News In Brief
| Warsaw
Polish leader orders alert to avert anniversary strife
The Polish government ordered a virtual nationwide military alert Tuesday in hopes of defusing protests expected to mark next week's second anniversary of martial law.
Polish leader Wojciech Jaruzelski took the action allowing military task groups to conduct mass inspections of municipal services and check ''defense readiness'' throughout the country, the official PAP news agency said. General Jaruzelski did not say when the alert would end.