Hurricane warnings up in South Florida
MIAMI, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- The Florida Keys and the southwestern peninsular coast were under a hurricane warning Sunday as Tropical Storm Isaac bore down from Cuba, forecasters said.
At 8 a.m. EDT, Isaac was 135 miles east-southeast of Key West, moving west-northwest at a quick 20 mph. It had sustained winds of 65 mph that extended 205 miles from the center, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Once Isaac passes the Keys Sunday night, it is expected to intensify to Category 1 hurricane status with winds above 74 mph, slowing in its advance and gaining strength from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said.
Computer models suggest Isaac will hit the western Florida Panhandle Tuesday.
Hurricane watches were also post along the Gulf coast as far up as the mouth of the Mississippi River, but not including metropolitan New Orleans, the forecasters said.
Organizers of the Republican National Convention decided Saturday to postpone convention activities from Monday to Tuesday afternoon because of Isaac's threat.
Heavy rain was expected to begin in the Tampa area Sunday and gusty winds would begin early in the week, the National Weather Service said.
In Haiti, Isaac brought heavy rain and flooding to the capital city Port-au-Prince and other towns. While the island, with its steep, easily eroded hillsides sustained less damage than from previous storms, at least two deaths were reported, including a 10-year-old girl killed by a collapsing wall in Thomazeau, CNN reported.
Report: Syrian air force intel head killed
DAMASCUS, Syria, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Lt. Jamil Hassan, head of Syria's air force intelligence was assassinated in his Damascus office amid reports of a massacre, opposition sources told al-Arabiya.
The general was killed on Saturday by one of his aides who worked with the Grandchildren of Prophet Brigade, which is affiliated with the Free Syria Army, the sources told the pan-Arab network.
Hassan's death occurred amid reports of yet another massacre in Daraya, a town near Damascus.
Early Sunday, nine more bodies were discovered in Daraya. The Local Coordination Committees of Syria told CNN some 25 people were killed across the country.
On Saturday, CNN said a total of 440 people were killed in the highest single-day death told to date, more than 200 in Daraya. An official of the Local Coordinating Committees told CNN it was unclear when the people were killed in Daraya, as it has been under attack for some six days.
The BBC said some 200 bodies were discovered in houses and basement shelters on Saturday in Daraya. Abu Kinan an activist in Daraya told Sky News that most of the victims had been shot by troops conducting house to house raids. "In the last hour, 122 bodies were discovered and it appears that two dozen died from sniper fire and the rest were summarily executed by gunshots at close range," Sky News quoted him saying
The official Syrian news agency SANA said Sunday the country's "armed forces continue to pursue terrorists in Aleppo and disinfect Daraya and eliminate a number of them and confiscate their weapons."
266 rescued from Russian floods
MOSCOW, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Rescue workers evacuated 266 people from a children's health camp Sunday in Russia's far east Primorye region after floods inundated the area, officials said.
Emergency crews used helicopters and special vehicles to reach local residents and tourists staying at the resort, the local Emergency Ministry said.
"During the course of search and rescue operations, the Emergency Ministry evacuated 266 people from a children's health camp and resort, including 31 rescued by aviation," the Ministry said.
At least 1,500 people in 10 settlements in the region were without power Sunday following the storms, RIA Novosti reported. The floods damaged 14 bridges in three districts of the Primorye region.
Woman's kidnapping allegation disputed
WASHINGTON PARK, Ill., Aug. 26 (UPI) -- An Illinois man and his mother were in custody Sunday after a 19-year-old woman told police she had been kidnapped by the man three years ago.
Steven Johnson, 24, and his 54-year-old mother, Owida Johnson were formally charged Saturday night after their arrests Thursday in Washington Park, Ill., the Belleville News Democrat reported.
St. Clair County prosecutors didn't include any kidnapping charges, but did include promotion of prostitution and aggravated criminal sexual abuse in the case against the man, along with weapons and drug counts.
The mother was charged with two counts of child endangerment.
The unidentified woman told police she had gotten together with Steven Johnson voluntarily when she was 15, but was then held against her will. During that time, she had a baby boy, who is now in the custody of state family services, the report said.
Eric Johnson, the suspect's brother, told the newspaper the woman was free to come and go as she pleased, had her own cellphone and access to the Internet.
"If she wanted to leave she could have," he said. "She was there by herself with the 2-year-old boy."
