Daily Headlines: May 5, 2014

* Dominican Republic: Dominican health officials have documented some 3500 suspected cases of the chikungunya virus, which is a mosquito-borne virus that causes intense joint and muscle pain and has spread throughout the Caribbean over the past five months.

* Venezuela: A Human Rights Watch report published today blasted “Venezuelan security forces” for being behind “an alarming pattern of abuse” against opposition protesters and civilians since early February.   

* U.S.: Did the judges rob Argentine boxer Marcos Maidana from what would have been the first defeat in welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s career?

* Uruguay: Uruguayan officials set guidelines for the legal selling and production of marijuana including limiting individuals to purchases of 40 grams of the drug per week and set the price at less than $1 per gram.

Video Source – YouTube user ExcélsiorTV (The chikungunya virus, which is commonly found in Asia and Africa, has spread throughout several Caribbean countries and, as seen in this video, reached the Mexican state of Jalisco). 

Online Sources – The Huffington Post; Human Rights Watch; The Latin Americanist; USA TODAY; The Independent