Director of camp holding IS brides says they presented valid documents, passports; Close associate of Martin Luther King Jr and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson dies at 84

Tributes have poured in for charismatic US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who became a close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. and twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, following the news of Jackson’s death at the age of 84.

“Our father was a servant leader not only to our family, but also to those who are oppressed, voiceless and ignored around the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement late last night (AEDT).

Jackson championed the rights of black Americans and other marginalized communities dating back to the tumultuous civil rights movement of the 1960s led by his mentor King, a Baptist minister and prominent social activist.

He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, and finished second in the 1988 primary, receiving seven million votes.

Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2017.

The eloquent orator and long-time Chicago native was praised on social media, including by former US presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden.