Scientists from five Australian universities have launched a ‘google map for sounds’ that will continuously record the calls of wildlife for five years.

Four hundred solar-powered audio recorders will be placed across 100 sites in remote parts of Australia to create a soundscape that will mark environmental changes, part of the National Acoustic Observatory Project.

Lead Researcher Professor Paul Roe, from the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, says “the  galaxy of sounds” would be freely available in a cloud on the internet.

The Indonesian Human Rights Commission condemned the Attorney General's Office on Monday for barring homosexual, bisexual, transgender and bisexual people from applying for positions because it does not want those so-called "sexual orientation deviations".

The AGO website lists applicants' criteria and says that they must not have "physical or mental disorders, including biases in sexual orientation and behavior."

"We just want the normal ones," said Mukri, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office.

Hundreds protested in front of the Kyrgyz government headquarters on Monday, asking authorities to follow up on media investigations into allegations of money laundering, involving $ 700 million in money laundering by former senior officials.

Kyrgyzstan is a close ally of Moscow, home of Russian military bases, and the most politically turbulent country in Central Asia. Protests turned into violent riots and overthrew two Kyrgyz presidents in 2005 and 2010.

Severe thunderstorms hit NSW last night, and firefighters are now working to determine if lightning strikes sparked more bushfires.

“Not exactly what we wanted to see,” the NSW Rural Fire Service tweeted after storms hit the city last night.

An assessment completed by RFS yesterday found that 663 homes had been destroyed so far.

There were 80 fires burning in NSW at 7pm yesterday, 50 of which were uncontained.

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston will address a major conference in Canberra today, and she is expected to discuss some of Australia’s most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges. 

Senator Ruston has resisted calls to increase the rate of Newstart, which is approximately $277 a week.

The conference has been set up by the sector’s peak body, the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS). 

The production company Flickchicks are making an Ipswich-based drag queen documentary entitled ‘Bowled Over’.

The documentary follows a group of drag performers called ‘Taboo’, who have been keeping the local lawn bowls club afloat with immensely popular shows. 

Writer and director Mandy Lake says, “For all its apparent fun, frocks and frivolity, it’ll give me a cunning platform to tackle some deeper, topical issues such as the current suicide epidemic within the LGTBQI+ community.”

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad has been referred to the State Parliament’s Ethics Committee over her purchase of an investment property at Woolloongabba.

The committee will examine whether Ms Trad failed to include the property on her register of interests within the correct time frame.

The property had the potential to grow in value due to its proximity to the Cross River Rail Project, which Ms Trad was overseeing.

The Northern Irish driver pleaded guilty to assisting illegal immigrants and obtaining criminal property when he appeared in London's Old Bailey Criminal Court on Monday (local time).

Robinson was also charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic in human beings and money laundering, but he has not been required to enter a plea for these charges.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones said at the hearing that this could be a large and complex case.

Transport authorities in London have refused to renew Uber's business license, putting the future of up to 45,000 London drivers at risk.

The Transport for London (TfL) says Uber's system has changed to allow unauthorised drivers to upload their photos to other driver's accounts, which means they can pick up passengers just like a reserved driver.

As a result, it considered Uber "not right at the moment."

Although Uber immediately said it would appeal, the process could include court proceedings that could last months.