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WASHINGTON – U.S. officials met face-to-face with representatives of Moammar Gadhafi’s regime last weekend to underscore the Obama administration’s commitment to seeing the longtime Libyan leader leave power, two U.S. officials said.

The meeting was not a negotiating session and there were no plans to meet with the Gadhafi regime again, the officials said. The meeting followed a decision Friday by the U.S. and several other nations to formally recognize Libya’s main opposition group as the country’s legitimate government, a major boost for the rebel movement.

A senior U.S. official traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in India said the U.S. agreed to meet the Libyans only after the U.S. officially recognized the rebels. The meeting followed what the official described as several phone calls from Libyan officials that the U.S. interpreted as a misguided attempt to repair relations.

The official said the meeting took place Saturday in an unnamed third country and brought together three senior U.S. diplomats, including Jeffrey D. Feltman, the top State Department official in charge of Middle East policy, along with four members of Gadhafi’s inner circle. A Gadhafi spokesman said the meeting happened in Tunisia.

Both U.S. officials who detailed the meeting said the Obama administration’s purpose for the session was to deliver a clear and firm message that the only way forward in Libya is for Gadhafi to step down. The U.S. officials requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the meeting publicly.

Gadhafi’s regime said the talks were focused on repairing ties between the nations. That account was denied by the U.S.

Under the cover of a U.N. mandate, the U.S. took the lead in the airstrikes against Libyan forces that began in March to protect Libyan civilians from Gadhafi’s advancing forces. NATO has since taken the lead in the bombing campaign, with the U.S. playing a support role.

Though President Barack Obama has pledged that the Libya campaign will not turn into a protracted war, he has said the U.S. will continue its involvement until Gadhafi stops attacking his people.

Under ‘Clare’s law’ – named after Clare Wood, who was murdered by a man she met through a dating website – police could warn women if their new partners have a history of abusive behaviour. Photograph: Dani Rodriguez/Alamy

Police would be able to warn women if a new partner had a violent past under plans to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from domestic abuse being considered by the home secretary, Theresa May.

The growth of online dating, coupled with the recent launch of a national police database, has encouraged the government to look at new ways to protect potential victims.

A proposal for a “Clare’s law’ – after 36-year-old Clare Wood, who met her murderer through an internet website – is to be launched in London on Monday by Wood’s father, Michael, and the former Labour cabinet minister Hazel Blears, who said May had written an “encouraging” letter on the issue. Wood’s

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LONG BEACH — Long Beach Airport’s new 1,989-space parking garage opens today, Friday, some four months ahead of schedule and $2 million under budget, alleviating parking congestion at one of California’s fastest-growing airports.

The $58 million structure is expected to generate some $350,000 monthly while saving $80,000 the airport had been paying per month for shuttles to a remote lot, which itself cost $1.8 million to lease annually.

Those leases will end immediately.

Savings will be plowed back into redevelopment of the existing, but rapidly aging, parking garage next door.

“This simply makes it much more convenient for travelers, and is designed to make the whole parking experience here quicker, easier and cheaper than any airport in Southern California,” said Long Beach Airport Director Mario Rodriguez. “

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Gas stations have to clearly post their prices. On Thursday, Orange County Circuit Judge Jose Rodriguez upheld the city of Orlando’s ordinance forcing gas stations to display how much they’re charging.

That ordinance went into effect in May.

It was aimed at Sun Gas and SunCoast Energys- two stations known for their sky high prices. Both are near Orlando International Airport and are geared toward tourists.

But the two offending stations refused to display their prices, or pay the fines required by the ordinance, saying the city overstepped its authority.

Over the next few weeks, Rodriguez will hammer out the details to his ruling- including how long offending stations will have to get signs up. He

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This morning at the Department of Justice, Attorney General Eric Holder delivered a speech outlining four key priorities for how the Department will strengthen its work to protect the American people.

The Attorney General also commended the recent progress in fulfilling the Department’s critical responsibilities:

“Just over two years ago, together, we launched a new chapter in the Department’s extraordinary history.  And I was honored that – on that February day – so many of you welcomed me home.  That day, as I stood before you – and swore the oath of office for the last job I will ever hold here – I laid out three priorities that would guide our work. 

“First, and most importantly, I promised that the Department’s top priority – and our chief responsibility – would be protecting the security, rights, and interests of the American people.  I also pledged to reinvigorate the Department’s traditional missions and breathe new life into important areas that had been overlooked in recent years.  Finally, I promised to heal the Department – by rebuilding morale and restoring credibility.”

After acknowledging the hard work of Justice Department employees around the world, the Attorney General praised the success that’s been achieved in fulfilling each of these commitments.  Not only has the Department thwarted numerous potentially devastating terrorist plots, more terrorists have been prosecuted over the last two years than in any other similar period in history.  The Department’s leadership and employees also have reformed and strengthened the Department operations by finding innovative ways to foster transparency, accountability and professionalism across every component – especially in the Civil Rights Division, which, as the Attorney General indicated, “is once again, open for business.”

As a result of these efforts, the last two years have been marked by historic progress.  The Attorney General pointed out that:

“Over the past two years, we’ve filed a record number of civil rights criminal cases, and secured an all-time high in civil recoveries for taxpayers and victims.  We’ve led government-wide efforts to respond to the largest oil spill in our nation’s history, and made certain that taxpayers do not foot the bill for its cleanup.  And just last week, we secured a conviction – in the biggest bank fraud prosecution of this generation – against the former chairman of a private mortgage lending company for his role in a nearly $3 billion-fraud scheme.”

Yet this work is far from over.

To continue moving the Department forward in meeting its key goals and responsibilities, the Attorney General laid out four priorities to guide and focus our future work:

• Protecting Americans from terrorism;
• Protecting Americans from violent crime;
• Protecting Americans from financial fraud; and
• Protecting the most vulnerable members of our society.

These four essential priorities will provide a framework for the Department’s future efforts and help us to overcome current challenges and build on today’s record of achievement.  As Department investigators, prosecutors, law enforcement personnel, and other employees and partners work together in pursuit of these goals, the Attorney General called on each of us to continue to seek out new ways to conserve taxpayer resources, to make our operations both more efficient and more effective, and to seize our opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of those we are privileged to serve. As the Attorney General said:

“Our challenges a

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