everybody should have predicted that the record for total goals in a World Cup would get smashed in this tournament. After all, there are 104 matches in this event, compared with just 64 matches in the format that was used over the previous seven World Cups.

And the record for most goals will fall, almost certainly on Thursday or Friday. There were 172 scored at Qatar four years ago; there have been 161 goals through 54 matches so far this year.

But what is noteworthy in this tournament is that scoring per game is at its highest level in more than 50 years — 2.98 goals per match.

An average of 2.81 goals per match were scored at Spain in 1982, 2.97 goals per match at Mexico in 1970, and 3.60 goals per match at Sweden in 1958.

That said, this year’s games have been defensive battles compared to what happened in 1954 in Switzerland, when games featured a staggering 5.38 goals on average. That tournament included a game with a 7-5 final score, still the highest-scoring game in men’s World Cup history.

The pace

By the end of Day 17 of the World Cup on Saturday, 72 matches will be done, 32 will remain. That’s the day the group stage ends and the knockout stage — where every match until the semifinals is of the win-or-go-home variety — begins.

And then things slow down. A bit, anyway.

There is only one Round of 32 game on the schedule for Sunday — South Africa vs. Canada at Los Angeles. Things pick up again after that and matches are planned every day until July 8. That means the tournament will have 27 consecutive days of play before everyone gets a day off.

A rematch?

Argentina and France gave us an epic World Cup final in 2022. It’s not outside of the realm that we get a rematch this year; the way the bracket is looking at this point (and this could easily change), they should be on opposite sides, making a collision in the final possible.

Argentina has five goals through its first two matches, and Messi — who turned 39 on Wednesday — has all five of them. Messi now has 18 goals in World Cup play, an all-time record.

When Argentina plays in the Round of 32, Messi will basically get a home game in Miami. It won’t be at the stadium that he and Inter Miami call home, but it will be in Miami Gardens and in what has been his home market for the last three years since he came to MLS.

Mbappe has four goals for France so far in this tournament, giving him 16 in World Cups, tying for second-most all-time with Miroslav Klose of Germany — who held the record before this year’s tournament started.

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES Paul Atkins, 38, was targeted at random while walking home from work through a graveyard in Ramsgate, Kent in February 2024 – his attacker is still at large

The victim of a random acid attack is still suffering with the horror effects two years on – as his case remains unsolved.

Paul Atkins, 38, was targeted while walking home from work through a graveyard in Ramsgate, Kent in February 2024. He says he didn’t realise it was acid at first but, within minutes, felt blood – before his clothes “melted” from his body.

Two years on, dad-of-three Paul still regularly suffers from night terrors and panic attacks – and the suspect is still at large. A man was arrested but later ruled out as a suspect, according to reports.

Paul, a bus driver and engineer, said: “I was literally just walking home and cut through St Lawrence graveyard around 8pm at night. All of a sudden I got wet from behind, someone had thrown something over me. Initially I thought it was water, maybe kids messing around. It was only a couple of minutes later that my neck started to burn.

“I put my hand round to the back of my neck and when I pulled it away there was blood on my hand, I thought ‘oh I am in trouble now’. My clothes literally melted from my body.”

Paul suffered third degree burns across his neck, down his back and on the front of his chest where the acid had run down the top of his head. He called 999 and was then raced to hospital.

He said: “I had a skin graft and plastic surgery to remove the burnt skin and replace it with skin from my thigh.”

Paul is still feeling the effects to this day – and has not been back to the graveyard since. He said: “I wake up in the night profusely sweating because I am having a panic attack.

“Even now I am still living the consequences of the attack. I have horrific scars down my chest and every time I look in the mirror it is just a constant reminder. The skin feels different from the back of my neck when I rub it, it doesn’t feel like skin anymore.

“I have not been back to the graveyard since and I do not think I will ever walk that way again because of the psychological damage that it has done to me since.”

Despite launching a large investigation and arresting one suspect, the police never found the person who committed the attack.

Kent Police said: “On the evening of Sunday 11 February 2024, a man had an unidentified corrosive liquid thrown at him after he entered St Laurence Graveyard, off Manston Road, Ramsgate.

“Following our response to the incident on the evening, a detailed investigation was carried out, which involved speaking to possible witnesses, a review of CCTV and forensic work.

“This resulted in the arrest of a man later the same month, but that man was later ruled out of our investigation and released without charge.”

A Freedom of Information request by Legal Expert recently revealed that the force recorded 86 acid attacks over the last three years.

Paul said: “For me personally more needs to be done from a Government level. It is not just in my area where these attacks are happening. It needs to be brought up at a national level but I guess if someone wants to go out and hurt someone they will.

