Image copyright Reuters Image caption The protests have turned increasingly violent during the past five days

The state department has ordered relatives of US government employees based in Nicaragua to leave the Central American country.

Services at the US embassy in the capital in Managua will be curtailed.

The order comes after days of deadly rioting triggered by planned changes to Nicaragua's social security system.

Even though Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega had scrapped the changes, the situation remains tense and more protests are expected.

The state department also said it would authorise US government personnel to leave Nicaragua but that those decisions would have to be taken on a case-by-by-case basis.

In a statement it warned that "political rallies and demonstrations are occurring daily, often with little notice or predictability".

"Some protests result in injuries and deaths," it says, adding that buying food and fuel could become a challenge and access to the airport in Managua could be blocked.

A human rights group says at least 27 people have been killed in total as a result of the unrest, more than double the official death toll of 10.

How did it all start?

The unrest first started on Wednesday when hundreds of people, mainly pensioners, took to the streets of the capital, Managua, to protest against changes to the country's social security system.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The protest against pension changes have escalated in recent days

The protesters and some of the journalists covering the demonstration were set upon by men wearing motorcycle helmets who beat them with metal pipes and electric cables.

Some local media said those beating up the protesters were part of pro-government gangs and were wearing T-shirts with pro-government slogans.

How did it escalate?

On Thursday, students and employers joined the protesting pensioners in several cities, boosting the numbers of demonstrators to thousands rather than hundreds. There were also further stand-offs between the protesters and pro-government groups.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Protesters took out their anger on some of the "Trees of Life" sculptures designed by the First Lady

Students took over the National University of Engineering and confronted riot police, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets.

The protests spread from Managua to a dozen other cities across the country.

On Friday, the army was deployed to guard government buildings and the protests turned deadly with several people, including two protesters and a policeman, killed.

The security forces were accused of using excessive force to contain the protests, which had started peacefully.

But First Lady Rosario Murillo, who is also the country's vice-president, defended the response, saying it constituted a "legitimate defence against a tiny group" of troublemakers.

Over the weekend, protests escalated further with a reporter shot dead during a live broadcast in the town of Bluefields on the Caribbean coast.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Stores were looted in Managua

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Some shop owners armed themselves to protect their shuttered businesses

Some took advantage of the chaos to loot shops, while shopkeepers armed themselves and stood guard around their businesses.

What were the proposed changes?

The changes were aimed at boosting Nicaragua's troubled social security system, which has been running on a deficit.

Pensioners would have had to pay 5% of their pensions into a fund for medical expenses.

Employees would have had to contribute a larger chunk of their salary towards social security - 7% instead of the current 6.25%. And employers, too, would have had to pay more money into the social security pot.

The changes were due to come into force on 1 July.

Are the protests only about social security?

The protests were triggered by the proposed changes but the harsh response to what started as peaceful demonstrations brought many more people onto the streets.

There was also outrage over the fact that journalists were among those killed. A number of TV stations also complained of censorship after they were taken off the cable network.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Protesters are demanding freedom of speech be restored

Miguel Mora, the director of 100% Noticias, one of the stations to be taken off air, wrote on Facebook: "They are threatening us!"

The protests also appear to have grown into a bigger anti-government movement, with protesters expressing their anger at the president's increasingly authoritarian style.

Is the scrapping of the measure likely to calm matters?

For those whose main concern was the increase in social security payments, its scrapping will be seen as a victory and it may satisfy them.

But the anti-government protests, the largest in decades, have emboldened many Nicaraguans to speak out more freely against President Daniel Ortega and his influential wife and vice-president.

There has been discontent with the president, who is on his third consecutive term in office, for years in some parts of society.

The 2014 scrapping of presidential term limits has been seen as a threat to democracy and some of those who have been demonstrating have accused Mr Ortega and his wife of having "dictatorial tendencies".

The business community has said it will not sit down for talks with the government until police violence stops and freedom of speech is restored.

Protesting students have demanded that those arrested during the demonstrations be freed.</s>Pope Francis called on Sunday for an end to the violence in Nicaragua, where at least six people have died in protests against unpopular changes in social security.

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis called on Sunday for an end to the violence in Nicaragua, where at least six people have died in protests against unpopular changes in social security.

Speaking to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square for his Sunday address, Francis called for "an end to every form of violence and to avoid the useless shedding of blood."

Francis, the first Latin American pope in history, called for differences to be "resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility".

On Saturday, after four days of protests, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, facing the biggest crisis of his leadership, said he was ready to consider changing an unpopular social security overhaul.</s>VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis called on Sunday for an end to the violence in Nicaragua, where at least six people have died in protests against unpopular changes in social security.

Speaking to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday address, Francis called for “an end to every form of violence and to avoid the useless shedding of blood.”

Francis, the first Latin American pope in history, called for differences to be “resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility”.

On Saturday, after four days of protests, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, facing the biggest crisis of his leadership, said he was ready to consider changing an unpopular social security overhaul.</s>Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was under pressure from widespread street unrest on Monday despite backing down on a contentious pension reform plan that triggered days of violence in which at least 25 people were killed.

Students leading the protests vowed to keep up their demonstrations until the 72-year-old leader and his wife and vice-president Rosario Murillo are ousted.

The deteriorating situation prompted US authorities to order family members of American government personnel in Nicaragua to leave the country.

The Central American nation’s main private business association — an ally of Ortega during his 11 years in power — said it would go ahead with an anti-government march on Monday.

On Sunday, Ortega sought to placate popular fury, announcing he was revoking the pension reform plan that would have increased both employer and employee contributions and reduced benefits, in an IMF-backed bid to cap a rising $76 million deficit at the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute (INSS).

The increases were the spark that ignited student protests last Wednesday that soon spread to other sectors of Nicaraguan society.

“The protests are no longer just for the INSS, it is against a government that denies us freedom of expression, freedom of the press and to demonstrate peacefully,” 26-year-old political science student Clifford Ramirez told AFP.

“We believe there is no longer space for dialogue,” he added.

Student protesters won support in neighborhoods where residents came out to bang kitchen pots, and from workers and retirees angered by government corruption and the deterioration in their living conditions.

The protests intensified over the weekend as demonstrators erected barricades of burning tires in the streets of the capital Managua, while mobs ransacked shops in various parts of the city.

Ortega responded with a crackdown that saw the army deployed, independent media muzzled, journalists assaulted and pro-government demonstrators mobilized to counter the protests.

A doctor treating those wounded in the clashes, Eyel Almanza, said in an interview that police officers were resorting to deadly force.

Ortega, a former Sandinista guerrilla who is allied to Venezuela and Russia, has compared the protesters to gang members who spread terror in Nicaragua’s Latin American neighbors.

The unexpected wave of violence in an otherwise relatively tightly controlled country caused international outrage and concern, with the United States, the European Union and Pope Francis all calling for calm.

The auxiliary bishop for Managua, Silvio Baez, said on Twitter that “I don’t see any conditions for dialogue with Nicaragua’s government.”

He called for a halt to the “repression,” the freeing of youths arrested and the lifting of a broadcast ban imposed on an independent TV station.

“We demand that the Nicaraguan government cease the brutal attacks against the demonstrators and the civilian population,” the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights said in a joint statement with the International Federation for Human Rights.

Both organizations confirmed that 25 people were killed in the protests, including minors, police officers and members of the Sandinista Youth, mobilized to support the government.

On Saturday, a journalist was shot dead while reporting on the chaos in the Caribbean city of Bluefields.

Before his U-turn late Sunday, Ortega had agreed to hold talks with the private sector, only to be rebuffed by business leaders who said there could be no dialogue unless his government “immediately ceases police repression.”

Ramirez, the student, said the deaths and censorship during the protests had ended the possibility of resolving the crisis through talks.

“We can no longer accept this government, we are protesting for the Ortega-Murillo couple to leave power,” Ramirez said.

He said young people who took to the streets do not feel represented by the opposition parties that have in recent years backed Ortega, nor by the business leaders who supported him since he returned to government in 2007.

“Since the Sandinista Revolution in 1979, we’ve had the same political leaders, they don’t let anyone else come in. We want a new leadership who represents the youth,” Ramirez said.</s>MANAGUA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A student was shot dead in Nicaragua late on Sunday, the Red Cross said, bringing the total death toll to nine in the latest unrest, as the United States ordered its embassy staff out of the country and curbed consular services.

Police clashed with students bunkered down at the Polytechnic University of Nicaragua on Sunday night, and one died after being shot while five others were treated for injuries, Lissett Guido, a Red Cross spokeswoman, told Reuters by telephone on Monday.

