Police beefed up

The US is to give up to pounds 1.15m towards increased policing in Los Angeles in the run-up to the verdicts in the Rodney King beating trial, amid fears that the city could again erupt into violence over the case, Phil Reeves reports from Los Angeles.

The funds will assist the city's police chief, who plans to put thousands of police on the streets when the trial ends, in an effort to head off a repeat of last April's riots, which began after a state court acquitted the four Los Angeles police officers in the King beating.