It is often claimed that history has a way of repeating itself. In the case of South Africa and One Day Internationals, there was a sense of déjà vu at the start of the final over in the Group B-match in Jamtha, Nagpur against India on Saturday.

If you have to raise often competing and arguing siblings, as my dad had to do with four sons, you might get to know the use of the short stick to settle disputes. During really olden times it might even have been to decide who gets the wrong end of the last available stick in the outhouse.

Reporting on the kidnapping of South African ambassador Eddie Dunn in El Salvador by leftist guerrillas in 1979, I came across claims that the emergence of faxed demands from the African National Congress for his release involved an international terrorist network financed and coordinated from Libya, writes Piet Coetzer

Among the most disturbing news emanating from last  week’s devastating earthquake in Japan was that by Saturday morning, the government had declared emergencies at two reactors and planned drastic steps to relieve pressure in one. The Japanese Defence Ministry said it sent troops trained for chemical attack to the plant in case of a serious radiation leak.  This could be a dress rehearsal for other parts of the world.

Apparently conflicting reports were emanating over the weekend from official sources in Japan about the nature of an explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi No. 1 nuclear plant, leaving the question open of whether it was a result of a reactor meltdown or not.

As proposed amendments to South African labour law, aimed at curtailing the practice of temporary staffing, seem to go against both domestic and international trends, it begs the question: Is labour regulation in the country heading for the kind of failed experiment that was implemented with outcomes-based education?

The recent easing of restrictions on international exposure for South African retirement funds has come at a good time, with retirement funds now able to up such exposure to a total of 25% of their total asset base. Trustees who increase their offshore equity allocation at this time (at the expense of local equities), will be well positioned to benefit from both the expected re-rating of offshore stocks relative to SA stocks and the reversion of the local currency, write Trevor Gavin and Matthew de Wet.

Despite its politically unpopular and radical austerity measures, Greece’s debts keeps on rising. A group of leading European economists, the European Economic Advisory Group (EEAG), has warned that the country may need another bailout by 2013, if not sooner.

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A statement by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) that it seized two farms after it emerged that officials have allegedly illegally benefited from “the fraudulent acquisition of the properties earmarked for redistribution and restitution,” exposed ominous similarities to land distribution practices in Zimbabwe.

Most of the world’s developed and emerging economies would have given a sigh of relief over the weekend that Saudi Arabia’s day of protest went by rather uneventfully on Friday averting the danger of an immediate spike in the price of crude oil, which could have edged them closer to a double-dip recession. It does not however, mean the danger is over. In fact there are also other dangers lurking.

The fact that the minister of public works, Gwendoline Lindiwe Mahlangu-Nkabinde has critisised the Public Protector in public on a report made to cabinet creates a constitutional crisis, member of parliament Smuts Ngonyama writes in a statement on the matter.

The Lions have finally broken a losing streak of 18 losses in Super Rugby, and the Sharks have lost a proud record of 272 minutes in which they did not concede a try, while the Stormers are still looking for their maiden try of the season.

The racial blow-up between government spokesman Jimmy Manyi and ANC minister Trevor Manuel caught most people by surprise. This past week saw a variety of analysts and commentators – many of them leading coloured intellectuals – trying to make sense of the debacle.  Yet no-one really seems to be any the wiser as to what lies behind it all.