Guido said the Red Cross had registered nine deaths since the protests began Wednesday, and attended to 433 injured people. The Nicaraguan Center of Human Rights (CENIDH) said on Monday at least 25 people had died. Marlin Sierra, the director of the CENIDH, said 120 people had been arrested.

Protests began last week after the government of President Daniel Ortega, a former leftist guerrilla leader whom critics accuse of trying to build a family dictatorship, launched a plan to overhaul the Central American country’s welfare system.

A police crackdown on protesters and curbs on some media have fueled broader criticism of Ortega. On Sunday night, in an effort to calm the streets, Ortega said he had canceled the welfare-overhaul initiative.

On Monday, the U.S. State department authorized the departure of U.S. government employees. Those will be handled on a case-by-case basis, according to a State Department official.

While two major marches were due on Monday, there was little evidence of people gathering for the first, called by students from the Polytechnic University for 9:00 a.m. local time.

It was unclear what the turnout would be for a march at 3:00 p.m., called by Nicaragua’s main business lobby.

The U.S. State Department official said the embassy in Managua would be unable to provide routine services to the public until further notice, but would continue to be available by phone for emergencies and provide services to U.S. citizens and visa applicants.

Nicaragua has been one of Central America’s more stable countries, mostly avoiding the turmoil caused by gang violence or political upheaval that has affected nearby Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

“Political rallies and demonstrations are occurring daily, often with little notice or predictability. Some protests result in injuries and deaths,” the State Department said.

It said the purchase of food and fuel may become harder and access to the airport in the capital of Managua may be blocked.</s>MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- Nicaragua's president on Sunday withdrew changes to the social security system that had triggered deadly protests and looting.

President Daniel Ortega said in a message to the nation that the social security board of directors had cancelled the changes implemented on April 16.

The overhaul was intended to shore up Nicaragua's troubled social security system by both reducing benefits and increasing taxes.

The changes touched off protests across the Central American nation that escalated into clashes with police as well as looting. The demonstrations appeared to expand to include broader anti-government grievances.

Human rights groups said at least 26 people were killed in several days of clashes. Dozens of shops in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua were looted during unrest that extended into Sunday.

Unlike his appearance on Saturday with the police chief, Ortega announced the cancellation of the overhaul accompanied by business executives who account for about 130,000 jobs and millions of dollars in exports.

Earlier in the day, Pope Francis said at the Vatican that he was "very worried" about the situation in Nicaragua and echoed the call of local bishops for an end to all violence.

Images broadcast by local news media showed looted shops in the capital's sprawling Oriental Market district and at least one Walmart.

Police apparently did not intervene Sunday, in contrast to what had been a strong response to earlier demonstrations in which dozens were injured or arrested.

"We are seeing social chaos in Nicaragua provoked by the absence of government leadership, and the crisis has been combined with poverty, and that in any society is a time bomb," sociologist and analyst Cirilo Otero said.

Ortega had said Saturday that he was willing to negotiate on the social security overhaul, but said the talks would be only with business leaders.

He seemed to try to justify the tough response against protesters by the government and allied groups, accusing demonstrators, most of them university students, of being manipulated by unspecified "minority" political interests and of being infiltrated by gangsters.

"The kids do not even know the party that is manipulating them. ... Gang members are being brought into the kids' protests and are criminalizing the protests. That is why they are put at risk," Ortega said.

Those remarks appeared to fan the flames, as soon afterward thousands of people spilled back into the streets in seven cities.</s>Nicaragua's Ortega agrees to talk as deadly protests rage on

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said Saturday that his government is willing to enter into talks over social security reforms that have sparked four days of protests and clashes in which, rights monitors say, at least 25 people have died. A journalist covering the unrest was also killed.

In a nationally televised address, his first public appearance since the demonstrations began Wednesday, Ortega said he is open to negotiations so that there is "no more terror for Nicaraguan families."

But he said the dialogue would be just with business leaders and not with other sectors of society. He also seemed to try to justify what has been a heavy-handed response by the government and allied groups, accusing demonstrators, most of them university students, of being manipulated by unspecified "minority" political interests and of being infiltrated by gangsters.

"What is happening in our country has no name. The kids do not even know the party that is manipulating them. ... Gang members are being brought into the kids' protests and are criminalizing the protests. That is why they are put at risk," Ortega said.

