The nation’s first African-American Attorney General is about to hand over to the nation’s first African American woman Attorney General, and in his final day on the job, Eric Holder paid a sincere and passionate tribute to to his staff and their work, Politico reports.

“This department is restored. It’s restored to what it always was and certainly was when I got here and what it must always be: free of politicization, focused on mission and making sure that justice is done without any kind of political interference from outsiders,” Holder told a crowd of current and former officials gathered in the Great Hall at Justice Department headquarters.

NPR reports:

[Holder] had a famously rocky relationship with Republicans in Congress, who held him in contempt a few years ago for refusing to turn over documents in a gun trafficking scandal along the Southwest border. But on his last day on the job, inside his ornate fifth floor conference room, even those scuffles became a source of humor.

“I will certainly miss your turning to me in the midst of hearings and giving me that look of, ‘why am I here and how can you get me out of here?'” Legislative Affairs Chief Peter Kadzik said.

New York magazine looks at how Holder “has become a black political superhero.”

Holder’s long-awaited successor Loretta Lynch is expected to be sworn in on Monday, and takes office at a time when relations between police and black communities are strained. One such conflict is in Baltimore, where thousands of protesters are expected to take to the streets on Saturday in what could be the first in a series of high-profile demonstrations over the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray a week after he was injured while in police custody.

While the circumstances of Gray’s arrest and injury remain unclear, police appeared to acknowledge on Friday that Gray had not received “timely medical care” after being transported in a police van without being buckled in.

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* WORLD * Speaking on the 10th anniversary of the setting up of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, President Obama praised members of the US intelligence community and said that the deaths of two aid workers in a drone strike, announced on Thursday, would be reviewed and any lessons identified. Politico reports:

“I was asked by somebody — how do you absorb news like that that we received the other day. And I told the truth: It’s hard,” he said. “The one thing I wanted everybody to know — because I know you, because I work with you, because I know the quality of this team, is that we all bleed when we lose an American life, we all grieve when any innocent life is taken,” Obama said. “We don’t take this work lightly.”

Despite Saudi Arabia saying it was changing its emphasis in Yemen to a more political approach to the crisis, Reuters reports that air strikes and violent clashes are continuing seemingly unabated, with the death toll mounting.

With an end-of-April deadline looming, Greece is under renewed pressure from EU finance ministers to deliver economic reforms and avoid a default and possible exit from the Euro.

A powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck in Nepal, less than 50 miles from the capital, Katmandu. Tremors were also felt in towns in neighboring Pakistan and India. There were reports of damaged buildings, but no immediate information about casualties.

* The Times of India‘s Live Blog is here

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* POLITICS * With rumblings continuing over the finances of the Clinton Foundation and the possible impact on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign – but as yet smoke not fire; or quid not quo – it might be time to look at other Democrats in the field.

Josh Krushaar at The National Journal writes how Dems “went all in on Hillary – it’s looking like a terrible bet.”

Democrats are badly misreading the polls showing Clinton as a formidable Democratic force. Her strong numbers are as much a product of a lack of primary competition as a result of her political strength. She’s also benefiting from the country’s partisan polarization at a time when there aren’t many other Democrats offering themselves as an alternative and joining in on the criticism. But those benefits are looking awfully short-lived, as Clinton looks unprepared to tackle questions that undermine her credibility for higher office. The more Democrats bet on Clinton, the uglier the recriminations will get if things go wrong.

The Washington Post looks at how Martin O’Malley, who was in Hollywood this week, might use support from the entertainment industry to “signify his potency as the non-Clinton candidate in the Democratic field.”

Meanwhile, Vermont Independent Sen Bernie Sanders appears to be “days away” from a decision and is leaning towards running, MSNBC reports.

(Bernie Sanders at the National Press Club – March 2015)

On the GOP side, the Washington Post‘s David Farenthold writes on how Sen Marco Rubio is “running away from the most prominent item on his resume.”

Former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee apparently believes that the US is “is moving toward “criminalization of Christianity” as a result of legalizing same-sex marriage.”

Finally Saturday is the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. This year’s guest speaker is Saturday Night Live‘s Cecily Strong.

Patrick Gavin writes at Politico on why “Nerd Prom is a Mess.”

..Now it’s not just one night of clubby backslapping, carousing and drinking between the press and the powerful, it’s four full days of signature cocktails and inside jokes that just underscore how out of step the Washington elite is with the rest of the country. It’s not us (journalists) versus them (government officials); it’s us (Washington) versus them (the rest of America).

Something has to change.

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* MEDIA * NBC’s internal inquiry into Brian Williams has been expanded, according to the New York Times. Earlier, Paul Farhi at the Washington Post reported that journalists at NBC’s DC bureau had “strongly opposed” Williams’s return.

Here’s your Headline of the Day, via Reuters/The Guardian.

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* CULTURE * In a much-publicized interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, Olympic gold medal-winner Bruce Jenner spoke frankly about his transition from male to female and his long struggle with his gender identity.

(ABC News)