News In Brief

Warned of a US invasion, Nicaraguans dig trenches

Thousands of Nicaraguans have begun digging air raid trenches, and the parliament has been told Washington plans an invasion within days. The nationwide operation began at dawn Wednesday, according to civil defense officials supervising the works.

Fears of an invasion, heightened by last month's US intervention in Grenada, were spurred by the arrival of 1,800 more US marines in neighboring Honduras for the biggest joint military exercises ever staged in turbulent Central America. There are now more than 5,000 American ground troops in Honduras.