Spitzer reportedly seeks to fulfill a campaign promise he made last October in his run for governor to support a gay marriage bill. In response, State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R) announced that he still opposed recognizing same-sex marriage, and suggested that in the wake of the recent killing of a New York state trooper Spitzer should put more priority on reintroducing the death penalty for criminals who kill police officers.

Spitzer has admitted that his bill is unlikely to receive support from state lawmakers. Gay marriage advocates nonetheless applauded the bill as a step forward. "Today is a watershed moment in our community's struggle to win the freedom to marry," said Alan Van Capelle, executive director of gay rights group Empire State Pride Agenda.

"It's good beef; it's healthy beef. As a matter of fact, I'm going to feed the prime minister's delegation a good hamburger for lunch," he said.

U.S. officials, along with the beef industry, have been pushing Japan to loosen its import rules on beef, hoping to rebuild a robust trade with the Asian nation. They want to see Japan accept meat from older animals and also seek an end to mandatory inspections of each box of beef.

Currently, Japan accepts U.S. meat from animals 20 months or younger, but exporters would like to see meat shipped from animals up to 30 months old. They would also like to see a full range of beef exports — boneless and bone-in.

But most industry officials do not expect any change until after a ruling next month from the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), which is expected to confirm the United States as a "controlled risk" country.

U.S. beef exports to Japan were about $1.4 billion a year until 2003, when mad cow disease was discovered in the United States. For 2006, that figured stood at $66 million.

Earlier this week, the Agriculture Department announced it would allow Japan to inspect U.S. beef processing plants, which puts the United States one step closer to more trade.

According to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, Japan will drop its mandatory inspection rule for U.S. beef shipments once those plant visits take place.

Beef trade with Japan is just one instance in which U.S. agriculture interests complain trading partners fail to set import rules according to world health and safety standards.

"Bob gave a personal reason for his resignation," said spokesman Bryan Sierra. He stressed that Coughlin "had no involvement" in the department's investigation of Abramoff.

Coughlin had worked in the criminal division since 2005 but was recused from the Abramoff inquiry because of a longtime personal friendship with Kevin A. Ring, one of Abramoff's lobbying colleagues whose actions are under investigation, a law enforcement source said. Investigators are looking into dealings between the two in 2001 and 2002, when Coughlin worked in the Justice Department's Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, the sources said.

Coughlin and Ring were friends on Capitol Hill in the 1990s when both worked as staffers to then-Sen. John D. Ashcroft (R-Mo.), who became attorney general in 2001.

Coughlin's resignation and the surfacing of his name in the Abramoff investigation were first reported yesterday by McClatchy Newspapers.

Investigators came across Coughlin's name while looking into whether Ring improperly sought or received favors for lobbying clients from people in government, the sources told The Washington Post.

Ring took Coughlin to sporting events with tickets provided by his lobbying firm, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.

The task force has tracked millions of dollars in meals, trips, tickets, gifts and campaign contributions that the Abramoff lobbying team lavished on lawmakers and staffers. The investigation has so far resulted in 11 convictions and guilty pleas from lobbyists, staffers, two administration officials and a congressman.

An attorney for Ring could not be reached for comment. Coughlin did not answer calls to his home yesterday, and a lawyer who is serving as his spokesman did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Coughlin is the second Justice Department official whose name has surfaced in the wide-ranging Abramoff investigation. Earlier this year, Sue Ellen Wooldridge, deputy assistant attorney general for environment and natural resources, abruptly resigned when her boyfriend -- now her husband -- was notified that he was a criminal target. J. Steven Griles, former deputy secretary of the Interior Department, has since pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Abramoff.

Project Honey Pot has collected thousands of Internet addresses that it has linked to spam harvesters, but it so far has been unable to link those addresses to an actual person.

The lawsuit names a variety of John Does as defendants, and the plaintiffs hope that the legal process will allow them to track the actual people who are harvesting the e-mail addresses, said lead attorney Jon Praed with the Arlington-based Internet Law Group.

Collecting e-mail addresses is not by itself illegal, but Praed said the plaintiffs will be able to link the harvesting to spam e-mails, which are illegal under federal and state laws. Those laws allow individuals who receive unwanted spam to seek civil damages.

Praed said legitimate businesses are afraid to post e-mail addresses on their Web sites for fear that automated Web crawlers will find the addresses, record them and sell them to spammers who will inundate them with junk e-mail.

The law firm founded by the late Johnnie Cochran Jr. has joined the team representing a woman whose toddler was shot to death during in a gunbattle between the child's father and a police SWAT team, according to court papers.

Brian Dunn of The Cochran Firm filed papers this week, saying he has joined attorney Luis Carillo in representing Lorena Lopez.

Carillo filed a wrongful-death lawsuit on Lopez's behalf against the city of Los Angeles, Police Chief William Bratton and other police officers. The Cochran Firm has filed numerous lawsuits against law enforcement, including cases that involved officer shootings.

Nineteen-month-old Suzie Pena was killed by a police bullet as SWAT officers exchanged fire with her father, Jose Raul Pena, in 2005. Authorities said that Pena, who also was killed, used the child as a shield during the gunbattle.

In a court hearing Friday, Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu denied Carrillo's motion to review investigative reports and witness statements. Deputy City Attorney Christian Bojorquez had argued the documents were confidential.

The civilian Police Commission last year ruled that two officers who fired their weapons early in the standoff violated the department's use-of-force policy.

The district attorney's office declined to file charges against the officers involved in the standoff and shooting, saying they acted lawfully in defense of themselves and others.

The University of Georgia reached an out-of-court settlement with a former student who filed a 25 million dollar sexual harassment lawsuit.

The woman -- Tiffany Williams -- claimed U-G-A officials were slow to respond to an alleged assault involving three athletes.

The lawsuit revolves around a 2002 claim that she had consensual sex with former Georgia basketball player Tony Cole in her dorm room. Afterward she told police that former basketball player Steve Thomas and ex-football player Brandon Williams sexually assaulted her.

The lawsuit claimed that school officials exposed her to danger by recruiting Cole even though they knew he had a history of sexual misconduct.

U-G-A attorney Ed Tolley said the settlement was six figures but he did NOT specify the precise figure.

Brandon Williams was acquitted of any wrongdoing and criminal charges against Cole and Thomas were dropped.