Vox Sentences: Lights out in Northern California

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PG&E shuts off the power in Northern California to prevent fires; some 13 million people risk starvation in Yemen in the next three months.

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87,000 without power in Northern California

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. shut off power to roughly 87,000 customers in Northern California on Sunday night, in anticipation of gusty winds and dangerous fire conditions. [SFGate / Joaquin Palomino and Peter Fimrite]
The region, which includes Napa and Sonoma counties, was forecast to have weather conditions conducive to wildfires, including low humidity and winds reaching up to 60 miles per hour. Some 60,000 households remain without power as of Monday afternoon. [NPR / Merrit Kennedy]
The company announced that most households will regain power within 24 hours, with some outages possibly continuing into Tuesday. [PG&E]
The warning comes only a year after the so-called Fire Siege of October 2017, when some 170 fires burned at least 245,000 acres in Northern California. The fires killed 44 people and burned down 6,000 homes in Sonoma County. [NBC News / Yuliya Talmazan]
Local authorities blamed PG&E in June for last year’s destructive fires, which were mainly sparked by winds knocking down power poles. The company is expected to pay billions in damages. [AP / Paul Elias]
More than 22 million people will remain under “red flag warnings,” which signal dire fire threats, in both northern and southern regions of the state until the perilous weather conditions dissipate, CNN meteorologist Haley Brink said. [CNN / Joe Sterling]

The “world’s worst famine in 100 years”

In Yemen, some 13 million people — nearly half of the country’s population — are facing the risk of dying from starvation within the next three months due to the ongoing civil war and the Saudi airstrikes that are killing civilians. [BBC]
Saudi Arabia, which backs the country’s government against Islamic Houthi rebels, has imposed a blockade on the main port of the nation, restricting the amount of food and other aid allowed inside. [Telegraph]
The United Nations has warned that Yemen could be facing the “world’s worst famine in 100 years.” Already, more than 10,000 people have been killed in the war and millions more have been displaced to other countries. [Guardian / Hannah Summers]
A depreciating currency and general economic struggle in the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula are also aggravating the situation, the UN noted. [CNN / Hilary Clarke]

Miscellaneous

Only a few months after their wedding, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expecting their first child, due next spring, according to a Kensington Palace statement released Monday. [Yahoo Lifestyle / Erin Donnelly]

Rumors of the next actor to play James Bond have been flying around since current star Daniel Craig first announced his departure from the film series, with the latest report having Game of Thrones alum Richard Madden set to replace him for the 26th installment. [Maxim]
San Bernadino, California, sheriff’s deputies were able to lure back home a missing pig “the size of a mini horse” by leaving a trail of Doritos chips. [WCBV Boston]
One of China’s most famous online celebrities was detained for five days after singing the national anthem badly. The 21-year-old woman was accused of disrespecting the anthem, which she sang during a live stream while wearing fuzzy moose ears and waving her arms “cartoonishly.” [Washington Post / Gerry Shih]