Chicago

McDonald’s to introduce new Chicken McNugget

McDonald’s plans to introduce a new, all white-meat Chicken McNugget with less fat and fewer calories, the latest move by the fast-food giant to offer healthier fare.

In the next six weeks, McDonald’s will begin offering the smaller McNuggets in all of its 13,600 U.S restaurants, the Chicago Tribune reported Sunday.

The revamped McNuggets are designed to meet a growing consumer preference for chicken breast meat. The change is a big, and some say risky, move for the Oak Brook-based company.

Ever since McDonald’s first unveiled McNuggets in 1983, they have been one of the restaurant’s most popular entrees, especially for children.

The new six-piece McNuggets will contain 260 calories, down from 310 calories, and 16 total grams of fat, down from 20 grams.

Florida

Crash kills quarreler hanging from car

A man who fought the driver of a moving truck while hanging from the side window died when the truck hit a tree.

Hector Lopez, 20, of Houston, was killed Saturday when the truck hit a palm tree and the vehicle landed on him, sheriff’s deputies said.

Carlos Jimenez, 21, of Tampa, was charged with DUI manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident involving death. He was jailed without bond.

Sheriff’s Cpl. Dan Tewmey said he did not know why the men were fighting.

Lopez followed in his own pickup for eight miles, bumped Jimenez’ truck three times and then blocked the road so Jimenez couldn’t pass.

Lopez got out of his truck and started beating Jimenez through the driver’s side window, and when Jimenez started driving again Lopez hung on, deputies said. About three blocks later, they struck the tree.

Brazil

Lawmaker found dead after plane crash

A Brazilian congressman and three other men were found dead Sunday a day after their aircraft crashed into dense jungle in southwest Brazil, authorities said.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed his “deep sorrow” at the death of Rep. Jose Carlos Martinez, who was in his fourth term as a lawmaker. Martinez was also president of the Brazilian Labor Party, part of the governing coalition.

Joao Luiz Goebel, one of the two other men on the plane, had recently been made a director at the Brazilian government’s radio service, Radiobras.

The single-engine aircraft disappeared from radar about 15 minutes after taking off Saturday morning from an airport some 220 miles southwest of Sao Paulo, air force Lt. Col. Paulo Meds said. The group was on a fishing trip.

Oman

Women retain seats in first open elections

Two women were re-elected to an 83-member advisory council, according to preliminary results, in the country’s first elections open to all citizens rather than a hand-picked elite, the Interior Minister said Sunday.

Early results showed Lujaina bint Mohsen Haider al-Za’bi, a businesswoman, had won 1,127 votes, while Ruhaila bint Amor al-Riyami, a former Ministry of Education employee, garnered 741 votes.

The two, who both won seats on the council in 2000 elections, are from the capital, Muscat.

Women in Oman, as in most of the Gulf, are veiled and largely segregated from men except in their homes, explaining why urban women faired better in the elections.

“This is a unique experience in the region,” al-Riyami said, “and the fact that two women got seats, in the middle of strong competition, proves that the elections were fair, and no one was favored.”