Welcome to the Daily Caller’s daily roundup of the most interesting stories from across the globe. Today’s stories involve American hikers detained in Iran, scientists’ fears of a Swine Flu resurgence, Nelson Mandela’s great-granddaughter’s funeral, the cost of the international rescue effort for an American sailing prodigy, and three British dogs who inherited millions at their human sibling’s expense.
- The mothers of three Americans accused of espionage by the Iranian government are demanding that Iran either move forward with prosecutions or release their children, who claim merely to have been hiking on the border between Iran and Iraq. The mothers of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal are also calling for increased communication with their children, whom they were allowed to see in May. Iran has, for its part, demanded that the U.S. engage in a prisoner exchange to return Bauer, Shourd, and Fattal, calling the three spies for the U.S. government.
- Hong Kong researchers warn that complacency in the aftermath of last year’s outbreak of Swine Flu might be dangerous. Strands of the virus are still affecting pig populations in China, and researchers insist that mutations in those strands might again impact humans. Still, researcher Malik Pairis insists the message isn’t alarmist, telling the New York Times, “The message from our paper is not [about] an inevitable disaster around the corner, but [about] the need for continued vigilance.”
- Nelson Mandela attended the funeral of his thirteen-year-old great-granddaughter, who was killed in a car accident in South Africa before the start of the World Cup. Zenani Mandela was returning from a concert in a car driven by a family friend who was apparently intoxicated at the time of the crash. This is Mandela’s first appearance in public since before the start of the World Cup, as he cancelled his anticipated attendance at the event in light of the tragedy.
- Australia and France are defending their payment of the costs of the search for California teen sailor Abby Sunderland despite criticism that they ought not have shouldered the burden of the rescue effort. Australian Finance Minister Anthony Albanese explained, “If there was an Australian lost at sea we would want … every effort to be made to save that person.” Neither country is seeking reimbursement from the United States or from Sunderland’s family.
- One might see Bret Carr as greedy for pursuing a legal challenge against the estate of his mother, Gail Posner, given that she left him £650,000 in her will. But Carr’s inheritance was a pittance compared to what other heirs received: Posner gave her three dogs £2 million in addition to the rights to a £6 million house near the beach. Carr claims that his “deeply disturbed” mother, who took to giving her animals their own cars and jewelry, was duped into changing her will by staff members, who received £17 million in the will to care for the animals after her death.