OnPolitics: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigns following recent scandals

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President Joe Biden presented the Medal of Freedom—the nation’s highest honor—to 17 people Thursday, including actor Denzel Washington, gymnast Simone Biles and former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

The president also presented the award posthumously to Sen. John McCain, Apple founder Steve Jobs and Richard Trumka, who was president of the AFL-CIO. Other recipients include Fred Gray, a prominent attorney who represented Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, and Sandra Lindsay, a New York critical care nurse, was the first American to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside clinical trials.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was established under former President John F. Kennedy, is one of the highest awards a civilian can receive.

"This is America," Biden said, pointing to the recipients seated behind him on the stage.

It's Amy with today's top stories.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigns following multiple scandals

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Thursday that he would resign, ending an unprecedented political crisis that has roiled the United Kingdom.

"It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister," Johnson said outside his office at 10 Downing St. in London.

Johnson said the process to select his successor would begin immediately and a timetable for the change in leadership would be announced next week.

He said it was "painful" for him to leave office but conceded he had failed to push back against an onslaught of opposition from his own party ministers urging him to resign.

Johnson’s departure will end his three-year turn as Britain's leader. Days of turmoil were triggered by his evolving explanations of what he knew about a sexual misconduct scandal involving one of his allies. Two of Johnson's top Cabinet ministers quit this week, followed by more than 30 others who said they could no longer serve under his leadership and who urged him to step down.

Who will take over? While there is no clear frontrunner for the U.K's top job, several people already have emerged as possible successors to Johnson, such as the British Defense Secretary and certain members of Parliament.

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Former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter celebrate 76 years of marriage today. Take a look at their marriage over the years in these photos. -- Amy

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigns after recent scandals