News In Brief

3,000 police sent to keep peace in British coal fields

Thousands of police armed with riot gear patrolled Britain's coal fields Monday to prevent militant miners from fulfilling a vow to shut down the country's mines in their week-old strike.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government ordered some 3,000 officers, equipped with riot helmets and shields, into the northern Nottinghamshire coal fields, where one miner died last week in violent clashes.