Africa

The UN has warned that Africa could be facing the worst food crisis in 25 years as the continent struggles with severe drought. By Christmas up to 50 million people will need food. ITV reports: Severe weather conditions caused by the worst El Niño – a weather phenomenon that affects rainfall patterns – in 30 years are worsening and drought has ravaged crops and driven up food prices. More than 31 million need food now and 20 million more are likely to run out this year, the UN said.

China denies claims of selling canned human meat labelled as corn beef to Africa. After rumours on social media made tabloid headlines, the ambassador was forced to deny claims that companies in China were marinating dead human bodies and then packaging them as corned beef to be sent to Zambia. i News reports: Yang Youming, the Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, was not impressed. “Today a local tabloid newspaper is openly spreading a [rumour], claiming that the Chinese use human meat to make corned beef and sell it to Africa,” he said, Xinhua news agency reported.

Submitted by Alex Newman via The new American (h/t Brandon Smith),

Reports coming out of Zambia suggest that China may be routinely shipping canned human meat and selling it under the label of “corned beef” in Africa.  Chinese officials have strongly denied the reports. Mirror.co.uk reports: In the media reports, an unnamed Zambian woman living in China reportedly issued warnings to Africans not to eat corned beef. She claimed that dead human bodies were being collected and marinated before being canned and labelled as corned beef for human consumption .