Dog rescued from mining pit, and more

Dog rescued from mining pit

A little brown dog was rescued from a disused diamond mine in Kimberley, South Africa, eight days after falling 700 feet into the pit. The canine, nicknamed Underdog by concerned members of the public, was spotted swimming in a pool of water at the bottom of the pit known as the Big Hole. An emergency operation was mounted, but rescuers at first found the pit’s rim too unstable to work from. As the days went by, Underdog rested on a ledge, surviving on scraps of food thrown down by passersby. In a five-hour operation this week, he was finally hoisted up and declared safe and well.

Mother and son reunited after 30 years

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A Chicago-born man who went missing three decades ago was reunited with his mother last week after a traumatic trek to the U.S. from Mexico. David Amaya Barrick, 37, was a toddler when he was taken by his father to Mexico in 1979. This month he was picked up by the Border Patrol in California, having been beaten and robbed. When he informed agents he was born in a Chicago hospital, they tracked down his mother, Kathy Amaya, who immediately flew from her home in Chippewa Falls, Wis., to meet him in San Diego. This week, she’s taking him home for a family Thanksgiving. “We have some catching up to do,” she said.

Correction:

In last week’s issue we wrote that Kansas City Chiefs season ticket holder Rusty Jones had swapped his tickets to a home game with the Denver Broncos for a wedding ring for his fiancée. We erred in stating that the tickets were for the Chiefs’ 27–17 loss to the Broncos on Nov. 17, which was played in Denver. The tickets are for Kansas City’s home game against the Broncos on Dec. 1. We regret the error.