British police out in force as violence subsides

Tensions remained high even in the absence of any major incidents, and Cameron has recalled Parliament from its summer recess for an emergency debate on the riots later Thursday. He will face mounting pressure to reconsider planned police budget cuts, which critics claim will strain an already overstretched force.An eerie calm prevailed over most of London overnight, with a highly visible police presence watching over the capital. Metropolitan Police said objects had been thrown at officers in south Londons Eltham neighborhood but that the incident had been dealt with and a group was dispersed.Other cities where looters had wreaked havoc earlier this week also came through the night largely unscathed, though for the first time minor disturbances were reported in Wales.Police continued to make arrests linked to the disturbances, with the number of arrests in London alone climbing to 820. Courts were staffing around the clock to process alleged looters, vandals and thieves including one as young as 11.Even as Cameron promised Wednesday not to let a culture of fear take hold, tensions flared in Birmingham, where a murder probe was opened after three men were killed in a hit-and-run incident as they took to the streets to defend shops from looting.We needed a fightback and a fightback is under way, Cameron said in a somber televised statement outside his Downing Street office after a meeting of the nations crisis committee. As if to indicate his resolve, he underlined nothing is off the table including water cannon, commonly used in Northern Ireland but never deployed in Britain.Outside the capital, in Englands second largest city of Birmingham, police launched a murder investigation into the deaths of the three men hit by a car. Residents said the victims, aged 21 to 31, were members of Birminghams South Asian communities who had been patrolling their neighborhood to keep it safe from looters.