WASHINGTON - Joe Biden on Saturday awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 honourees, bestowing the highest civilian honour in the United States on entertainers, sports stars, activists and diplomats including Jane Goodall and Hillary Clinton.
Among those receiving honours from the outgoing US president were singer and activist Bono, basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson, longtime Vogue editor Anna Wintour, soccer superstar Lionel Messi, actors Denzel Washington and Michael J. Fox, and fashion designer Ralph Lauren.
Posthumous recipients included Fannie Lou Hamer, a Black civil rights activist.
In a White House ceremony, Biden praised the group of "truly extraordinary people who gave their sacred effort -- their sacred effort -- to shape the culture and the cause of America."
Others honoured in this year's crop were chef Jose Andres, founder of the World Central Kitchen NGO, and primate researcher Goodall, a leading environmentalist voice.
Some of the recipients selected by the Democrat have a more political profile.
Clinton is a former first lady, senator and US secretary of state, and unsuccessfully ran against Donald Trump for the presidency in 2016.
She was honoured for having "made history many times over decades in public service," including being the first woman nominated by a major party for a US presidential run, the White House said in a statement.
Also honoured was billionaire financier and left-wing philanthropist George Soros, whose award was accepted by his son Alexander.
Soros was honoured because he "has supported organizations, and projects across the world that strengthen democracy, human rights, education and social justice."
Biden also chose to posthumously award a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Robert F. Kennedy.
Kennedy served as US attorney general while his brother John F. Kennedy was president, and was assassinated in 1968 while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination.