In Nicaragua, massive anti-government protests continue and the country’s US-backed president Enrique Bolanos put the army and police on high alert amid mounting calls for him to resign. He called on the country’s security forces to take “all necessary measures” to defend the government. That announcement came hours after demonstrators hurled rocks at Bolanos, who had to be dragged back into the presidential palace by security guards as a hail of stones and plastic bags full of water fell on him when he and other government members walked outside the presidential palace. One of his sons suffered a head injury and was taken away in an ambulance. The protests were initially a response to rising gas prices, which in turn have increased the cost of buses, which are mainly used by the poor and students. Ninety-six of Nicaragua’s 152 mayors have demanded the president resign.