Those remarks appeared to fan the flames, as soon afterward thousands of people spilled back into the streets in seven cities including the capital, Managua, after tensions had calmed somewhat Friday night.

"We are in the streets asking for Ortega and his wife to go. This has already gone beyond the social security issue. Here there have been dead, wounded, and he does not even apologize for his killings or the savage repression against the people," said Mauri Hernandez, one of thousands of demonstrators at a central rotunda.

On Friday night Vice President, first lady and government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said nine people had been confirmed dead in the clashes, though the human rights group Cenidh said Saturday it had counted at least 25 deaths nationwide.

Minutes later, news emerged that journalist Angel Gahona of the news show Meridiano was killed while covering unrest in the southeastern city of Bluefields. The AP viewed video from when he was broadcasting live on Facebook via cellphone showing damage to an ATM at the entrance to city hall as riot police advance up a darkened street. A gunshot is heard, the phone falls and a several voices scream his name.

A separate video of the incident circulating on social media, taken from behind Gahona, shows him approaching the ATM. After the shot, he slumps to the ground with blood streaming from his head. Someone presses a piece of cloth to try to staunch the bleeding.

Another Bluefields reporter, Ileana Lacayo, said he died en route to the hospital.

A prominent business chamber issued a statement conditioning its talks with Ortega on an end to repression, the freeing of detained protesters and respect for freedom of expression as the authorities have kept off the air one private news channel that is covering the protests.

"We cannot go into a dialogue if these minimal conditions are not met," it said.

There were more clashes at the Polytechnical University of Nicaragua, one of the strongest bastions of the protesters.

"We stand firm. They will not wear us out. Here we will give our all until the government understands that it will not continue to do whatever it pleases," Lombardo Ruiz Picado, a leader of the student protesters, told The Associated Press by phone from inside the school.

In the morning, army troops were deployed to Esteli, a city north of Managua that has been a main flashpoint of the demonstrations, to help police repel protesters.

State-affiliated media showed images of armed soldiers patrolling the city center and said they were safeguarding strategic concerns after fires at several public buildings.

The Roman Catholic Conference of Bishops in Nicaragua condemned repression against protesters and urged the government to listen to them and drop the social security reforms.

"A unilateral decision always brings with it social instability. Rectifying decisions is a sign of humanity, listening is the path of reason, seeking peace at all cost is wisdom," the conference said in a statement.

The reforms, issued by decree, increase income and payroll taxes and make changes to pensions to try to shore up Nicaragua's troubled social security system.

Associated Press writer Peter Orsi in Mexico City contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to show that the journalist's surname is Gahona.</s>MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — The latest on unrest in Nicaragua (all times local):

Nicaragua's president says the government is withdrawing changes to the social security system that had triggered protests, riots and looting over the past week.

President Daniel Ortega said Sunday in a message to the nation that the social security board of directors has canceled the changes implemented on April 16.

The overhaul sought to shore up Nicaragua's troubled social security system with a combination of reduced benefits and increased taxes.

The changes touched off protests across the Central American nation that escalated into clashes with police as well as looting.

Human rights groups say at least 26 people have been killed in several days of clashes. Dozens of shops in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua have been looted.

The U.S. State Department is accusing Nicaragua's government of overreacting to protests during days of unrest in which human rights groups say more than two dozen people have died.

Sunday's statement says U.S. officials "condemn the violence and the excessive force used by police and others against civilians who are exercising their constitutional right to freedom of expression and assembly. "

It's calling for "broad?-based dialogue involving all sectors o?f society" and urges the government to allow an independent investigation into the deaths.

Pope Francis has expressed deep worry over deadly violence in Nicaragua fueled by protests and he's pressing for a peaceful solution.

Human rights advocates say that since April 18 at least 26 people have been killed in unrest over social security reforms planned by President Daniel Ortega's government. Dozens have been injured or arrested.

Francis told people in St. Peter's Square that he's "very worried" about the situation in the Central American country.

He said he's expressing "closeness in prayer to that beloved country" and joining local bishops in seeking an end to "every violence, that useless bloodshed is avoided and that open issues are resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility."

Ortega says his government is willing to enter into talks over the dispute.

In the grainy, nighttime video, journalist Angel Gahona, clad in jeans and a blue shirt, holds up a cellphone and narrates as he approaches the facade of city hall in Bluefields, Nicaragua, reporting live via Facebook on protests that have rocked the Central American nation for four days.

