Good week, bad week: The people in the news

One person's fortune is often another person's misfortune. And so while someone, somewhere, is having a good week, someone elsewhere is bound to be having a bad one.

Who around the world has had a week to remember? And who has had a week to forget?

Good week: The Wild Boars

Let's be honest: it wasn't just a good week for these boys - it was the best week.

The 12 football players and their coach had spent 17 days trapped in a deep cave in Thailand. Rising waters kept them stuck where they were, and a rescue risked taking months.

And then, they were out. Over three days, a diving team went back and forth to bring them up to safety and it ended up being the feel-good story of the year, and one of the most popular stories of the past 12 months among BBC readers.

Bad week: Kazakh taxpayers

Residents of Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty are not happy.

It's all because a giant squirrel has landed in a central square, a giant squirrel paid for partly by public funds.

"A disgrace", "a waste of our taxes" said some. Surprisingly, it appears not everyone wants their government contributions going towards the construction of a giant wicker squirrel. Who knew?

Good week: The photographer in the right place at the right time

Yuri Cortez is a photographer with Agence France-Presse normally based in Mexico, but over the past few weeks, he's been covering the World Cup in Russia.

On Wednesday, he was pitchside for England's semi-final match against Croatia, who won thanks to a late goal by striker Mario Mandzukic.

Cortez was caught up in the Croats' celebrations, and Mandzukic fell right on top of him. The photographer could not have been in a better place, as his images testify.

Reuters photographer Carl Recine captured this picture of Cortez floored by the Croats...

...and it turned out to be a good angle to snap defender Josip Pivaric...

...and the match-winner himself...

...who lent a helping hand to the stricken photographer...

...and made him a little bit more famous as a result

Bad week: Australian ballet-goers

Close to 2,000 people had packed out the Adelaide Festival Centre to watch a performance of Sleeping Beauty by the Australian Ballet.

But then came the intervention of a rat, who decided that it was an opportune moment to chew through electrical equipment.

To cut a long story short: the theatre plunged into darkness, the show was cancelled, the prince and princess didn't have a chance to get together, and the rat (almost certainly) didn't live to tell the tale.

Not all the bad news this week relates to rodents, we promise.

Good week: Ryan Davidson

Businessman James Minns (R) offered Ryan Davidson a job after talking to him on a Newcastle street

Ryan, 25, has been homeless in Newcastle in the UK for the past two years. While he was begging on the street, local business owner James Minns walked by, gave him some money and started chatting to him.

The conversation ended with James offering Ryan some work - an offer Ryan took up. He started work this week - even though there was a late twist in the tale.

Bad week: A Canadian lottery-winning family

Barbara Reddick and Tyrone MacInnis. The reactions say it all.

In theory, it should have been a good week for Barbara Reddick and her nephew Tyrone MacInnis. After all, they won C$1.2m ($912,000; £690,000) in a Canadian lottery on Wednesday.

Both their names were on the winning ticket but Ms Reddick says she never promised to split the jackpot with him.

As the two posed with the obligatory giant cheque, Tyrone smiled away. His aunt didn't join in, and told him in front of the gathered photographers: "See you in court."

Christmas will be fun this year.