U.S. prepares state honors for late president Jimmy Carter

Flags flew at half-staff across the United States on Monday as global tributes poured in for the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter -- the longest-lived US president who died aged 100.

The Georgia native, whose unlikely political ascent carried him from picking peanuts on the family farm to the Oval Office, was remembered in glowing eulogies as an ardent defender of human rights and champion of the downtrodden.

He will be honored with public observances in his beloved home state and in Washington in the coming days.