Sydney, Jan 8 : Climate porn, flashpacking, toxic debt, wellness tourism and fanta pants-these are just some of the new words and phrases that have made it to the Macquarie Dictionary''s online edition.

According to the editor of the Macquarie Dictionary, Susan Butler, there was a big influence of America quite large on the list of words she selected, owing to the recent elections in the country.

"There were two big things that happened in 2008. One you can''t use because it''s a proper noun, and that''s Obama. The second was subprime," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Butler as saying.

Sydney - An Australia power station worker told Thursday of surviving a 50-metre fall while cleaning the inside of a boiler.

Ronald Mackie, 47, got away with minor injuries when he landed in ash at the power plant near Melbourne.

The father-of-two blamed himself for an accident that saw him tumble the equivalent of 10 storeys.

"I hit the bottom, that was when I blacked out," he told reporters from his hospital bed. "Yeah, it was a fair drop, I was probably pretty lucky."

Sydney, Jan. 8 : Forgotten Australian opener Phil Jaques has declared that he is available to return for next month''s tour of South Africa.

With Hayden showing no signs of retirement, Jaques, 29, declared his availability for the crunch tour as he tries to return from back surgery on a bulging disc.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the left-hander thinks he has the runs on the board after scoring 108 in his last Test against the West Indies in Barbados last year.

He will play club cricket next week and then return to the first-class scene when NSW play Tasmania in Newcastle on January 30.

If his back shows no signs of more problems, Jaques appears a must-have selection for South Africa after averaging 47 in his 11 Tests.

Sydney, Jan. 8 : Australian cricket's chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch has given opener Phillip Hughes a ringing endorsement as Australia looks to replace Matthew Hayden

Hilditch''s comments are a sign the selectors are seriously considering the 20-year-old for higher honours in the not too distant future.

"As far as Phillip Hughes is concerned, he is a very fine player and showing great potential," the Courier Mail quoted Hilditch, as saying.

Sydney - A young woman in Papua New Guinea was stripped and lashed to a pole before being burned alive, news reports from Port Moresby said Wednesday.

Sydney - A large shark was an uninvited guest Wednesday at a memorial service on a west-coast beach for a 51-year-old Australian who is believed to have been killed there by a shark last week.

Bathers at Port Kennedy Beach, south of Perth, were ordered out of the water and the 250 guests at the memorial service watched as a spotter helicopter circled after the sighting.