Daily Headlines: February 9, 2015

* Brazil: The severe drought affecting Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and other areas of southeastern Brazil has been blamed for causing a 57% spike in reported dengue cases last month.

* U.S.: Puerto Rican urban music duo Calle 13 and Carlos Vives of Colombia were among the winners at the Grammy Awards held yesterday.

* Puerto Rico: The Pinar del Rio team from Cuba won the country’s first Caribbean Series title since 1960 and despite the defection of two of their players early in the tournament.

* Venezuela: “They’re $20 glasses from Amazon made in China, not a NASA instrument!” exclaimed the father of jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez after officials discovered a diplomat trying to secretly record a recent legal hearing.

Video Source – YouTube user Reuters (“Researchers in Rio de Janeiro (last September) begin releasing thousands of mosquitoes infected with a bacteria they say can eliminate the spread of the dengue fever virus”).

Online Sources – USA TODAY; MercoPress; The Globe and Mail; VOXXI