“These attacks destroy lives and they destroy families.”

He has been sent to prison a month after being released after he made multiple threats to kill his ex-partner

A man has been sent back to jail a month after being released, after he made multiple threats to kill his ex-partner. Robbie Grant, 27, attended the home of his former partner on May 13, despite a restraining order which prevented him from contacting or visiting her.

After an argument between the pair broke out, Grant left the victim’s home, but called her mobile soon after, telling her he was going to put her “six feet under”. During the phone call, Grant also described how he was going to arrange for his friend who owned a shotgun to visit the victim, leaving her fearing for her life.

The threats were reported to police and on May 15, when officers contacted Grant, he made further threats about harming and killing the victim to police. He was arrested at a hotel in Peterborough later the same day.

At Peterborough Crown Court on Tuesday (June 23), Grant, of Drayton Road, Norwich, Norfolk was jailed for three years and ten months after admitting to making threats to kill and intimidating a witness / juror.

DC Roberto Scialla Cooper, who investigated, said: “Grant’s barrage of threats to hurt and kill the victim left her fearful for her life. Grant’s behaviour was completely unacceptable, and I hope this sentence allows the victim to move on with her life.

“We would strongly urge anyone who is a victim of domestic abuse to contact police or call the national domestic violence helpline on 0808 2000 247.”

To report concerns or for more advice and support on domestic abuse, including coercive control, visit the force’s dedicated web page.

Stressing the importance of spending targets being delivered in the face of the threat posed by Russia, he said: “Because in the end Putin is not afraid of commitments, he is afraid of (us) implementing those commitments, and that’s exactly what we are doing, Vladimir, we will defend ourselves.”

“No one should say goodbye alone”

A funeral director has called on the local community to attend a funeral service for a West Belfast man who died with no next of kin.

Patrick McNally died peacefully at the Northern Ireland Hospice earlier this week and will be remembered as a “loving son” and “beloved brother”.

Mallon Brothers Funeral Directors took to social media to share the details of Patrick’s celebration of life, asking anyone who may have known him to come and support his final journey.

With no contact with his only surviving sibling, he has no known family to attend his funeral. Patrick’s funeral will take place at St Teresa of Ávila Church, Glen Road on Wednesday, July 1 at 9.50am for Requiem Mass at 10am, followed by burial in Blaris Cemetery.

Mallon Brothers Funeral Directors said: “McNally Patrick, died peacefully at the N.I hospice 22nd June 2026, (late of 306 Glen Road).

“A loving son of the late Mary and John. A beloved brother to Gerard, the late John-Joseph and Bridget, Uncle, Cousin and friend, RIP. Funeral arrangements to follow. St Pio, pray for him.

“Sadly, Patrick leaves behind no close family. His only surviving brother has not been in contact with him for more than 50 years, and there is no known next of kin.

“As funeral directors, we believe every person deserves to be remembered and every life deserves to be honored.”

They have shared a “heartfelt invitation” to the people of Patrick’s native West Belfast to give him a “farewell he deserves”.

They continued: “If you knew Patrick at any stage of his life, were a neighbor, friend, colleague, acquaintance, or even if you simply wish to stand alongside others in an act of kindness and respect, we welcome you to join us.

“Your presence, no matter how brief, would help ensure Patrick is remembered and that his final journey is marked with dignity, companionship, and care.

“Together, we can give Patrick a fitting send-off and show that every life matters, and every person leaves a place in the world.

“No one should say goodbye alone.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

NEW YORK (AP) — David Clayton-Thomas, the lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears, whose husky, high-strung tenor on “Spinning Wheel,” “And When I Die” and other hits helped make the so-called brass rock band among the most popular acts of the late 1960s, has died at age 84.

Spokesperson Eric Alper said that Clayton-Thomas died “peacefully” Wednesday at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. Alper did not cite a specific cause.

Clayton-Thomas was a onetime street fighter and petty thief from Canada who briefly became a rock superstar, the front man of a nine-member group that sold millions of records and won two Grammys for “Blood, Sweat & Tears,” which beat out the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” for best album of 1969. Calling out amid a jazzy parade of horns, keyboards and percussion, Clayton-Thomas’ urgent shout was a signature voice of the era, preaching love on the Motown cover “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” a lasting legacy on Laura Nyro’s “And When I Die” and a cool head on his own “Spinning Wheel.” Meanwhile, Blood, Sweat & Tears helped inspire a wave of horn-led bands, among them Chicago, the Electric Flag and Ten Wheel Drive.

