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Hillary Clinton, George Soros will Receive the Highest US Civilian Honor

Hillary Clinton speaks during the Democratic National Convention Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
Hillary Clinton speaks during the Democratic National Convention Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
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Hillary Clinton, George Soros will Receive the Highest US Civilian Honor

Hillary Clinton speaks during the Democratic National Convention Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
Hillary Clinton speaks during the Democratic National Convention Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Democratic philanthropist George Soros and actor-director Denzel Washington will be awarded the nation's highest civilian honor on Saturday in a White House ceremony.

The White House said the recipients have made “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”

Four medals are to be awarded posthumously. They are going to Fannie Lou Hamer, who founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and laid the groundwork for the 1965 Voting Rights Act; former Attorney General and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy; George W. Romney, who served as both a Michigan governor and secretary of housing and urban development; and Ash Carter, a former secretary of defense, according to The AP.

Kennedy is father to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for health and human services secretary. Romney is the father of former Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, one of Trump's strongest conservative critics.

Major philanthropists receiving the award include Spanish American chef José Andrés, whose World Central Kitchen charity has become one of the world's most recognized food relief organizations, and Bono, the frontman for rock band U2 and a social justice activist.

Sports and entertainment stars being recognized include professional soccer player Lionel Messi; retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend and businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson; actor Michael J. Fox, who is an outspoken advocate for Parkinson’s disease research and development; and William Sanford Nye, known to generations of students as “Bill Nye the Science Guy."

Other awardees include conservationist Jane Goodall; longtime Vogue Magazine editor-in-chief Anna Wintour; American fashion designer Ralph Lauren; American Film Institute founder George Stevens Jr.; entrepreneur and LGBTQ+ activist Tim Gill; and David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group global investment firm.

Last year, Biden bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 19 people, including the late Medgar Evers, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina and actor Michelle Yeoh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jailed ex-Malaysian Leader Najib Moves Closer to House Arrest

Jailed former Malaysian leader Najib Razak moved closer to serving the rest of his sentence at home after an appeal court ruled he could use a royal decree supporting his claim. Mohd RASFAN / AFP
Jailed former Malaysian leader Najib Razak moved closer to serving the rest of his sentence at home after an appeal court ruled he could use a royal decree supporting his claim. Mohd RASFAN / AFP
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Jailed ex-Malaysian Leader Najib Moves Closer to House Arrest

Jailed former Malaysian leader Najib Razak moved closer to serving the rest of his sentence at home after an appeal court ruled he could use a royal decree supporting his claim. Mohd RASFAN / AFP
Jailed former Malaysian leader Najib Razak moved closer to serving the rest of his sentence at home after an appeal court ruled he could use a royal decree supporting his claim. Mohd RASFAN / AFP

Jailed former Malaysian leader Najib Razak moved closer on Monday to serving the rest of his sentence at home after an appeal court ruled he could use a royal decree supporting his claim.
Najib, 71, is serving a six-year jail term for corruption related to the plunder of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB and faces several other cases linked to the financial scandal that led to his defeat in the 2018 elections, AFP said.
The purported existence of an order by the former king granting him permission to serve the rest of his current sentence at home has been at the center of his arguments before the Court of Appeal.
A three-member bench ruled 2-1 to grant Najib's appeal to use the decree to argue his case before the High Court.
"Given the fact that there is no challenge (of the existence of the decree), there is no justification that the order has not been complied with," said Mohamad Firuz Jaffril, one of the three Court of Appeal judges.
The High Court ruled last year that affidavits supporting Najib's claim about the document's existence were inadmissible as evidence because they were hearsay, prompting the former premier to challenge the decision.
But new evidence submitted by Najib's lawyers showed that "the issue of hearsay can no longer stand," Firuz said.
"We are therefore minded to allow the appeal," he added.
Monday's ruling means that the case will go back to the High Court, where the decree could be introduced as evidence to bolster Najib's bid to be placed under house arrest.
'Legal victory for Najib'
Najib was tried and originally sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment in July 2020 but the sentence was later halved by a pardons board.
Legal expert Goh Cia Yee told AFP that Monday's ruling is "a legal victory for Najib insofar as he is a step closer to the enforcement of house arrest".
He suggested that it could take "only months" for the High Court to hear the case.
Najib, however, is also defending himself against graft charges tied to more than $500 million in alleged bribes and several counts of money laundering.
If convicted, Najib faces hefty fines and sentences of up to 20 years for each count of abuse of power.
Allegations that billions of dollars were pilfered from investment vehicle 1MDB and used to buy everything from a superyacht to artwork played a major role in prompting voters to oust Najib and the long-ruling United Malays National Organization party in the 2018 elections.
The 1MDB scandal sparked investigations in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, where the funds were allegedly laundered.

Police deployed heavily around the court on Monday and erected roadblocks, but hundreds of Najib's supporters rallied outside.
Supporters -- some wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the former premier's portrait -- chanted "Free Najib!" and "Long Live Bossku!", referring to his moniker which means "my boss".