Oprah Winfrey to get top US honour

Oprah Winfrey is being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
8 August 2013

President Barack Obama will bestow America's highest civilian honour on Oprah Winfrey and former president Bill Clinton.

The pair will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom this year at the White House.

They will join 14 other recipients, including activist Gloria Steinem and former senator Richard Lugar. Also being honoured is Ben Bradlee, the editor who oversaw Washington Post coverage of Watergate.

Former senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii and Sally Ride, the first woman astronaut in space, will receive the medals posthumously.

President John F Kennedy created the medal of freedom in an executive order signed 50 years ago. The White House says more than 500 people have been honoured.

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