Seconds later a gunshot rings out and Gahona slumps lifeless to the curb. Voices cry his name and someone presses a piece of cloth to his head to try to staunch the stream of blood. Another Bluefields reporter, Ileana Lacayo, confirms that he died before reaching the hospital.

Besides Gahona at least 25 others have been killed since Wednesday in unrest over social security reforms planned by President Daniel Ortega's government, according to a human rights group.</s>Nicaragua's Ortega agrees to talk as deadly protests rage on

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said Saturday that his government is willing to enter into talks over social security reforms that have sparked four days of protests and clashes in which, rights monitors say, at least 25 people have died. A journalist covering the unrest was also killed.

In a nationally televised address, his first public appearance since the demonstrations began Wednesday, Ortega said he is open to negotiations so that there is "no more terror for Nicaraguan families."

But he said the dialogue would be just with business leaders and not with other sectors of society. He also seemed to try to justify what has been a heavy-handed response by the government and allied groups, accusing demonstrators, most of them university students, of being manipulated by unspecified "minority" political interests and of being infiltrated by gangsters.

"What is happening in our country has no name. The kids do not even know the party that is manipulating them. ... Gang members are being brought into the kids' protests and are criminalizing the protests. That is why they are put at risk," Ortega said.

Those remarks appeared to fan the flames, as soon afterward thousands of people spilled back into the streets in seven cities including the capital, Managua, after tensions had calmed somewhat Friday night.

"We are in the streets asking for Ortega and his wife to go. This has already gone beyond the social security issue. Here there have been dead, wounded, and he does not even apologize for his killings or the savage repression against the people," said Mauri Hernandez, one of thousands of demonstrators at a central rotunda.

On Friday night Vice President, first lady and government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said nine people had been confirmed dead in the clashes, though the human rights group Cenidh said Saturday it had counted at least 25 deaths nationwide.

Minutes later, news emerged that journalist Angel Gahona of the news show Meridiano was killed while covering unrest in the southeastern city of Bluefields. The AP viewed video from when he was broadcasting live on Facebook via cellphone showing damage to an ATM at the entrance to city hall as riot police advance up a darkened street. A gunshot is heard, the phone falls and a several voices scream his name.

A separate video of the incident circulating on social media, taken from behind Gahona, shows him approaching the ATM. After the shot, he slumps to the ground with blood streaming from his head. Someone presses a piece of cloth to try to staunch the bleeding.

Another Bluefields reporter, Ileana Lacayo, said he died en route to the hospital.

A prominent business chamber issued a statement conditioning its talks with Ortega on an end to repression, the freeing of detained protesters and respect for freedom of expression as the authorities have kept off the air one private news channel that is covering the protests.

"We cannot go into a dialogue if these minimal conditions are not met," it said.

There were more clashes at the Polytechnical University of Nicaragua, one of the strongest bastions of the protesters.

"We stand firm. They will not wear us out. Here we will give our all until the government understands that it will not continue to do whatever it pleases," Lombardo Ruiz Picado, a leader of the student protesters, told The Associated Press by phone from inside the school.

In the morning, army troops were deployed to Esteli, a city north of Managua that has been a main flashpoint of the demonstrations, to help police repel protesters.

State-affiliated media showed images of armed soldiers patrolling the city center and said they were safeguarding strategic concerns after fires at several public buildings.

The Roman Catholic Conference of Bishops in Nicaragua condemned repression against protesters and urged the government to listen to them and drop the social security reforms.

"A unilateral decision always brings with it social instability. Rectifying decisions is a sign of humanity, listening is the path of reason, seeking peace at all cost is wisdom," the conference said in a statement.

The reforms, issued by decree, increase income and payroll taxes and make changes to pensions to try to shore up Nicaragua's troubled social security system.

Associated Press writer Peter Orsi in Mexico City contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to show that the journalist's surname is Gahona.</s>At Least 24 Dead After Deadly Riots In Nicaragua

Deadly rioting in Nicaragua prompted by planned changes to the pension system killed at least 24 people. The U.S. State Department ordered embassy relatives to leave the country and curtailed embassy services.
The U.S. State Department orders the families of U.S. diplomats in Nicaragua to leave amid riots by protestors against proposed pension changes. President Daniel Ortega has scrapped the changes but further protests are nonetheless anticipated.