Bermuda braces for Florence

Residents of Bermuda installed storm shutters and hauled their yachts onto beaches in preparation for Tropical Storm Florence, which intensified Saturday and could become a hurricane as it approaches the North Atlantic island.

Florence was expected to reach the tiny British territory Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. But it was too early to tell whether it will make a direct hit.

“It’s probably not going to become a hurricane tonight, but it could become a hurricane tomorrow,” said Stacy Stewart, a senior hurricane specialist at the center. It could be a Category 2 hurricane, which has winds of 96 to 110 mph, he said.

Bermuda issued a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning, and the government urged its 65,000 residents to take precautions. Part of Bermuda’s volunteer army has been mobilized.

In boatyards and marinas in Bermuda – a wealthy island chain 640 miles east of the U.S. coast – boat owners dragged their yachts onto beaches or secured their moorings.

Khartoum, Sudan

American journalist freed from prison

American journalist Paul Salopek was released Saturday from a prison in the war-torn Darfur region where he was held for more than a month on espionage charges.

A judge in the North Darfur capital of el-Fasher released the Chicago Tribune journalist and his Chadian driver and interpreter after a 13-minute hearing.

“We are stopping the case and we are releasing you right now. And that is all,” the judge said, according to the Tribune.

Gov. Bill Richardson, of New Mexico, traveled to Sudan on Friday to meet with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and persuaded him to release Salopek, as well as the driver and interpreter. He picked up Salopek and his colleagues in el-Fasher on Saturday and took them back to Khartoum.

Salopek, 44, was on assignment for National Geographic magazine when he was arrested last month and accused of passing information illegally, writing “false news” and entering the African country without a visa.

Richardson’s office said the governor convinced the Sudanese president that Salopek is a respected American journalist, not a spy.