Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega refused Monday to bow to protesters' demands that he step down, vowing in an interview with US television that he will see through his current term until 2021.

Nicaragua's government said Tuesday that forces loyal to President Daniel Ortega have seized control of the opposition stronghold city of Masaya, following fierce clashes with activists in the flashpoint neighborhood of Monimbo that rights groups say left at least two people dead.

Students marched through Nicaragua's capital Monday, chanting "GET OUT" to demand that President Daniel Ortega and his wife Vice President Rosario Murillo resign after a deadly weekend of clashes.

Activists faced off with Nicaraguan pro-government forces in hours of deadly clashes Thursday amid a nationwide strike to protest government repression of dissent that has left at least 162 dead, including an altar boy.

President Daniel Ortega will meet Nicaragua's Catholic bishops Thursday to discuss resuming church-mediated talks on ending a political crisis and protest violence that has left more than 120 people dead, the bishops' conference said.

Nicaragua's government urged its opponents Monday to return to the negotiating table, after a night of clashes between police and protesters left five more people dead in the country's escalating crisis.

Pope Francis called Sunday for dialogue in Nicaragua after new clashes killed at least seven people, the latest bloodshed in weeks of anti-government protests that have left more than 100 dead.

A Nicaraguan government employee was killed and three other people injured over the weekend, officials said Sunday, the latest casualties of deadly political unrest that has wracked the Central American nation for more than a month.

At least two people were killed and 50 wounded as clashes flared in Nicaragua after peace talks between the government and opposition collapsed, the Red Cross and victims' relatives said Thursday.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Friday called for Nicaragua's government to "immediately halt the repression of protests" against President Daniel Ortega, as the death toll rose to 63. The wave of unrest against the 72-year-old Ortega has been going on for a month, with no sign of slowing. Initially triggered by now-aborted reforms…

Riot police blocked young Nicaraguan demonstrators who were back on the streets Wednesday to demand justice over the deaths of 43 people in anti-government unrest.

Pope Francis on Sunday called for an end to the violence which has engulfed Nicaragua following anti-government protests that have seen 11 killed, including a journalist.