A bad week for ... , December 23, 2012

You might argue that the Mayans have not had a good week in a long time - at least since their civilisation was all but wiped out by the Spanish conquistadors. But the ancient people and their descendants, associated with an end-of-the-world "prophecy", have been grossly misunderstood. As a scholar points out, the Mayans didn't predict an apocalypse but the end of an era.

The former human rights lawyer has one more reason to bear a grudge against the family of the late South Korean strongman Park Chung-hee. Not only did Park's authoritarian government lock Moon up, but Park's daughter, Park Geun-hye, beat him in a hotly contested presidential election this week.