A statement on his Instagram said the 86-year-old died at home in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The West Yorkshire actor achieved global fame playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, which ran for seven years.

He starred as Professor Charles Xavier in multiple X-Men films, beginning with the original in 2000, and recently appeared in a trailer for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

Sir Patrick was also a veteran of the stage, appearing in the West End and Broadway, and was nominated for a Tony Award for his much-praised take on Macbeth.

Tributes paid to 'beloved' actor

Sir Ian McKellen, a long-time friend of Sir Patrick who he starred alongside in the X-Men franchise, described him as "a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love".

McKellen, who officiated Stewart's wedding in 2013, said he "wore his heart on his sleeve" and called him "the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic".

Marvel Studios paid tribute to "a singular talent, a generous collaborator, and a true gentleman".

It said he brought the Professor X character to life with "extraordinary grace, intelligence, and humanity, defining the character for generations of fans".

Star Trek actor William Shatner was among the first to pay tribute, calling Stewart "a magnificent actor" who would be "deeply missed".

"He brought intelligence, grace, and a deep sense of humanity to everything he did," Shatner wrote on X.

"Captain Picard stood for the best of us, and so did the man who played him. I was filled with affection and admiration for him and his work."

Wolverine star Hugh Jackman said the acting world had "lost one of the greats" and a "tremendous friend and man".

"I learned so much from him. I will miss you, Patrick Stewart, all of my days," Jackman wrote.

Stewart's family said he died "in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny, following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's Disease and Lewy Body Dementia".

They said he was surrounded by "live music, prayer, tears, laughter" during his illness.

"We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grave," a statement said.

His family also paid tribute to his time with the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearances on Broadway, and his love of Huddersfield football club.

They said his acting career was matched by his philanthropy and campaigning on issues such as domestic violence, veterans' mental health services, and animal welfare.

'Bringing Shakespeare to Star Trek'

Born in Mirfield, near Huddersfield, Sir Patrick memorised Shakespeare for fun as a teenager and moved to Bristol after getting a scholarship at the Old Vic Theatre School.

He forged a career as a character actor and was part of the Royal Shakespeare Company for 14 years, playing Oberon, Mark Antony, Henry IV and Shylock.

Sir Patrick's big international break on screen came when he landed the lead in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

His iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard made him a star stateside and the show ran for 178 episodes and spawned four feature films.

"There is a formality to the way they [starship commanders] speak and comport themselves that remind me of numerous Shakespearean situations I'd been in onstage," Stewart wrote in his memoir.

"I should play Jean-Luc, I realised, as if he were a character in Henry IV, which is about brave men."

The actor, who was a patron for the charity Refuge, also opened up in the 2023 book about why he campaigned for domestic violence survivors.

He said he and his brother would wait in fear of their father, a former army major, coming home drunk and beating their mother.

"Sometimes it was with an open hand, other times a closed fist. Always he aimed for her head," he said.

Stewart also showed his comic credentials later in his career with dozens of guest appearances in hit animated comedies Family Guy and American Dad - as well as two episodes of The Simpsons.

In his last Simpsons part, his character consoles Homer after he loses his hair. Stewart had his distinctive look for years after going bald at 19 due to alopecia in his family.

Sir Patrick was married three times, most recently to singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell - nearly 40 years his junior.

They met when she served him in a restaurant during the New York run of his hit Macbeth production.

In an interview with People, he said they got talking and she told him she had tried unsuccessfully to get a ticket.

He recalled: "It was the only time in my life I've given someone my telephone number and said, 'Call me, I can get a ticket.'

"And that's what we did. And she came backstage afterward and we had dinner and here we are."

The acting great is also survived by two adult children from his first marriage, daughter Sophia and son Daniel.

The security exploit targeted Binance, one of the world's biggest platforms for trading digital assets, which said it was establishing the facts with urgency.

Deposits and withdrawals were suspended for customers - with the company insisting that user funds were safe, and all hacking losses would be covered.

According to TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence firm that tracks the industry, an elite North Korean hacking unit called TraderTraitor was responsible for the theft - and it was completed in just 20 minutes.

That would make it the largest cryptocurrency hack to date - surpassing the $1.5bn that was stolen when the Bybit exchange was targeted last year.

Richard Teng, the co-CEO of Binance, said the company's "initial investigation suggests this security incident may have started with a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop".

"To be clear: the attacker did not simply use one engineer's permissions, and this was not a single 'one-click' action. It involved a more complex attack process," he said in a post on X.

