Uber now allows women drivers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to opt to pick up women passengers.

The new feature is called Women Preferred View and comes after months of research and concerns of the female drivers in the region.

Saudi Arabia ended its ban on all women driving in the region last June.

For the first time in history, men and women will surf at the annual Easter event at Bells Beach and compete for equal prize money.

The equality movement comes after the World Surf League became the first major US-based professional sporting code to commit to equal prize money for men and women at all of its events.

Ten time Bells winner Gail Couper agrees it’s a positive move, saying, “It was affirmation of what women have been doing and their aims to make it a career. It gave [women] something to aim for and also a feeling of being valued.”

Tens of thousands of pre-marked ballot papers were discovered in a Malaysian warehouse ahead of the Indonesian election.

Indonesia’s election supervisory body has recommended a rerun of 319,000 pre-poll postal votes cast during pre-polling in Kuala Lumpur.

Bawaslu officials also recommend the dismissal of two senior election officials in Malaysia over an undisclosed ‘conflict of interest’.

Workers on an oil rig in the Gulf of Thailand have saved a dog that was found swimming more than 220 kilometres from shore.

The crew on the Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production rig rescued the dog by putting a rope around its neck and hauling it up.

After giving it food and water, the crew draped flowers over the dog and named it “Boon Rod” which is a Thai phrase that means “Survivor”.

How the dog managed to end up so far out is unknown but the crew suspects it might have fallen off a fishing trawler.

100 firefighters are at the scene of a bushfire burning out of control east of Adelaide.

Gorge Road has been closed and warnings have been given to the suburbs of Paracombe, Athelstone, Castambul and Montacute.

“We've got about 100 firefighters on this fire at the moment, what we're concerned about is once the sun comes up and we get some heat,” Country Fire Service spokesperson Alison Martin says.

A bat carer in Central Queensland dedicates her time to rescuing, caring for, and rehabilitating hundreds of bats.

Rebecca Koller has almost 600 bats in her care in Kuranda and spends almost $1000 a week to maintain their care.

Around 23,000 spectacled flying foxes — about a third of the species' population in Australia — died in the Cairns area towards the end of last year during an extreme heatwave.

Detectives have charged eleven activists with trespassing in two south east Queensland locations.

The protesters will face 18 charges including trespassing and drug offences.

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner says animal activists could face fines over $650 issued on the spot or after evidence is reviewed.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service is investigating the possibility of using drone technology to give people in remote Queensland quicker access to life-saving medical care.

The drones will be used to service vast areas of outback Queensland, that the RFDS would have trouble getting to.

The service would be used to deliver emergency supplies such as anti-venom or insulin.