Diminutive Hurricane Paula weakens further

A diminished Hurricane Paula weakened further on Wednesday as it crept nearer to western Cuba on a path toward the country’s tobacco-growing region and eventually Havana. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said top winds of the Category 1 storm -- the lowest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale -- had dropped to 80 miles per hour and extended just 10 miles from the eye.