SOUTH

NEW ORLEANS OFFICERS CHARGED IN BEATING CAUGHT ON TAPE

NEW ORLEANS – Three New Orleans police officers pleaded not guilty yesterday to battery charges based on a videotape showing two patrolmen repeatedly punching a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication and a third officer grabbing and shoving an Associated Press Television News producer who helped capture the confrontation on tape.

After a brief hearing, at which trial was set for January 11, the officers were released on bond. They quickly left in cars without commenting.

They were suspended without pay Sunday, police spokesman Marlon Defillo said. The police promised a criminal investigation.

The confrontations come as the department – long plagued by allegations of brutality and corruption – struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the resignation last month of Police Superintendent Eddie Compass.

The APTN tape shows an officer hitting the suspect, Robert Davis, at least four times in the head Saturday night outside a French Quarter bar. Mr. Davis appeared to resist, twisting and flailing as he was dragged to the ground by four officers.

Another of the officers then kneed Mr. Davis and punched him twice. Mr. Davis was face-down on the sidewalk with blood streaming down his arm and into the gutter.

Then a fifth officer ordered APTN producer Rich Matthews and the cameraman to stop recording. When Mr. Matthews held up his credentials, the officer grabbed the producer, leaned him backward over a car, jabbed him in the stomach, and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade.

– Associated Press

HEALTH

FISH EATERS STAY SHARPER WITH AGE

CHICAGO – Eating fish at least once a week is good for the brain, slowing age-related mental decline by the equivalent of three to four years, a study suggests.

The research adds to the growing evidence that a fish-rich diet helps keep the mind sharp. Previous studies found that people who ate fish lowered their risk of Alzheimer’s disease and stroke. Fish such as salmon and tuna that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids also have been shown to prevent heart disease.

For the new study, researchers measured how well 3,718 people did on simple tests, such as recalling details of a story. The participants, all Chicago residents 65 and older, took the tests three times over six years. They also filled out a questionnaire about what they ate that included 139 foods.

“We found that people who ate one fish meal a week had a 10% slower annual decline in thinking,” said co-author Martha Clare Morris, an epidemiologist at Rush University Medical Center. “Those who ate two fish meals a week showed a 13% slower annual decline.” The study of fish and mental sharpness was posted yesterday on the Web site of the Archives of Neurology and will appear in the journal’s December issue. It was published early online because of its general interest.

– Associated Press

NEW SIDS POLICY RECOMMENDS PACIFIERS, CRIB IN PARENTS’ ROOM

CHICAGO – Babies should be offered pacifiers at bedtime, and they should sleep in their parents’ room – but not in their beds – in order to lessen the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, the nation’s largest group of pediatricians says.

Both measures may help keep babies from slumbering too deeply – a problem for infants prone to SIDS, said Dr. Rachel Moon, who helped draft the new recommendations on SIDS prevention. They were prepared for release today at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The death rate from SIDS has fallen sharply in recent years, now that parents are warned not to let their babies sleep on their stomachs or amid fluffy bedding or stuffed toys. But it remains the leading case of death in American infants between ages 1 month and 1 year, killing more than 2,000 U.S. babies each year, and new tactics are needed to fight it, the academy said.

– Associated Press

WASHINGTON

DEATH TOLL RISES FOR MILITARY RESERVISTS IN IRAQ

The National Guard and Reserves are suffering a strikingly higher share of American casualties in Iraq, their portion of total American military deaths nearly doubling since last year.

Reservists have accounted for one-quarter of all American deaths since the Iraq war began, but the proportion has grown over time. It was 10% for the five weeks it took to topple Baghdad in the spring of 2003, and 20% for 2004 as a whole.

The trend accelerated this year. For the first nine months of 2005, reservists accounted for 36% of American deaths, and for August and September, it was 56%, according to Pentagon figures.

The Army National Guard, Army Reserve, and Marine Corps Reserve accounted for more than half of all American deaths in August and in September – the first time that has happened in consecutive months. The only other month in which it even approached 50% was June 2004. Casualties in Iraq have shifted toward citizen soldiers as their combat role has grown to historic levels. National Guard officials say their soldiers have been sent into combat in Iraq in numbers not previously seen in modern times – far more than were sent to Vietnam, where active duty troops did the vast majority of the fighting.

– Associated Press