Many objected when Secretary of State John Kerry referred to Latin America as "the backyard" of the United States last April. While his statement may have been intended as an innocuous comment on geography, the implications of his words represent an all too common attitude about our Southerly neighbors that is not only ignorant, but often inaccurate. 

Yesterday, Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López, whom the government has blamed for the recent protests, promised to turn himself in under one condition: that the protests continue in Caracas today. This morning, tens of thousands of people obliged. Twitter has been flooded with aerial pictures of the mass protests—many of which Venezuela’s government seems to prefer no one see, as it blocked some of them from appearing for a time, according to the company.

Three months after the first anti-government protests in Ukraine, the country has experienced its deadliest day of political violence, with nine people dying in clashes between demonstrators and police. The beating heart of the pro-Europe, anti-Russia 'Euromaidan' movement is in Kiev's Independence Square (in Ukrainian, Maidan Nezalezhnosti), and the square is currently in flames after a day of police firing rubber bullets at protesters wielding molotov cocktails and fireworks.

TIME magazine's upcoming February 24 issue is drawing heavy criticism from Mexicans online. The cover is of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, but at the center of the backlash is the title and the content of the story. The country's leader is heralded as "Saving Mexico" and that his reforms have "changed the narrative in his narco-stained nation". 

A photo of a 4-year-old Syrian refugee in the desert and surrounded by humanitarian workers became a sensation online - as did the media covering it, after many questioned the narrative behind the photo. The picture sparked a storm of articles covering the story of a Syrian child crossing the desert alone.

The upcoming issue of Time features Mexico’s president, Enrique Pena Nieto, on its cover. That has made the magazine more than a few new enemies. But it’s the accompanying front-page headline that really clinched the Mexicans’ ire: SAVING MEXICO.

Abdullah Elshamy, a correspondent for Al Jazeera, has now been in prison for 175 days and on hunger strike for a little over two weeks. "I've lost a number of pounds. I only rely on liquids. The littlest effort makes me feel dizzy," he wrote in a letter smuggled out of his prison cell, where he isn't allowed access to pens or paper. "But it's what I feel compelled to do in order to raise awareness about the importance of freedom of speech."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's battle with hardliners in his own government broke out into the open Wednesday, with the head of the country's state-run television company temporarily preventing him from giving a live interview in Tehran.