"Our investigation has not attributed responsibility to any individual," he added.

"Our team hasn't stopped. We're working closely with law enforcement to ensure the matter is handled appropriately."

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, who no longer runs the company, said in a post on X that the incident "looked like a hack".

Ari Redbord, chief policy officer of the crypto analytics company TRM Labs, told Sky News: "This is an extraordinary hack, for its size and for the response... Few financial systems have ever shown a theft of this scale."

He explained the attacker was able to move billions of dollars across eight blockchain networks in about 15 minutes - and the TraderTraitor group has also been linked to the Bybit hack by the FBI.

It is believed the hacker responsible was preparing for at least 36 hours before the theft took place.

"The theft shows how exposed the system is to sophisticated attackers moving at a speed we have never seen," he added.

After Binance's security issue was identified, digital assets worth more than $3bn (£2.2bn) were frozen, which could prevent the funds being cashed out by malicious actors.

But Mr Redbord said the attacker still controlled about $2.4bn (£1.8bn) worth of Bitcoin and Ether - the two biggest cryptocurrencies by valuation.

Izabella Kaminska - who edits independent publication The Blind Spot and reports on the crypto industry - told Sky News it "appears to be a highly sophisticated and well-rehearsed attack".

She said the hack comes at a time of growing concern that major cyber vulnerabilities in the financial system are about to be exposed or exploited by AI agents.

Ms Kaminska explained that the crypto industry has long sought to differentiate itself from the banking sector by claiming it is decentralised and resistant to censorship.

However, the former Financial Times journalist added: "The reality is and always was that the vast majority of crypto platforms - and in some cases assets too - are just as structurally centralised as conventional banking platforms.

"Unlike banks, however, when these systems get hacked or become insolvent, there is no recourse to a lender of last resort or deposit insurance fund. Depositors are on their own."

On X, Binance said its security team was "reviewing all relevant information with urgency" - and urged its users to remain cautious of scams.

The company claims it has more than 335 million users around the world.

Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, dropped sharply in response to the news.

As of 1am UK time on Friday, it was trading at about $77,000 (£57,500) - falling by 5% over the past 24 hours. Some smaller digital assets saw their values plummet by closer to 10%.

"While that is a significant drop, it is far from unprecedented for an asset class which is used to very sharp moves," Ms Kaminska said.

Although it was too early to determine if the hack was an existential threat to the crypto industry, she warned the bigger question was whether this could cause trouble for the wider financial system - with closer ties formed between the digital assets space and Wall Street in recent years.

"The crossover contagion risk is no longer zero," she said.

Asymmetric Research chief executive Jonathan Claudius told Sky News that "the preparations and techniques" for the attack were consistent with those used by North Korean hacking groups.

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Crypto Watchdog's executive director Chapin Fay warned freezing assets does not guarantee stolen funds will be recovered.

"The reported attack highlights the vulnerabilities of even the largest crypto exchanges," he told Sky News.

"Customers deserve safeguards across the services handling their money, alongside clear answers about how any losses will be covered."

Chainalysis head of research Eric Jardine said industry-wide coordination was helping to disrupt the movement of stolen funds.

He added: "Crypto exchanges are particularly attractive targets for hackers, regardless of where they are based, because - to borrow a line often attributed to bank robber Willie Sutton - 'that's where the money is'.

"While the scale of this incident is significant, attacks on exchanges are not new. Every exchange should remain vigilant."

According to the authors of the report, published in The Lancet, the movement - which centres around a perceived masculinity crisis and a belief that feminism has systematically disadvantaged men - has contributed to many public health problems.

It argues these include violence against women and girls, mental health issues, and "delegitimising" the idea of boys and men seeking help.

Professor Kent Buse argued that boys and men are not the problem, instead blaming online platforms.

He said: "This is a business model. Outrage and grievance are good for business, so the system rewards the most extreme content.

"Expect the playbook that served tobacco so well: blame the individual, and call regulation an attack on freedom.

"Boys and men are not the problem. The problem is the conditions that leave them isolated and without a secure future, and the companies that profit from their anger and insecurity."

The authors wrote that online platforms are cultivating and monetising young men's insecurities as they view the material.

"Similar to the tobacco and ultra-processed food industries, content creators and hosting platforms deploy strategies that individualise responsibility," they added.

