JOHANNESBURG – A catastrophic weather system bringing record-breaking torrential rainfall has unleashed devastating flooding across six of South Africa’s provinces, leaving at least 10 people dead and destroying hundreds of vulnerable residential structures, with low-income informal communities bearing the brunt of the destruction. Since May 4, extreme weather spanning flooding, severe thunderstorms, powerful high winds, and unseasonal snowfall has impacted regions including Western Cape, North West, Free State, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, and Mpumalanga, prompting national authorities to issue an official natural disaster designation. This official declaration unlocks immediate access to emergency government funding and priority deployment of response resources, allowing rapid relief action to reach affected communities. The coastal hub of Cape Town, located in Western Cape, has emerged as one of the hardest-hit urban centers. In response to rapidly deteriorating conditions, the Western Cape provincial government has ordered temporary closures for all public and private schools across high-risk flood zones, as well as restricted access to portions of the iconic Table Mountain, one of the city’s most popular global tourist attractions. Local officials confirmed Tuesday that at least 26 informal settlements on the outskirts of Cape Town have been inundated by floodwaters, damaging more than 10,000 informal residential structures that largely lack engineered flood-resilient infrastructure. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking Monday as winter officially gets underway across the Southern Hemisphere, voiced deep sorrow over the lives lost to the extreme weather event. “We grieve with the families who have lost their loved ones, and we are standing with all those who have lost their homes and livelihoods to this disaster,” Ramaphosa stated, adding that national disaster management authorities are leveraging modern meteorological science to improve early warning for future extreme weather events and streamline response efforts in the wake of disasters. The current disaster marks the second major flooding crisis to hit South Africa in 2024, underscoring a growing regional trend of intensifying extreme weather linked to shifting global climate patterns. Climate researchers have repeatedly warned that severe flood events across Southern Africa are growing more frequent and more destructive, driven by rising global temperatures that amplify extreme rainfall patterns. In recent months, neighboring Mozambique and Zimbabwe have also experienced unusually high rainfall and the worst regional flooding in decades. Back in January, South Africa was forced to declare a separate national disaster after torrential rains and flooding in the country’s northern regions killed at least 30 people, destroyed thousands of homes, and washed out critical road and bridge infrastructure connecting rural and urban communities.
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Italian rider Ciccone seizes the Giro lead as Thomas Silva cracks and Narváez wins stage 4
After three opening stages held in Bulgaria and a scheduled rest day, the 109th edition of the Giro d’Italia finally crossed into Italian territory this week, marking a major turning point in one of cycling’s most prestigious Grand Tours. When racing resumed on Tuesday, it was Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narváez who claimed the top spot on the podium for the 138-kilometer fourth stage, which ran from the southern Calabrian city of Catanzaro — located on the toe of the Italian peninsula — to the regional hub of Cosenza.
Heading into Tuesday’s stage, history-making Uruguayan rider Guillermo Thomas Silva held the overall general classification lead. Silva made Giro history as the first Uruguayan rider to ever win a stage and claim the iconic pink jersey, but his run at the top came to an abrupt end on Tuesday. Struggling with fatigue on a long, second-category climb that came in the latter half of the route, Silva faded dramatically mid-ascent and ultimately crossed the finish line more than 10 minutes behind the stage’s leading pack, losing his hold on the overall standings.
Italy’s own Giulio Ciccone, a home favorite, was in contention for the stage win right until the final sprint, but Narváez outpaced him in the final dash to the line. Venezuela’s Orluis Aular crossed the line in second place to round out the stage podium. Ciccone, who finished third, secured four valuable bonus seconds for his placement — a small margin that proved just enough to propel him into the overall lead. He currently holds a four-second advantage over his closest challengers: Jan Christen, Florian Stork, and 2021 Giro champion Egan Bernal.
The competition is set to intensify significantly on Wednesday, when riders take on the fifth stage of the race. The 203-kilometer route from Praia a Mare to Potenza is one of the most demanding stages of this year’s race, featuring nearly 4,000 meters of total climbing and almost no flat terrain, a profile that is widely expected to reshuffle the general classification standings.
