Two-time Oscar-winning actor and former UK politician Glenda Jackson has died peacefully after a short illness at the age of 87.

Over the weekend, Elon Musk appeared in a Twitter post to endorse the idea of taking the right to vote away from people without children. The billionaire Tesla co-founder replied “Yup,” to a series of posts from Twitter user @fentasyl, which argued “democracy is probably unworkable long term without limiting suffrage to parents.” The exchange came as Mr Musk continued his recent run of interacting with right-wing figures on the social network. The posts from fentasyl themselves were a response to a previous post from Mr Musk. On Saturday, in the comments under an Islamophobic nonprofit’s video, where commenters insinuated that single white women were turning France into a majority-Muslim country, Mr Musk claimed, “The childless have little stake in the future.” The Independent has contacted Mr Musk for comment. These opinions are hardly surprising for Mr Musk, who has long expressed concerns about declining birth rates in the US and the lack of “smart” people having enough children, views which critics have argued are verging on eugenicist. In 2022, Musk, who has fathered nine children, wrote on Twitter that, “A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far. Earlier this year, he elaborated, telling former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson that society hasn’t “evolved” to respond to abortions and contraception, which the billionaire incorrectly claimed were invented in the last 50 years. “I’m sort of worried that hey, civilisation, if we don’t make enough people to at least sustain our numbers, perhaps increase a little bit, then civilisation’s going to crumble,” Musk said. “The old question of, will civilisation end with a bang or a whimper?” (In fact, the world population has doubled in the last 50 years to more than 8 billion, according to the UN, though the birth rate has slowed in some places.) Observer argue that such so-called “natalist” views are often entangled with eugenicist ideas about intentionally manipulating future births to privilege and center certain groups of people. Mr Musk has previously lamented that “smart” people aren’t having enough children. “If each successive generation of smart people has fewer kids, that’s probably bad,” he once told a biographer. The tech billionaire has touted a prototype robot as a solution to a hypothetical world where declining numbers of workers are available to toil in Tesla factories. For someone concerned with human civilization’s long-term longevity, Mr Musk lives a fabulously carbon intensive life. The carbon footprint from his 2022 private jet flights alone was 132 times greater than the average US resident’s total footprint, a doubly astounding figure given people in the US consume far more resources than less wealthy nations. Read More Twitter rival Bluesky halts sign-ups after huge surge in demand following Musk’s rate limits Tweetdeck down: Major Twitter client not working amid chaos on site Thousands of Twitter users complain of issues with social media website and app Twitter users run into service issues after Elon Musk imposes daily limits on reading tweets Threatened by shortages, electric car makers race for supplies of lithium for batteries

A skyscraper in Moscow was the target of a drone attack for the second time in two days, as Volodymyr Zelensky warned Vladimir Putin the "war is returning" to Russia. Russia’s defence ministry claimed its anti-aircraft units downed drones headed for Moscow, but one of them ended up hitting the same high-rise building that was struck last Sunday. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that while the attack damaged the facade of the skyscraper’s 21st floor, it didn’t cause any injuries. Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine, but has increasingly highlighted how destroying Russia’s military infrastructure helps Kyiv’s counteroffensive. This comes as a 10-year-old girl and her mother were among at least six people killed after two Russian ballistic missiles struck an apartment complex and a university building in Zelensky’s hometown yesterday. At least 75 people were injured in the attack on Kyryvi Rih, as Zelensky called it an act of Russian “terror”. The head of Zelensky’s office, Andriy Yermak said the “Russian army is barraging Kherson” and targetting residential areas, adding that four people had been killed and 17 injured in the city. Read More Drones, military confusion and cracks in Putin’s authority: Ukraine’s push to sow discord in Russia’s ranks UK sanctions Moscow judges after British-Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza’s appeal rejected The $3.9 billion UN humanitarian appeal for Ukraine is only 30% funded, UN aid official says Ukraine says Russian missiles hit another apartment building and likely trapped people under rubble

Half a million young people chanted, cheered and shouted on Thursday as they packed a Lisbon park to give Pope Francis a rock star welcome at the official opening ceremony...

By Steve Scherer and David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) -The Bank of Canada on Wednesday hiked its overnight rate to a

The fate of “doomsday cult mom” Lori Vallow is in the hands of the jury as her dramatic murder trial draws to a close. Closing arguments concluded in Ada County Courthouse, Boise, Idaho, and the jury of seven men and five women began deliberations on Thursday afternoon before concluding four hours later. While the judge banned cameras from the courtroom, the hotly-anticipated verdict will be livestreamed. Ms Vallow, 49, is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and her new husband Chad Daybell’s first wife Tammy Daybell, 49. Tylee and JJ were last seen in September 2019. In June 2020, their remains were found buried on the Daybell property. Tammy died one month after their disappearance in October 2019. Over the last six weeks, prosecutors laid out their case that Ms Vallow conspired with Mr Daybell and her brother Alex Cox to kill the three victims – as part of their doomsday cult beliefs and greed. Ms Vallow, meanwhile, made the shock decision not to offer any defence in the trial. Instead, turning on Mr Daybell via her attorney during closing arguments. Read More Cult beliefs, hazmat suits and charred remains: Key revelations from Lori Vallow’s murder trial What we know about the Lori Vallow Daybell ‘doomsday cult’ murder trial Lori Vallow trial verdict will be livestreamed, judge rules after banning video of testimony

Natalia Grace was recently at the center of a documentary that aired on Investigation Discovery when her previous family accused her of being abusive

All of the band's musicians were left partially or totally blinded by projectiles fired by police.

