Thatcher Rejects Full Riot Probe

LONDON —  Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government rejected calls today for a full-scale judicial investigation of the Birmingham riots and instead ordered a police inquiry into the worst violence in four years.

Police reported a “brittle tranquility” in the Handsworth neighborhood of Birmingham following two nights of inner-city rioting by blacks that left two Asians dead, scores injured and millions of dollars in damage.