Vox Sentences: Hurricane Michael fast approaches

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Hurricane Michael strengthens as it travels to the Gulf Coast; a female journalist was found murdered in a northeastern Bulgarian city.

Hurricane Michael is on track to reach Florida

With Hurricane Michael expected to hit the northeastern Gulf Coast as soon as Wednesday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has issued a state of emergency for 26 counties and deployed troops to areas that are most likely to be struck. [NPR / Bill Chappell]
The storm may be the area’s strongest hurricane in 13 years. Experts expect it could be classified as a Category 3 hurricane by the time it hits the US. [Washington Post / Jason Samenow and Brian McNoldy]
According to the National Hurricane Center, Michael will bring “storm surge, heavy rainfall, and hurricane-force winds,” all of which may become life-threatening depending on the hurricane’s severity. [Twitter / National Hurricane Center]
Unlike most hurricanes that develop out in the Atlantic and take days to reach the US, Michael built out of Central America, giving Floridians less time to prepare. [Tampa Bay Times / Zachary Sampson]
Michael comes just two years after Hurricane Hermine made landfall in Florida, flooding Tallahassee and knocking out residents’ electricity for days. [Baltimore Sun / Jennifer Kay and Gary Fineout]
Generally, forecasters are better at predicting a hurricane’s path than its intensity, so Michael could be stronger or weaker than what the NHC is currently warning against. [Vox / Brian Resnick]

Bulgarian reporter found raped, murdered in Ruse

A female Bulgarian journalist who reported on corruption within the European Union was found dead in a park in the northeastern city of Ruse, Bulgaria, officials said. [Huffington Post / Dominique Mosbergen]
According to police authorities, Viktoria Marinova was raped and murdered on Saturday afternoon. She was last seen alive by her friends that morning, before she went on a run along the Danube River. [NYT / Marc Santora]
Although the motive behind Marinova’s killing is still unknown, the European Commission vice president linked the crime to her TV work. A few days before her murder, Marinova presented a piece on the alleged misuse of EU funds by construction companies in Bulgaria and Romania. [Financial Times / Theodor Troev and Kerin Hope]
Marinova’s death comes days after Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared and was possibly killed in Turkey, and marks the fourth killing of an EU journalist since the start of 2017. [USA Today / Kim Hjelmgaard]
Bulgaria ranks last out of 28 EU nations on the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders. [Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty]

Miscellaneous

The #MeToo movement has reached India a year after the Harvey Weinstein allegations were brought to light, with seven Indian celebrities getting accused of sexual harassment. [Khaleej Times]
A jogger in the Netherlands had to cut his run short when he spotted a caged lion cub in the countryside. The lion is temporarily being taken care of by a foundation that looks after big cats. [AP]
An executive producer of the James Bond franchise confirmed there are no plans to cast a female character in future films, as 007 “was written as a male and … [will] probably stay as a male.” [Slash Film / Hoai-Tran Bui]
Rapper Iggy Azalea took to social media to announce the cancellation of her Bad Girls Tour, her first headliner event in four years. [Hollywood Reporter / Natalya Jaime]