The 109th men’s Giro d’Italia will conclude on May 31, with the final stage finishing in Rome. Following the men’s race, the annual women’s Giro will run from May 30 to June 7, with Italian star Elisa Longo Borghini set to defend her 2024 title.
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Musk, Cook and other prominent US executives invited to join Trump on trip to China
A senior anonymous White House official has confirmed that a roster of high-profile U.S. leaders spanning big tech, aerospace, finance and agriculture will accompany former President Donald Trump on his official trip to Beijing this week, where Trump is set to hold pivotal bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The U.S. delegation departs Tuesday, with trade disputes and artificial intelligence governance emerging as two core agenda items, alongside discussions focused on the ongoing Iran crisis.
Among the most closely watched attendees is Elon Musk, the eccentric billionaire CEO of electric vehicle giant Tesla and aerospace firm SpaceX, who once chaired Trump’s short-lived Department of Government Efficiency. The agency, which drew widespread controversy from its launch, wound down operations last November, following Musk’s exit from the role in spring 2025. Musk’s presence on the trip comes after a very public falling out with Trump last summer: the social media mogul, who also owns platform X, made unsubstantiated claims that the U.S. government hid information linking Trump to disgraced convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, triggering a fiery public war of words. Musk later walked back portions of his remarks, acknowledging he regretted several of his public posts about the president on X.
Today, Musk has shifted his focus back to managing his global business portfolio, which includes substantial manufacturing and sales operations in China that he has visited multiple times. He is currently navigating a slew of legal challenges outside the U.S. as well: French prosecutors are pursuing criminal charges against Musk and X over allegations that the platform failed to moderate child sexual abuse material, hosted harmful deepfakes and disinformation, and allowed the platform’s AI chatbot Grok to amplify content that denies crimes against humanity. He is also engaged in a high-profile civil trial against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, centered on competing visions for the future of artificial intelligence development.
Another key figure in the delegation is Apple CEO Tim Cook, whose 15-year tenure leading the world’s most valuable company is set to conclude on September 1, when he will hand the CEO role to John Ternus, Apple’s current head of hardware engineering, and transition to the position of executive chairman. During Cook’s leadership, Apple grew exponentially: the company’s market capitalization swelled by more than $3.6 trillion, driven by booming global demand for iPhones and Apple’s expanding ecosystem of consumer technology.
Throughout his time at Apple’s helm, Cook has repeatedly had to navigate the shifting tides of U.S.-China trade relations, particularly during Trump’s previous and current presidential terms when the White House launched sweeping tariff measures targeting Chinese goods. In Trump’s first term, Cook successfully negotiated exemptions for iPhones and other core Apple products from the initial round of tariffs. In the current second term, Trump has pushed for Apple to move all of its iPhone manufacturing out of China and back to the U.S., and imposed new tariffs on the devices. Cook has managed to mitigate the financial impact of these measures by shifting production of U.S.-bound iPhones to India, and securing additional exemptions after committing Apple to a $600 billion U.S. investment over the course of Trump’s second term.
Aerospace industry leader Kelly Ortberg, CEO of Boeing, is also part of the delegation. Ortberg took the top job at Boeing in 2024, stepping in to lead the American manufacturing giant as it grappled with overlapping legal, regulatory, production crises that triggered severe financial losses. Last year, Ortberg publicly downplayed the impact of the escalating U.S.-China trade war on Boeing’s recovery, arguing that tit-for-tat tariffs would not derail the company’s efforts to return to stable growth or meet delivery targets for Chinese airlines, which had paused acceptance of new Boeing jets amid rising trade tensions.
The trade conflict escalated sharply in April 2025, when Beijing raised import tariffs on U.S. goods to 125% in retaliation for the Trump administration’s hike of tariffs on Chinese-made products to 145%. For Boeing, the U.S.’s largest exporter, the new tariffs would more than double the cost of its commercial passenger jets, which already sell for tens of millions of dollars apiece. However, the impact has been softened in recent years by Boeing’s gradual reduction of direct finished aircraft exports to China, making the market less central to its bottom line than it once was. Ahead of the Beijing trip, Boeing confirms it has been holding ongoing negotiations with Chinese officials over a potential large-scale new aircraft order.
The delegation also includes a dozen other top C-suite leaders from across major U.S. industries: BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink, Blackstone co-founder, Chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Cargill Chairman and CEO Brian Sikes, Citi Chairman and CEO Jane Fraser, Coherent CEO Jim Anderson, GE Aerospace Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon, Illumina CEO Jacob Thaysen, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach, Meta President and Vice Chairman Dina Powell McCormick, Micron Chairman, President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon, and Visa CEO Ryan McInerney.
Reporting from Washington D.C. contributed by Aamer Madhani.
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Rahm has faith LIV will develop good survival plan
As the 2025 PGA Championship prepares to tee off this Thursday at Philadelphia’s Aronimink Golf Club, two-time major champion and current LIV Golf points leader Jon Rahm is pushing aside off-course uncertainty surrounding LIV Golf’s future to focus on his performance on the greens. The Spanish star, who has dominated LIV Golf competition this season, says he remains confident that league officials will craft a viable long-term plan after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed it will pull all future funding beyond the end of 2025.
Rahm, who left the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf in December 2023 and has since claimed back-to-back LIV season titles, opened up about the funding crisis at a pre-tournament press conference Tuesday. He noted that while the financial shakeup is a significant challenge for the league, it is ultimately an issue outside of his control as a player.
“It’s something we’ve had to deal with, but these are just matters out of my hands,” Rahm said. “Fixing this is the job of the people leading LIV Golf, and I don’t envy that task for a second. I do have full faith in the work they’re doing, and I trust they will come up with a strong survival plan. Until that plan is shared with the players, there’s no use in me expending extra energy worrying about it.”
The 31-year-old, who claimed major wins at the 2021 U.S. Open and 2023 Masters, has been in stellar form this LIV season, notching tournament victories in Hong Kong (March) and Mexico City (April) along with runner-up finishes in Riyadh, Adelaide and South Africa. He pointed out the stark irony of his situation: golf requires intense focus and control over every shot, but off-course business decisions are completely out of the players’ hands.
“It’s funny, in a sport where we crave control over every single detail, how little control we actually have off the course,” Rahm explained. “I have full control over my own golf game and how I perform this week. Everything else? That’s out of my hands.”
When asked about reflections on his 2023 decision to leave the PGA Tour for LIV, Rahm said any takeaways are personal, but added his core philosophy is to approach decisions without regret. “If circumstances change after you make a choice, like what’s happening with LIV right now, that’s an after-the-fact development, not a flaw in the original decision,” he said. Rahm also pushed back on the idea that his high-profile move was intended to help bridge the long-running rift between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. “I never thought I’d be some kind of catalyst to tip the scales and bring the two sides together,” he said. “We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, and all we can do is learn from both good and bad experiences from the past.”
Not everyone shares Rahm’s optimism, however. Reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy, a longstanding critic of LIV Golf, pointed out that the funding cut was always a foreseeable risk for players who jumped to the breakaway league for eight-figure contracts and large purses. “This was always a possibility, and everyone knew it,” McIlroy said. “Geopolitical shifts in the Middle East played a big role in this. When your entire funding model is tied to global political priorities, you’re on an inherently unstable path. When the Saudis’ priorities changed, that put LIV in a very precarious position — but this was a risk those players chose to take.”
McIlroy added that he was aware PIF would be ending future support before LIV Golf made the news public. “It looks like the rug was pulled out from under them out of nowhere, and a lot of people were caught off guard,” he said. “Right now, there’s a huge amount of uncertainty. From what I’ve seen, LIV has some sponsorship revenue lined up, but it’s unclear how long that will last. If they do manage to put together a schedule for 2026, it’s almost certainly going to look drastically different than what we’ve seen from them so far.”
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Jilin’s ecological restoration spurs massive migratory bird wave
Nestled in Northeast China, Jilin province has emerged as a glowing testament to what targeted environmental recovery can achieve, as years of systematic ecological restoration and species protection efforts have triggered a dramatic rise in the number of migratory birds that use the region as a resting stop during their annual journeys.
As a critical hub along the globally important East Asia-Australasia Flyway, Jilin’s network of protected wetlands has become an irreplaceable refuge for long-distance migratory birds. Fresh government statistics released in early May confirm that this year’s migratory season has brought a remarkable wave of avian visitors: more than 1 million individual birds across 385 different species have already been recorded stopping over in the province’s wetland systems to rest and refuel.
Among the most striking recent observations is a large flock of vulnerable white-headed cranes foraging peacefully in the Boluo Lake Wetlands located in Nong’an County, a sight captured in official photographs shared by local authorities. This scene of abundant wildlife stands in stark contrast to conditions decades ago, when habitat degradation and human activity threatened the integrity of Jilin’s wetland ecosystems. Through targeted restoration projects that have restored wetland hydrology, reduced pollution, and limited disruptive human activity in key bird habitats, the province has rebuilt the critical stopover sites that migratory birds depend on to complete their long journeys between breeding and wintering grounds.
Conservation officials note that the surge in migratory bird numbers and diversity is not just a win for biodiversity — it also serves as a powerful, tangible example of successful harmonious coexistence between human development and wildlife protection. Jilin’s ongoing work to protect its wetland networks continues to support global migratory bird conservation efforts, while providing a model for other regions working to reverse ecological damage and restore native habitats.
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Nigerian military airstrike kills 100 civilians at a market, rights group claims
ABUJA, Nigeria — A fresh public dispute has emerged over civilian casualties in Nigeria’s long-running counter-insurgency campaign in the country’s restive northern region, after the nation’s military rejected a prominent human rights group’s allegation that a weekend airstrike killed 100 civilian people at a local market.
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Israel passes law to publicly try and execute Palestinians linked to 7 October attacks
On Monday, Israel’s legislative body the Knesset passed a sweeping new bill by a landslide 93-0 vote that creates a framework of public special trials and allows the imposition of the death penalty for Palestinian detainees linked to the deadly October 7, 2023 attacks that sparked the ongoing Gaza war. The rare unanimous cross-political support for the controversial measure highlights the unified hardening of Israeli political sentiment in the months following the assault.
Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin framed the parliamentary vote as a historic turning point for the current governing body, arguing that the legislation would deliver long-awaited accountability for individuals accused of perpetrating or aiding the attacks. Under the new law, a special judicial body operating in the structure of a military court will oversee an estimated 200 to 300 open cases involving detainees accused of involvement in the October 7 events.
All indictments will be filed at a Jerusalem-based military court, with charges ranging from terrorism and murder to genocide, incitement to armed conflict and charges of undermining Israeli state sovereignty. A key provision of the bill permanently bars any detainee accused or convicted of connection to the attacks from being included in future prisoner exchange agreements, ensuring that convicted individuals will face either permanent life incarceration or execution.
Per the legislation’s structure, the Israeli Army Chief of Staff will hold the authority to appoint military prosecutors to the special court. Judicial panels will be made up of three judges, with a requirement that at least one panel member has previously served as the head of a military court. The bill also explicitly overrides standard Israeli criminal procedure and evidence rules, granting courts permission to bypass core due process steps including formal evidence collection requirements, witness testimony cross-examination and formal plea bargain arrangements when issuing convictions and sentences.
A separate amendment to the legislation creates a specific protocol for carrying out death sentences against Palestinians convicted under the new law, distinguishing it from a broader death penalty law for Palestinian prisoners approved by the Knesset in a 62-48 vote back in late March. That earlier bill also faced widespread international calls for withdrawal before its passage.
The latest legislation has triggered fierce pushback from human rights organizations, Palestinian advocacy groups and legal analysts across the globe. Critics warn that the bill comes amid a documented surge in mass arrests of Palestinians on broadly defined terrorism charges, as well as growing reports of torture, abuse and fatalities in Israeli custody since the launch of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Palestinian prisoners’ rights organizations have labeled the new law an “unprecedented act of savagery”, arguing that it formalizes systemic extrajudicial killing of detainees amid a rapidly escalating crisis of abuse inside Israeli detention facilities. Multiple prominent Israeli human rights groups, including Adalah, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), HaMoked and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, have also joined in condemning the legislation. These groups warn that the bill enshrines a discriminatory legal framework that systematically denies Palestinians equal protection under Israeli law, strips them of fundamental fair trial rights, and removes existing legal safeguards against torture and cruel, inhuman treatment.
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Sinner dismisses Pellegrino to reach Italian Open quarter-finals
The 2024 Italian Open continued its third-round action on Tuesday, with world No. 1 and top men’s seed Jannik Sinner extending his historic run toward a maiden home title, while several other seeds secured their spots in the final eight of both men’s and women’s draws.
Sinner, the 24-year-old Italian trailblazer, delivered a calm, composed performance against compatriot and surprise qualifier Andrea Pellegrino to seal a straight-sets 6-2, 6-3 victory. The clash was never a closely contested battle from the opening game, as the tournament favorite outclassed his lower-ranked opponent on Rome’s iconic center court in front of more than 10,000 home fans.
With the win, Sinner notched his 31st consecutive victory in Masters 1000 events, pulling level with Novak Djokovic’s all-time record streak. The result also sets up a quarterfinal showdown against either 12th seed Andrey Rublev or Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili.
For Pellegrino, the 29-year-old underdog’s run to the Italian Open’s last 16 already marks the deepest run of his career at a Masters 1000 event. Making his first main draw appearance at a top-tier ATP tournament, Pellegrino is set to climb to a career-high world ranking of 123rd following the tournament. Though he ultimately fell to Sinner, he earned warm applause from the home crowd for a creditable performance, showcasing sharp technique when given opportunities to attack. Sinner, meanwhile, never needed to push to his full limit to secure the comfortable win.
If Sinner goes on to claim the title, he will not only secure a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 trophy, but also become the first Italian man to win the Italian Open at Foro Italico since Adriano Panatta claimed the crown 50 years ago. With top rival Carlos Alcaraz sidelined by injury and Djokovic eliminated in an early upset, Sinner enters the latter stages of the tournament as the overwhelming favorite to win, building form ahead of his pursuit of a career Grand Slam at the upcoming French Open.
On the other half of the men’s draw, Norwegian clay-court specialist Casper Ruud eased into the quarterfinals with a lopsided 6-3, 6-1 win over Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti, who was visibly hampered by a left thigh injury. Ruud has yet to drop a single set through the first three rounds in Rome, and he looked sharp despite blustery conditions on center court.
Musetti, who had required medical treatment after his third-round win over Francisco Cerundolo, called a medical timeout for his thigh issue during the second set against Ruud. The Italian will drop out of the men’s world top 10 rankings ahead of next week’s French Open, and he remained uncertain about his participation in the season’s second Grand Slam after the match. “I don’t know, in the next couple of days we’ll do some closer tests, something I’ve not been able to do given that I’m constantly playing,” he told reporters.
Ruud, who is drawn opposite Sinner in the bracket, will face 13th seed Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals after capitalizing on Musetti’s fitness struggles. “I realised that… we try to make him run as much as possible. It’s cruel and it’s brutal, but that’s sport,” Ruud told reporters post-match.
Khachanov booked his own quarterfinal spot by ending the Cinderella run of Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic, who had shocked the tennis world by knocking out Djokovic in the second round. Khachanov defeated the 19-year-old rising star 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) to secure his place in the final eight.
In the women’s draw, 34-year-old Romanian veteran Sorana Cirstea continued her dream run to the Italian Open semifinals, one day after upsetting world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round. Cirstea dropped just one game in the first set against Jelena Ostapenko before closing out a 6-1, 7-6 (7/0) victory. The Romanian, who has announced she will retire at the end of the 2024 season, will next play either Coco Gauff or Mirra Andreeva on center court for a spot in Saturday’s women’s final.
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Sam Altman to testify at California tech titan trial
One of the most closely watched legal showdowns in the global tech industry moved into a critical phase this week in Northern California, where OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is preparing to take the witness stand Tuesday to respond to explosive allegations brought by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. The high-profile civil lawsuit, filed by the Tesla and SpaceX founder who also leads competing AI firm xAI, centers on accusations that Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman misused Musk’s early $38 million in founding contributions after the company abandoned its original non-profit mission to transform into the for-profit juggernaut behind ChatGPT, the generative AI tool that sparked the current global AI boom.
Musk’s legal team is pushing for a dramatic remedy: a court order forcing OpenAI to revert to its original non-profit structure. Industry analysts note that such a ruling would upend OpenAI’s position in the cutthroat global artificial intelligence race, where it currently competes against major players including Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and China’s Deepseek.
OpenAI’s defense has pushed back sharply against Musk’s claims, arguing that the billionaire’s lawsuit is rooted in personal resentment rather than principle. OpenAI maintains that Musk abandoned his early role at the company after failing to negotiate a majority controlling stake, and now he is seeking petty revenge as he builds his own competing AI venture, xAI.
The Oakland courtroom, located just outside the global tech hub of San Francisco, has played host to testimony from some of the wealthiest and most influential leaders in the technology sector this week. On Monday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the stand to defend his company’s landmark early investment in OpenAI, a partnership that has reshaped the global AI landscape.
Nadella told the jury he remains “very proud” of Microsoft’s bet on OpenAI. The tech giant now holds roughly a 25% stake in OpenAI Group PBC, the parent company behind ChatGPT, with the original non-profit arm retaining a core ownership position. Nadella emphasized that the partnership has ultimately strengthened, rather than undermined, OpenAI’s original philanthropic goals, creating “one of the largest, most well-funded nonprofits in the world” that can advance public good through AI research.
Musk’s legal team has argued that Microsoft always harbored commercial ambitions for its investment, pointing to internal company documents that they claim prove the tech giant prioritized profit over philanthropic AI development from the start. Microsoft’s initial $13 billion investment has grown exponentially in value, with current estimates placing the stake’s worth as high as $135 billion, a dramatic return on the company’s early risk.
Nadella pushed back against that characterization, framing the investment as a straightforward good-faith bet on emerging technology. “It has worked out well because we took the risk,” Nadella told the court. “If the pie became larger, obviously the nonprofit would benefit as well with their mission — and that’s what in fact it’s proven.”
Musk’s lawyers also highlighted Microsoft’s central role in OpenAI’s 2023 pivot to full commercial operation, pointing to a 2023 comment from Nadella in which he stated “We have the people, we have the compute, we have the data, we have everything.” The relationship between the two companies was further cemented during the chaotic 2025 OpenAI board crisis, when Nadella and Microsoft publicly backed Altman after he was temporarily ousted by the board. Following a five-day internal standoff, Altman was reinstated as CEO, with Microsoft gaining a non-voting observer seat on the restructured board.
An advisory jury is expected to deliver its verdict on whether any wrongdoing occurred by the week of May 18. After receiving the jury’s non-binding opinion, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will issue a final ruling on both liability and potential remedies. The judge has already indicated she is likely to follow the advisory jury’s recommendation in her final decision.
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Lidl Ireland recalls chicken over salmonella concerns
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has issued a public recall notice for two batches of private-label Irish chicken breast products sold at Lidl Ireland over confirmed detection of salmonella, a pathogenic bacteria that causes foodborne illness. Even though the affected products carry an April 12 use-by date, the regulator stressed that the batches were marketed as suitable for home freezing, meaning many consumers may still store the unconsumed chicken in their freezers long after the printed expiration date. The two impacted items are Lidl Ireland’s 291-gram Free Range 100% Irish Chicken Breast Fillets, and 550-gram packs of 100% Irish Diced Chicken Breast Fillets, both with the April 12 use-by date. FSAI has issued a direct warning to shoppers across the Republic of Ireland: check frozen food storage immediately, and do not consume any of the recalled chicken if it is found. The authority outlined key details about salmonella infection for public awareness: most people develop symptom onset between 12 and 36 hours after exposure to the bacteria, but the incubation window can range from 6 hours to 3 full days. As of the announcement, officials have reached out to the Food Standards Agency and Lidl Northern Ireland to investigate whether any contaminated batches have been distributed to stores in Northern Ireland, with results still pending. To help the public understand salmonella risks, FSAI also shared general public health guidance: the bacteria is a common foodborne pathogen that targets the intestinal tract, and infection often leads to food poisoning with hallmark symptoms including fever, stomach cramping, diarrhea, and vomiting. It is frequently linked to a range of common food sources such as raw or undercooked poultry and meat, raw eggs, unwashed fresh produce, and unpasteurized dairy products. This recall highlights the ongoing importance of checking recalled food stocks even after use-by dates pass, especially for products intended for long-term freezing.