By JEFFREY COLLINS

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — After a long career of fighting for civil rights, the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. is visiting his home for one last time to lie in state at the South Carolina Capitol on Monday.

The final full honors from the state where he was born is a far cry from his childhood in segregated Greenville, where in 1960 he couldn’t go inside the local library’s much better funded whites-only branch to check out a book he needed.

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Jackson led seven Black high school students into that segregated branch, where they sat down and read books and magazines until they were arrested. The branches closed, then quietly reopened for all.

With that action, Jackson launched his career — and crusade — fighting for equality for all. He would catch the attention of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and join the voting rights march King led from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

Jackson died Feb. 17 at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in his later years.

His casket draped in an American flag arrived at the South Carolina Statehouse on a horse drawn caisson on a chilly, cloudy morning. A special white-gloved Highway Patrol honor guard brought Jackson inside the Statehouse and to the second floor where well over 100 people packed under the rotunda for a ceremony before the public would be invited in to pay their respects.

“Today we’re here to celebrate a life well lived, a job well done,” said Democratic state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, who led the ceremony.

The service began with a rousing version of the civil rights anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” that reverberated through the Statehouse — a building that was partially destroyed in 1865 during the Civil War started by South Carolina to keep slavery.

The South Carolina services are part of two weeks of events. It began with Jackson’s body lying in repose and the public invited last week to his Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s Chicago headquarters.

After South Carolina, Jackson will be returned to Chicago for a large celebration of life gathering at a megachurch and the final homegoing services at the headquarters of Rainbow PUSH. Plans for a service in Washington, D.C., to honor him have been postponed until a later date.

Nationally, Jackson advocated for the poor and underrepresented for voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders.

Through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society. He stepped forward as the Civil Rights Movement’s torchbearer after King’s assassination, and would run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988.

Jackson continued to be active in his home state, pushing in 2003 for Greenville County to honor King by matching the federal holiday in his honor and in 2015 by advocating for removing the Confederate flag from South Carolina Statehouse grounds after nine Black worshippers were killed in a racist shooting at a Charleston church.

Jackson is just the second Black man to lie in state at the South Carolina Capitol. State Sen. Clementa Pinckney was honored in 2015 after he was shot and killed in the Charleston church shooting.

Associated Press writer Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.

By CARA ANNA

The United States and Israel targeted Iran in coordinated attacks over the weekend that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other senior figures and kicked off a furious Iranian response that was expanding into a wider regional war.

Allies of the U.S. pledged to help stop Iran’s missile and drone strikes. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah claimed strikes on Israel for the first time in more than a year, and Israel fired back.

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The first U.S. military deaths have been reported. Other deaths have been confirmed in Israel and Gulf nations, while Iran has said several hundred people have been killed there.

With Khamenei’s death, the Islamic Republic must now choose a supreme leader for the first time since 1989. U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Iranians to seize the moment and overthrow the theocracy that cracked down on nationwide protests early this year. There was no sign that was happening.

Around the world, some protested. Others cheered.

The attacks came two days after the latest U.S.-Iran talks aimed at putting controls on Tehran’s nuclear program. They echoed the events of last year, when talks were cut short by an Israeli attack that led to a 12-day war and U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear sites. Washington has claimed that Iran was rebuilding its nuclear program in recent months.

Iran has said it hasn’t enriched since June, but it has blocked inspectors with the U.N. nuclear watchdog from visiting the sites America bombed.

Here’s where things stand.

Iran

The 86-year-old Khamenei was killed when his compound was bombed Saturday morning. Iran’s ballistic missile sites, navy headquarters and warships were attacked as well. Iran said strikes also targeted the Natanz nuclear enrichment site. Israel and the U.S. have not acknowledged strikes at the site, though Israel has said it is targeting the “leadership and nuclear infrastructure.”

In this satellite image provided by Vantor, damaged buildings are seen in the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s official residence in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (Satellite image ©2026 Vantor via AP)

Khamenei had no designated successor. Iran has set up a three-member leadership council, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said a new supreme leader would be chosen in “one or two days.” On the streets, there have been scattered celebrations over Khamenei’s death. Internet restrictions in Iran have complicated efforts to monitor what’s happening.

In retaliation, Iran’s military has struck Israel, where several people have been killed. Iran has also targeted U.S. bases in the region. The U.S. military said four service members were killed, the first known U.S. casualties. Other Iranian strikes have killed a handful of people in Gulf nations including the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, and hundreds of flights have been affected at some of the world’s busiest airports.

A woman cries as she mourns the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a gathering in the southern Suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

What to watch for: further military strikes, the selection of a new supreme leader, and reactions from the Iranian people.