The New York Liberty had a 13-hour travel day from Connecticut to Las Vegas during a recent three-game road trip

By Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON At the White House, the dinner is on but the band is out. The

Construction began in June on the Theodore Roosevelt presidential library planned for the Badlands of western North Dakota

Curtis “Cousin Eddie” Smith has claimed that Alex Murdaugh made a bombshell confession about his wife and son’s murders before orchestrating the now-infamous botched hitman plot. Mr Smith – a former law firm client, distant cousin and alleged drug dealer of Murdaugh – is facing a string of charges over the 4 September 2021 incident where he allegedly shot the double murderer in the head along the side of a road in Hampton County. Now, in the new series of Netflix’s “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal”, released on Wednesday, the 62-year-old revealed never-before-heard details about the bizarre encounter. Mr Smith claimed that Murdaugh begged him to shoot him in an assisted suicide scheme – a shocking request that he said he refused. When he asked Murdaugh why he wanted him to kill him, Mr Smith revealed that Murdaugh had given a chilling response where he all but confessed to murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul three months earlier. “Because they’re going to be able to prove that I’m responsible for Maggie and Paul,” Murdaugh allegedly said. Murdaugh was convicted of Maggie and Paul’s murders this March and sentenced to life in prison but continues to insist his innocence. He is currently in the midst of a legal fight to be granted a new trial. Mr Smith’s account comes as both he and Murdaugh are facing charges over the bizarre botched hitman plot which unfolded on 4 September 2021 – three months on from the 7 June 2021 double murders and one day after Murdaugh was ousted from his law firm for stealing millions of dollars in funds from clients. Mr Smith said in the show that he had known Murdaugh since the late 80s or early 90s as he knew the legal dynasty heir’s father Randolph. “I’m half Murdaugh – dont tell them that,” he said, laughing. Mr Smith said that he was friends with Murdaugh and he had also done “a bit of work” for him over the years such as running errands or “general land clearing work”. That morning on 4 September 2021, Mr Smith said Murdaugh had called him about 10am or 10.30am and asked what he was doing. “He said can you run over this way in a minute. He told me to meet him at the funeral home in Varnville,” he said. Mr Smith said that he drove to meet Murdaugh and looked up and saw the now-convicted killer driving down the road towards him. He had his sun visor pulled round his windshield and windows rolled up so as to keep his face hidden, Mr Smith said. When Mr Smith asked him what he was doing, he said Murdaugh replied that “I don’t need to be seen in town”. Murdaugh told him that he believed he was being watched by SLED. “And I said ‘why they watching you?’” said Mr Smith. Murdaugh allegedly replied: “Well he said, ‘well you know about what happened.’” “I said ‘what out in Moselle?’” said Mr Smith, about the family home where Maggie and Paul had been gunned down. When Murdaugh confirmed that was what he was referring to, Mr Smith said he asked him “what did happen” that fateful night. Murdaugh is said to have given the damning response: “Things just got all f***ed up.” After that, Mr Smith said Murdaugh asked him if he loved him. “Yeah, I love you like a brother you know that, do ’most anything for you,” said Mr Smith. It was at that moment that Mr Smith said Murdaugh asked him to shoot and kill him. Mr Smith said he refused, insisting that he told him that “ain’t happening, not today, not tomorrow”. When he refused, Murdaugh allegedly told him that he would have to “do it myself” and “took off”. Mr Smith said he went after him in his vehicle out of “pure concern” – not just for Murdaugh but for the family who had just lost Maggie and Paul and Murdaugh’s father (who died just three days after the murders). After catching up with him, Mr Smith said Murdaugh confronted him with a gun – prompting him to try to “scare some sense into him”. “When I pulled up there and I rolled the window down he’s coming up to my window with a gun. I figured I’d scare some sense into him,” he said. Mr Smith claimed he fired his own gun up into the air and Murdaugh threw himself onto the ground. The alleged co-conspirator insisted that he didn’t shoot Murdaugh and that there was “no blood on him” so he just “went home”. But Murdaugh called 911, claiming he was ambushed in a drive-by shooting while changing a tire on his vehicle. He was taken to hospital where he was treated for what police called a “superficial gunshot wound to the head”. Mr Smith said in the Netflix show that the scratches on Murdaugh’s head came “not from a bullet” but from rocks at the side of the road from when Murdaugh leaped onto the ground when he fired his gun. For several days on from the incident, Murdaugh kept up the lie about being ambushed, and even spent hours constructing an imaginary assailant with a police sketch artist. But, Murdaugh’s story quickly unravelled. One week later on 13 September, he confessed to law enforcement that he had orchestrated the whole saga, claiming that he asked Mr Smith to shoot and kill him in an assisted suicide plot so that his surviving son Buster could get a $12m life insurance windfall. Both he and Mr Smith were arrested and charged over the incident. Mr Smith said that he was surprised and “didn’t take it seriously” when police began asking him questions about what happened. “I didn’t ask for an attorney – I had nothing to hide from them,” he said in the Netflix show. “I really didn’t take it seriously to be honest with you. I knew I hadn’t shot his ass but he damn sure tried to tell everybody I did or he told everybody I did.” Read More Murdaugh Netflix show airs new bombshell claims as Alex strikes plea deal for financial crimes – live Alex Murdaugh pleads guilty to committing crime for first time Alex Murdaugh’s request for a new trial complicated by angry husband’s Facebook rant