The Limits of Sarko-Power (The Weekly Standard via Yahoo! News) TONY BLAIR thinks he has a soul mate in Nicolas Sarkozy. [News Source]

Prion’s Infectious Secret Identified By Scientists (Medical News Today) Small regions within prion proteins regulate their ability to cross species barriersResearchers have known for decades that certain neurodegenerative diseases, such as mad cow disease or its human equivalent, Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease, result from a kind of infectious protein called a prion. [click link for full article] [News Source]

Operator of animal rendering plant takes stand at Pickton trial (CP via Yahoo! Canada News) NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. (CP) - The plant superintendent at a rendering plant told the Robert Pickton murder trial Tuesday that lax security prior to 2002 enabled many people to dump their loads of animal remains with little or no checking of the contents. Merle Morris, who has been the superintendent at West Coast Reduction for about 10 years, said it was possible for some people who brought animal ... [News Source]

Operator of animal rendering plant takes stand at Pickton trial (CNews) NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. (CP) - The plant superintendent at a rendering plant told the Robert Pickton murder trial Tuesday that lax security prior to 2002 enabled many people to dump their loads of animal remains with little or no checking of the contents. [News Source]

France Still No Friend On Trade (CBS News) Incoming French President Nicolas Sarkozy represents a huge improvement over his predecessor, but the Weekly Standard argues his economic policies will still give the United States and Britain fits. [News Source]

NMPF opposes opening Canadian border to breeding animals (AG Weekly) ARLINGTON, Va. - The National Milk Producers Federation, in comments submitted Friday (March 9) to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is opposing the resumption of cattle exports from Canada for breeding or herd replacement purposes. [News Source]

S. Korea, U.S. reach trade agreement, biggest for U.S. since NAFTA (AG Weekly) SEOUL, South Korea — The United States reached its biggest free trade agreement since NAFTA on Monday, clinching a last-minute deal with close security ally South Korea that it hopes will bolster bilateral ties and provide added spark to the Doha Round of global trade talks. [News Source]

Canada says mad cow case shows risk unchanged (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Canada's probe into its ninth case of mad cow disease since 2003 shows the case was consistent with previous ones and does not change Canada's overall risk for the disease, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said on Monday. [News Source]

Japanese To Inspect Tyson Foods Beef Plants (The Morning News) Tyson Foods Inc. confirmed Friday that Japanese beef inspectors will be visiting all eight of the company's beef processing plants beginning May 21 -- including the facility recently snubbed by Tokyo. [News Source]

Tyson Foods Beefs Up Bottom Line (The Morning News) Beef sales and operating improvements pushed Tyson Foods Inc. to its best overall quarter since the summer of 2005, despite swings in both corn and live cattle prices. [News Source]