“A lot of the guys (in Blood, Sweat & Tears) would play a Broadway show matinee, then go up to Harlem and play Latin music or R&B and funk at night, or come down to the Village and play pure jazz the next night,” Clayton-Thomas told bestclassicbands.com in 2023. “I was just a blues player: give me three chords and I’ve got a song.”

At its peak, Blood, Sweat & Tears’ appeal was so broad it helped lead to the band’s downfall.

Hip enough to perform at the 1969 Woodstock festival, where they were among the highest paid acts, they also were known enough to the establishment to tour Eastern Europe the following year on behalf of the State Department. When Clayton-Thomas and other band members denounced the Communist regimes on the other side of the Cold War, Rolling Stone’s David Felton wrote that “the State Department got its money worth.” Yippies would turn up at a 1970 Blood, Sweat & Tears show at Madison Square Garden, carrying obscene banners outside and dumping manure by the front gate.

The band had practical reasons for going along with the government: Clayton-Thomas, who had allegedly wielded a gun at his girlfriend, had been denied a green card and faced deportation. But after topping the charts in 1970 with the album “Blood, Sweat & Tears 3,” their appeal soon faded. A burned out Clayton-Thomas left the group in 1972, and neither he nor the remaining musicians ever regained their old stature. Blood, Sweat & Tears would continue recording over the next few years, and even briefly reunited with Clayton-Thomas, who went on to release more than a dozen solo albums and tour on his own for decades.

Clayton-Thomas was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1996. “Spinning Wheel,” covered by everyone from James Brown to TV star Barbara Eden, was voted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame a decade later.

Clayton-Thomas is survived by his daughters, Ashleigh Clayton-Thomas and Christine Graham.

Up from the streets

Born David Henry Thomsett in Surrey, England, and raised near Toronto and Ottawa, he was the son of a Canadian World War II veteran and of a pianist-entertainer who helped inspire her son’s interest in music. Thomsett was lucky to have the chance. He fought violently with his father, was living in the streets by his mid-teens and by age 20 was serving time in a reformatory for vagrancy, assault and other crimes.

An old guitar, left behind by a fellow inmate, changed his life. He taught himself to play and began spending extensive time in the early 1960s around Toronto’s Yonge Street music “strip,” where peers included the American rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins, a mentor to Robbie Robertson and other future members of the Band and a guide for Thomsett early in his career.

Anxious to reinvent himself, he changed his last name to Clayton-Thomas while leading his own groups. In the mid-60s, he released such albums as “Sings Like It Is” and had a hit single with the anti-war rocker “Brainwashed.” He would also befriend a rising star, Joni Mitchell, whose childlike “Circle Game” helped inspire “Spinning Wheel,” and the venerable John Lee Hooker, who would indirectly contribute to Clayton-Thomas’ breakthrough in the U.S.

America beckons

Hooker had encouraged Clayton-Thomas to move to New York, where the American bluesman had an engagement at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village. When Hooker unexpectedly departed for a tour of Europe, club owner Howard Solomon needed a replacement and recruited Clayton-Thomas.

“So I played him a couple songs on the guitar,” Clayton-Thomas told bestclassicbands.com. “He said, ‘Do you have a band?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ and went out into Greenwich Village looking for anybody carrying a guitar case or even looking like a musician, and we put together a little band and we opened there that night. We ended up staying there for several months.”

Around the same time, session man-producer Al Kooper was looking to form a jazz-rock group and was joined by such musicians as guitarist Steve Katz, drummer Bobby Colomby and horn players Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss. They called themselves Blood, Sweat & Tears, releasing the debut album “Child Is Father to the Man” early in 1968. Although praised by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner as “a fine, exemplary group,” members were torn between those allied with Kooper and those who thought his vocals too weak to attract a substantial audience.

By the end of the year, Kooper and others had departed, and the band was seeking a new singer. After Judy Collins saw Clayton-Thomas perform, she recommended him to Colomby.

“I got home and just a couple of days later, Bobby Colomby called me up and said, ‘Hey, Kooper’s gone. We got four guys left out of the nine. And we still got a record contract with Columbia. Do you want to come down and try out for the band?”’ Clayton-Thomas told bestclassicbands.com. ”I said, ‘You’re damn right.’ I knew (bassist) Jim Fielder real well and I knew they were superb musicians. So I was on the next plane. We had a rehearsal that afternoon, an audition, and it was instant magic. We just knew right off the bat.”

Man City, who beat off competition from cross-town rivals Manchester United to sign Anderson, remain without a confirmed managerial appointment after Pep Guardiola’s departure, with pre-season due to get underway in the coming weeks. They are, however, expected to appoint ex-Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.