News In Brief

Nicaragua says it received Soviet copters, not MIGS

Nicaragua has received a new shipment of helicopters from the Soviet Union, Foreign Minister Miguel D'Escoto said in an ABC television interview Tuesday. He dismissed speculation that a Soviet ship that arrived last week in the Nicaraguan port of Corinto was carrying Soviet MIG-21 jet fighters.

Nicaragua already has less-advanced Soviet MI-8 ''Hip'' attack helicopters. The larger MI-24 ''Hinds,'' which has been in use in Afghanistan since 1979, can carry troops, rockets, and machine guns.