United States

The strikes came after the U.S. built up its biggest military presence in the region in decades. Israeli and U.S. authorities spent weeks tracking the movements of senior Iranian leaders. Trump has said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” in Iran would continue through the week or longer.

The U.S. has signaled it is willing to talk to Iran’s new leaders, eventually. Meanwhile, some leaders in Congress have protested at the launch of the strikes without congressional authorization.

What to watch for: further military strikes, effects on U.S. bases and forces, and any diplomacy with Iran’s new leadership.

Government supporters gather in mourning after state TV officially announced the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Israel

Israel sees Iran as an existential threat and has long sought to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, while also targeting armed allied groups like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israeli attacks have weakened those groups since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that started the war in Gaza.

Now Israel has pledged “nonstop” strikes and at one point said 100 fighter jets were simultaneously striking targets in Tehran. During last year’s war, Israel pitched Trump a plan to kill Khamenei. Now they have.

Israelis dashed to shelters for safety, but most of Iran’s attacks have been intercepted. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under international criticism for the war in Gaza, is claiming a win for Israel’s security.

But risk remains from Iranian-backed groups like the Houthi rebels in Yemen who have vowed to resume attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and on Israel.

What to watch for: further military strikes, as well as attacks by and against Iranian proxies.

Israeli security forces inspect a damaged road after a missile launched from Iran struck Jerusalem, Sunday, March 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

The Middle East and beyond

The current conflict is already far more intense than last year’s Israel-Iran war, where the U.S. inserted itself near the end by bombing Iranian nuclear sites and Iran responded with a calculated attack on a U.S. military base in Qatar.

Now, hundreds of Iranian missile and drone strikes have sent people scrambling across Gulf nations that had previously been relatively insulated from the volatility in the region.

The United Arab Emirates said Dubai’s main airport had been affected, and tourists and others flinched at the booms of interceptors. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted attacks, and summoned Iran’s ambassador. Top diplomats of six Gulf states said they had the “right to self-defense.”

Oil prices rose sharply when market trading began Sunday as traders bet that supply from the critical region would slow or stop. Attacks on and near the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, are also raising concerns about supply.

In response, eight countries that are part of the OPEC+ oil cartel said they would boost production of crude.

And on Monday, the world was learning the first details about any effects on Iran’s nuclear program as the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors met on the conflict.

What to watch for: oil prices, details on Iran’s nuclear program, and diplomatic efforts.

By ILLIA NOVIKOV

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine expected later this week may take place in Switzerland or Turkey if a planned meeting in Abu Dhabi is not possible due to the war in the Middle East, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.

He also noted that Western countries have given no indication so far that their delivery to Kyiv of vital air defense missiles could be disrupted by commitments to Middle East defense.

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U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to end the war that began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 are continuing. But the American and Israeli attacks on Iran, and the response of Iran and Iranian-backed militias firing missiles at Israel and Arab states, may divert international attention from the 4-year-old conflict in Europe.

“Due to hostilities, as of today we cannot confirm (the talks) will take place in Abu Dhabi,” Zelenskyy told reporters in a WhatsApp chat. He said last week that the United Arab Emirates capital would be this week’s venue.

Previous Russia-Ukraine talks have been held in Abu Dhabi, Istanbul and Geneva. They have not produced a breakthrough on key issues.

Zelenskyy said there has been no immediate change in American and European supplies of air defense weapons, especially American-made Patriot systems, to Ukraine. However, he noted that the volume of deliveries could fall if the Middle East attacks continue.

Russia’s effort to knock out Ukraine’s power grid over the winter failed, Zelenskyy said, though it caused much damage. Russian aerial attacks are now turning to other infrastructure, including the water supply, he added.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday that the United Kingdom would bring experts from Ukraine to help Persian Gulf countries shoot down Iranian drones. Ukraine has built expertise in drone operations during the war, as Russia launches daily bombardments with Shahed drones developed in Iran.

But Zelenskyy said he had not received any direct requests either from the United Kingdom or other countries about that possibility.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is recognizing three U.S. Army soldiers with the Medal of Honor at the White House on Monday, with two of the commendations being awarded posthumously.

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Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terry P. Richardson will be recognized for actions during the Vietnam War that were credited with saving the lives of 85 other service members.

Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2013, is being recognized for valor during the combat that resulted in his death.

Master Sgt. Roderick W. Edmonds, who died in 1985, is being recognized for his leadership and resistance as a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II.

The Medal of Honor is given by U.S. presidents, in the name of Congress, to recognize combat service that goes beyond the call of duty and risks one’s own life.