U.S. President Obama wins a round, a new strain of a old tropical disease is spreading rapidly, and Coffee Growers are on strike in a key region.  Let’s take a trip to the Western Hemisphere:

The U.S. Senate has confirmed former Senator Chuck Hagel as the new Pentagon Chief.  A group of Republicans had tried to filibuster President Obama’s nomination of Hagel but failed by a wide margin to get the two-thirds majority for a block.  Hagel, a Vietnam War combat veteran, was a Republican but irked his party by opposing then-President Bush’s Iraq War.

Health officials in Brazil are sounding the alarm over a steep rise in cases of Dengue Fever.  More than 200,000 cases are confirmed in the first seven weeks of this year.  The same period in 2012 saw only 70,000 cases.  The new strain of Dengue Fever is expected to get worse when the rainy season sets in and creates places for fever-carrying mosquitoes to reproduce.

Colombia’s coffee growers are on strike over low compensation.  Strike organizer Victor Correa says it costs $366 to produce a sack of coffee, but farmers are paid only $282.  The Movement for the Defense and Dignity of Coffee Growers expects to mobilize 200,000 growers for the strike, which has already seen roadblocks and clashes with cops.

Canadian Senator Patrick Brazeau has pleaded “not guilty” to assault and sexual assault charges.  According to court documents, a woman accuses him of violently assaulting her and ripping her clothes off after they got into an argument over aboriginal rights.  The Conservative caucus has since kicked him out.  The outspoken Brazeau previous made headlines for losing a celebrity boxing match with the son of former Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

The trial of British Petroleum for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has begun.  The fist witness was noted forensic engineer Bob Bea of the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management, who accused BP of putting cost-cutting before safety in the lead up to the spill in 2010.