Human rights advocate Ethel Kennedy dies at 96

Ethel Kennedy, a human rights advocate and the widow of Robert F Kennedy, has died aged 96, her family says.

A matriarch of one of America's most famous political dynasties, she died on Wednesday after suffering a stroke a week ago, the family member said.

Her grandson Joe Kennedy described her earlier this week as an "incredible grandmother" and "a strong woman who has led a remarkably fulfilling life".

She was by her husband Robert F Kennedy’s side when the Democratic presidential candidate was fatally shot in a Los Angeles hotel kitchen in 1968.

She founded the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights foundation months later, while still pregnant with their 11th child.