WASHINGTON: Eric Holder (), the first black US attorney general and one of US President Barack Obama’s closest allies, plans to announce that he is stepping down after a contentious term marked by advances in civil rights and frequent battles with Republicans in Congress. Holder will remain in office until a successor is nominated and confirmed, the Justice Department said. Holder’s departure after nearly six years sets up a potentially tense confirmation battle with Republicans in a lame-duck US Senate session scheduled after the November 4 midterm elections, when Republicans hope to capture a Senate majority that would take office in January. A White House official said Obama has not made a decision on a replacement and will not name a successor. Names that have been floated as possible successors include Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, Solicitor General Don Verrilli, former Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Holder was personally close to Obama and unapologetically embodied many of the president’s most liberal positions, including support for more gun control, criticism of America’s prison system and a desire to try terrorism suspects in civilian instead of military courts.
British PM to apologise to Queen
LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron will apologise to Queen Elizabeth II in person for eyebrow-raising comments about how she “purred” down the telephone when he told her that Scotland had rejected independence last week. Cameron was caught on camera on Tuesday making the remarks to former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg in the United States, where he was attending the UN General Assembly, in what monarchy watchers have called a breach of protocol. “The definition of relief is being the prime minister of the United Kingdom and ringing the queen and saying: ‘It’s alright, it’s OK.’ That was something,” Cameron said. “She purred down the line.” Cameron said he was “very embarrassed” and “extremely sorry” about what had happened. It is thought he will apologise to the 88-year-old monarch at the next of their regular weekly meetings. “It was a private conversation, but clearly a private conversation that I shouldn’t have had and won’t have again,” he told reporters in New York. “My office has already been in touch with the palace to make that clear and I will do so as well.”
