US Secret Service boss quits

US Secret Service Director Julia Pierson resigned under fire on Wednesday after a series of security lapses came to light that exposed gaping holes in the protective cocoon around President Barack Obama. Pierson, in her position for just 18 months, faced mounting calls from lawmakers to step down in the fallout from a September 19 incident in which an Iraq war veteran with a knife scaled the White House fence, sprinted across the lawn and got deep inside the mansion before an off-duty agent stopped him. Pierson had told a congressional committee on Tuesday she took ‘full responsibility’ for gaps in presidential security. On Wednesday, she offered her resignation in a meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who accepted it, according to Reuters.