Nicaragua gears up for 'invasion threat'

The Nicaraguan government said the country faces a growing threat of invasion and ordered its 40,000-member militia to report for intensive combat training within the next 10 days.

A government communique said the order was issued in response to a US Senate vote urging President Reagan to use any means necessary to block what it called Cuban aggression in the Western hemisphere.

Also over the weekend, a Nicaraguan Air Force plane crashed and exploded in flames just after takeoff Saturday, killing about 20 people, including a vice-minister, witnesses said. And Nicaragua announced the Soviet Union will help it build two dams aimed at meeting most of the country's electricity needs by 1991.