Hurricane Joaquin slowly weakening as it moves east-northeastward: NHC

(Reuters) - Joaquin, now a category 1 hurricane, is slowly weakening as it moves rapidly east-northward, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory on Wednesday. Joaquin was about 465 miles (750 km) south-southeast of Cape Race Newfoundland with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), the Miami-based weather forecaster added. The hurricane is moving toward the east-northeast near 32 mph (52 kph) and this motion is expected to continue through Friday, the agency said. Joaquin is expected to become a large extratropical cyclone by Thursday, the NHC said. (Reporting by Nithin Prasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra)