Hurricane Katrina heads toward Louisiana
MIAMI, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The National Hurricane Center in Miami extended a Hurricane Watch for Louisiana and Florida Saturday as Hurricane Katrina churned across the Gulf of Mexico.
At 5 p.m. EDT, forecasters said the hurricane was about 380 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi river, and about 240 miles west of Key West, Fla. Katrina was moving toward the west at close to 7 mph, and was expected to turn toward the north-northwest during the next 24 hours.
The Hurricane Watch was extended along the northern Gulf coast to cover Intracoastal City, La., to the Alabama-Florida border. Forecasters said a Hurricane Warning would likely be posted later Saturday or Sunday.
Maximum sustained winds are about 115 mph.
Katrina is now a Category Three hurricane and is expected to strengthen to a Category Four by late Saturday night or Sunday.
Flooding in southwest Florida was expected to subside Saturday, but five to 10 inches of rain were expected in western Cuba, with lesser amounts expected in Mexico.
Katrina should reach the United States by Sunday afternoon, the center said.
U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan attack
PAKTIKA, Afghanistan, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. troop casualty count in Afghanistan for the month of August is now 15 after a soldier was killed, military officials said Saturday.
The man, whose name is being withheld until his family is notified, was killed when the vehicle he was riding in was hit by a bomb in the Paktika province, CNN reports.
Four other soldiers in the vehicle were wounded.
More than 70 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year with attacks getting more frequent as the Sept. 18 parliamentary and provincial elections date nears.
Two-hundred thirty-two U.S. troops have died in Operation Enduring Freedom, which is being carried out mostly in Afghanistan.
The operation does not include action in Iraq which has seen over 1,800 U.S. troop casualties.
British army has recruiting trouble
LONDON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The British Army fell short of its recruitment goal by 1,200 this year for the second year in a row and expects recruiting to be a problem for years to come.
Brigadier Andrew Jackson, commander of the army recruiting group, blamed the shortfall on changing attitudes, including a dislike of taking orders and a decline in patriotism.
"The sort of thing that people say about the army is that they are not attracted by the physical work and taking orders," Jackson told The Scotsman.
The war in Iraq, unpopular in England, has added to the army's woes.
The army recently decided to get rid of four battalions. The recruiting shortfall is also expected to hamper plans to cut troops' stays in Iraq.
The U.S. military has been experiencing similar recruiting problems.
Hostage taker in NY bank kills himself
ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A middle-aged man who took three or four people hostage Saturday in an Albany, N.Y., bank, let the hostages go and committed suicide.
The man, who has not been identified, allegedly took the people hostage at the downtown Trustco Bank at about 1 p.m. Saturday, cable's Capital News 9 in Albany, N.Y., reported.
Police cordoned off several blocks surrounding the bank. Two SWAT teams were seen surrounding the bank. As the hostages ran out of the building, the police pulled them to safety.
Police officials said they did not know why the man took the people hostage. Several law enforcement agencies participated to free the hostages and negotiate with the hostage-taker including the state police, the FBI, U.S. Marshals and the Albany police.