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The report continued: "Men's problems are framed as the result of feminism rather than structural conditions, and masculine identity is commodified through products and paid content that normalise and reinforce health-harming and performance-oriented masculinities.

"Efforts to regulate or moderate content are frequently framed as threats to men's autonomy, restricting political space for intervention."

Professor Sarah Hawkes, report co-author and co-founder of Global 50/50 social justice think tank, also said: "The manosphere offers boys and young men belonging, identity and an explanation for why life feels hard.

"Those needs are real. A response that only removes the manosphere, without offering something credible in its place, will fail. We need to offer boys something better, not just tell them what to avoid."

The experts said tackling the 'manosphere' should involve a co-ordinated response by governments, schools, health services and community organisations - as with any other public health risk.

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They cited social exclusion and isolation as factors for those likely to access the content, and suggested boosting employment and skills to improve access to jobs, re-engaging boys in education and ensuring "equitable access to mental health and other frontline health services" to help address those at risk.

They also argued the manosphere "is best understood and addressed as a public health problem" and suggested strategies to tackle it should avoid "framing masculinity as inherently toxic or boys and men as inherently problematic".

Testing of seized goods by Trading Standards found 13,200 parts per million of mercury in one skincare product, and high levels of lead in lipstick, eyeshadow and contour products.

It also reported evidence of nicotine in perfume and a counterfeit fragrance made up of around 80% methanol.

Trading Standards also now report that cosmetics, skincare and perfumes are among their 10 most commonly investigated fakes, with 40% of seized cosmetics containing potentially harmful substances.

One raid in Bolton saw officers seize £2m worth of counterfeit goods, including perfume, cosmetics, clothing and vapes at a factory in a commercial building.

Another raid by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit and Greater Manchester Police seized 1,666 counterfeit hair products in July from a warehouse in Manchester, including hair extensions, shampoo and conditioners.

Meanwhile, the Intellectual Property Office's (IPO) latest Counterfeit Goods Tracker said that around 20% of 18 to 24-year-olds who bought beauty products last year knowingly purchased counterfeits.

That figure has risen from 6% in 2023, according to figures from the government agency.

In response to the rise in sales of counterfeit cosmetics, the IPO has launched a Face the Fakes campaign, working with content creators and the beauty industry to raise awareness of the potential harms of counterfeit beauty products.

Helen Barnham, head of enforcement engagement at the IPO, said: "These findings show why counterfeit beauty products can pose such serious risks to consumers.

"Products can look remarkably convincing, but behind the packaging they can contain dangerous substances that have no place in the cosmetics people use every day, and can be made in appalling, unhygienic conditions."

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Independent toxicologist, Rani Ghosh, added: "When you hear that mercury has been found in face cream, lead in make-up or nicotine in perfume, it raises serious questions about what is going into these products and how they are being made."

The toxicologist said: "Counterfeit beauty products can look incredibly convincing.

"You cannot tell from the packaging what chemicals are inside, how the product has been made, or what risk it might pose.

"That is why knowing where your beauty products come from matters."

A student pilot from the UK, who has not yet been named, was among those killed in the incident near Portland, along with Tyler Sturdevant, a 38-year-old pilot from Oregon, and 22-year-old Maddie Aasbo, a flight instructor from Texas, Yamhill County Sheriff's Office said.

Ms Aasbo and the UK student pilot were on one aircraft, while Mr Sturdevant was on the other, sheriffs added.

The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.

Emergency crews responded around 2.15pm local time following reports of a crash a few miles east of the McMinnville Airport, according to police.

One of the aircraft was from an aviation school, Jerry Trimble Helicopters, which is located at the airport.

In a statement posted on social media, the school said: "Our hearts and thoughts are with the individuals involved, their families, and everyone affected by this event."

The school added that it was cooperating with authorities to secure the site and determine the cause of the incident.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the collision was between a Robinson R22, a two-seater aircraft, and an Airbus H125, which can carry up to six passengers.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

Yamhill County Sheriff Sam Elliott told a news conference: "There were two occupants in the Robinson helicopter and one occupant in the Airbus and all three are deceased.

"The occupants of the Robinson helicopter were identified as a flight instructor out of the state of Texas and a student pilot from the United Kingdom."

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He added: "The sole occupant of the Airbus was an adult male from Oregon.

"The scene has now been turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board."

Officials said a one-mile section of motorway west of the nearby city of Dayton, Oregon, was closed due to the crash, with no indication of when it would reopen.

The sheriff's office has urged the public to stay clear of the area.