Durban (South Africa), Mar. 11: South Africa have dumped opener Neil McKenzie and pace bowler Morne Morkel for the third Test against Australia that begins from March 19 in Cape Town.

The Proteas, who trail Ricky Ponting''s men 2-0 in the three-Test series and have surrendered their chance to take the No. 1 ranking from Australia, will also be without skipper Graeme Smith, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Smith broke his right little finger when struck by a short ball from Mitchell Johnson while batting in this week''s second Test in Durban and is hoping to return for next month''s five-game one-day series against Australia.

Berlin  - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said late Monday that South Africa's important position in Africa, which goes far beyond mediating conflicts in Sudan and the Congo, "underlines the role that South Africa has found in recent years."

During a meeting late Monday in Berlin with South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Steinmeier spoke of the "multifaceted cooperation" between Germany and South Africa.

Durban (South Africa), Mar. 6 : Michael Hussey, Australia's Mr. Cricket, plans to break his lean trot with the bat in a relaxed manner.

Hussey is an upbeat and enthusiastic individual. No one celebrated Australia''s victory in the first Test with more vigor.

He has heart, soul, passion, commitment and a bloody horrible singing voice. He''s determined, but not too determined, to come good when hostilites against South Africa resume in the second Test at Sahara Stadium on Friday.

Durban (South Africa), Mar. 6 : Australian fast bowlers Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle have been cleared to play in the second Test against South Africa in Durban. The match starts from today.

Tasmania''s Hilfenhaus, who took three wickets on debut in Australia''s win over South Africa in the first Test in Johannesburg which ended on Monday, has a back complaint but bowled a long spell in the nets behind the Kingsmead ground in an encouraging effort.

Johannesburg  - South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Thursday called the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir "regrettable."

The ICC On Wednesday issued a warrant for al-Bashir's arrest on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Vienna  - The atomic bombing of Japan and South Africa's past nuclear weapons programme were brought into play Wednesday as diplomats from these two countries entered the last heat to be elected leader of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The IAEA governing board is set to meet on March 26 and 27 to elect the successor to Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, who retires in November after 12 years at the helm of the UN nuclear watchdog.