Washington — Music legend Elvis Presley, baseball great Babe Ruth and late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia are among seven people who will be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the White House said Saturday.

The award is the country's highest civilian honor, and recognizes "meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors," the White House said in a statement.

Three of this year's recipients will receive the award posthumously -- Presley, Ruth and Scalia.

The other honorees are; longtime Republican Senator Orrin Hatch; philanthropist and heavyweight political donor Miriam Adelson, the wife of billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson; and two NFL Hall of Famers: quarterback Roger Staubach and defensive tackle Alan Page, who went on to serve as a state supreme court justice in Minnesota.

The medals will be handed out in a ceremony at the White House on Nov. 16. — AFP