British actor Julian Sands has gone missing while hiking in Californian mountains.
The 65-year-old star of several Oscar-nominated films disappeared last Friday evening in southern California.
He was reported missing by his wife when he did not return home from hiking on Mount Baldy in the San Gabriel mountains, which has been experiencing freezing temperatues and bad weather conditions in recent days.
Teams have been searching for him since the weekend but avalanche risks and trail conditions meant ground crews were pulled off the mountain on Saturday evening.
Officials have managed to find a car they believe belongs to Mr Sands.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s department said in a statement: “We continue to search by helicopter and drones when the weather permits.”
The spokesperson added that additional ground searches would be scheduled when the weather improves and conditions were safer for rescue crews.
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Mr Sands, who grew up in Yorkshire, is known for his roles in Arachnophobia, Leaving Las Vegas and Warlock – as well as TV appearances on 24, Smallville and Banshee.
He has lived in Los Angeles since 2020, and most recently played the chief medical officer in the 2021 drama Benediction starring Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi.
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In 2011, he developed a show with John Malkovich for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and starred in the Oscar-nominated English-language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.
He appeared opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the 1985 James Ivory film A Room with a View.
Over the course of his four-decade career, he has appeared in more than 150 movies and television show.
From 1984 to 1987, he was married to journalist Sarah Sands, who has previously edited the Evening Standard and BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. They have one son together.
Mr Sands also shares two daughters with journalist Evgenia Citkowitz. They married in 1990.
He told the Guardian in 2018 that he was fixated with mountain climbing and being more adventurous as he grew older.
“The truth is, once you have been around long enough and have some experience, confidence and independence, there is a tremendous letting go of the things that are intrusive in your career: ambition, narcissism, jealousy, vanity, insecurity. You can spend a lot of time trying to stay a young actor. It doesn’t allow for emotional maturity. It’s infantilising,” he said.
Friends and fellow actors have been pouring their pleas over social media.
Samuel West, actor in Notting Hill and Van Helsing tweeted: “Please, please let Julian Sands be okay. A friend and an inspiration. Awful news.”
British film producer Cassian Elwes tweeted he was “devastated” that Julian was missing.
He continued: “A very close family friend who was an adventurer in everything he did. I’ve said many prayers.”
Mount Baldy is a 10,000ft peak located northeast of Los Angeles in the Angeles National Forest.
The sheriff’s department said two people died adevnturing in the area in recent weeks, with its search and rescue teams responding to 14 emergency calls.
They also urged hikers to “think twice and heed warnings” following a string of intense winter storms that have brought flooding and major snowfall to California.
Authorities are also understood to be searching for another missing hiker who disappeared in same area where Mr Sands was last seen.
Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalised following a car crash in New Hampshire, a spokesperson for the former New York City mayor said.
Mr Giuliani suffered “a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg” when his vehicle was struck from behind while driving on a highway near Manchester on Saturday evening, according to Michael Ragusa, Mr Giuliani’s head of security.
“He sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously,” Mr Ragusa said in a statement on X, adding: “This was not a targeted attack.”
Mr Giuliani was in a rental car and “no one knew it was him”, according to Mr Ragusa.
His head of security said the 81-year-old had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident” and contacted police on her behalf. The crash shortly after was “random and unrelated” to the domestic violence incident, Mr Ragusa said.
Image: Rudy Giuliani attended Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony in January. Pic: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via Reuters
Mr Giuliani, who worked as an attorney for Donald Trump in his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, is expected to be released from hospital in a few days.
His son, Andrew Giuliani, thanked people for reaching out after hearing about his father’s accident, writing on X: “Your prayers mean the world.”
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“As a son, I can tell you that I’m honored to have a Dad that I can call the toughest SOB I’ve ever seen,” he added.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have been blocked from attending September’s annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has revoked the US visas of delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and denied others from applying for one.
It is the latest step by Donald Trump’s administration to target Palestinians with visa restrictions, and follows the suspension of a programme to allow injured children from Gaza to receive treatment in the US.
Image: Mahmoud Abbas addressed the general assembly in 2024, but is barred from next month’s meeting. Pic: Reuters
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” a statement from the US State Department said.
It added that, to be considered partners for peace, both groups “must consistently repudiate terrorism, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO”.
Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone on Friday.
The army launched a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation.
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Thick smoke rises from Gaza City after Israeli strikes
Foreign ministers from Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain released a joint statement saying the military operations in Gaza City will cause “intolerable deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians”.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in Gaza City while enduring famine.
Image: An Israeli armoured vehicle in northern Gaza on Friday. Pic: AP
Image: Palestinians ride a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Pic: AP
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, said Mr Abbas had planned to lead the delegation to the UN meetings and was expected to address the general assembly at the general debate, which begins on 23 September.
He was also expected to attend a high-level meeting co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on 22 September about a two-state solution, a broad idea involving Israel coexisting with an independent Palestinian state.
The State of Palestine is an observer member of the UN, meaning it can speak at meetings but not vote on resolutions.
Image: The State of Palestine cannot vote on UN resolutions. Pic: AP
US decision ‘contravenes international law’
The Palestinian Authority “expressed its deep regret and astonishment” at the visa decision, calling it “a violation of US commitments” as the host of the UN, and claiming it “contravenes international law”.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body would be seeking clarification in the “hope that this will be resolved”.
Image: Hundreds of diplomats left when Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking at the general assembly in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority’s mission to the UN, comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
Under a 1947 UN agreement, the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York.
But Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
The death toll in Gaza has now risen to 63,025, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
It also reported five more malnutrition-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number during the war to 322, with 121 of them children.
US President Donald Trump has revoked Secret Service protection for former vice president and 2024 Democratic rival Kamala Harris.
A senior adviser to Harris, Kirsten Allen, confirmed the decision. “The vice president is grateful to the United States Secret Service for their professionalism, dedication, and unwavering commitment to safety,” said the adviser.
Typically, vice presidents receive a six-month security detail from the Secret Service after they leave office, although it had been extended to 18 months for Harris, according to officials.
Initially, then-president Joe Biden extended her security arrangements to one year, or January 2026, according to reports.
However, a Secret Service official told Sky News’ US partner, NBC, that Biden subsequently signed an executive memorandum in January increasing the then vice-president’s protection period even further, to 18 months.
Former US presidents receive Secret Service protection for life.
Harris, who lost the 2024 presidential election to Mr Trump, is due to start a book tour for her memoir, “107 Days”, shortly.
She was the Democratic nominee for 107 days after Biden exited the race in the weeks following a challenging debate against Trump.
Mr Trump has also ended federal security protection for others, including former national security adviser John Bolton. Last week, FBI agents raided Bolton’s Maryland home.
In March, the president ended protection for Joe Biden’s children – Hunter and Ashley Biden.
Harris has not ruled out a possible presidential run in 2028. She announced in July that she would not run for governor of California in 2026.