Somerset regional Council is considering a 1500-megawatt solar farm north-east of Toowoomba, which if completed, will be one of the largest in Australia.

Somerset Mayor, Graema Lehmann, said the development application has been referred to various government departments.

Ms Lehmann said the solar farm would include two substations, facilities for up to 60 employees and provision for battery storage.

Queensland Corrective Services have revealed the extent of overcrowding in Queensland prisons as part of a watchdog investigation into corruption risks in jails.

Since January 2012, the states prison population has increased by more than 50 per cent and as of March this year, Queensland correctional centres were operating at a capacity of 131 per cent.

Hezbollah, a Shi’a islamist political party and militant group, have won a majority of seats in Lebanon’s recent election.

This was the first time Lebanon has held an election in nine years and was marked by a lower turnout than before, reflecting voter frustration over endemic corruption and a stagnant economy.

An Israeli minister said the election results now mean Lebanon and Hezbollah are indistinguishable.

Heavy rain caused deadly landslides in Rwanda over the weekend, killing at least 18 people.

Executive Secretary of Rwankuba sector, Vedaste Kuzbaganwa, said the search for missing residents was completed by Monday evening and there were no more residents unaccounted for.

Multiple landslides have been triggered by heavy rains since the beginning of the year, and have now brought the death toll to 200.

Environmentalists are warning that oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight could put entire ecosystems at risk, 80 to 85 per cent of species in the area are endemic and the remote area is mainly untouched by humans.

The Norwegian company Statoil is seeking approval to conduct exploratory oil drilling and currently has two permits from BP.

If Statoil’s plan is approved exploratory drilling could begin 200 kilometres off the South Australian coast by the end of next year.

A second Liberal MP has declared they could live on Newstart, following Julia Banks’s similar statement last Wednesday.   

Tim Wilson stated on Q&A last night, he could live on what would be $40 a day, or 40% of minimum wage and resisted suggestions to increase allowances stating the money would have to come from somewhere else.

Wilson also defended the 65 billion dollar tax cut for big companies proposed by the Government, when fellow panellist Jeremy Heimans, co founder of GetUp! suggested the money could come from there.

A man is missing off the central Queensland coast after he disappeared from a charter boat.

A search has not found any trace of Jeffrey Costar, who was last seen at 2am on Sunday.

The fishing boat had over a dozen passengers on board when he disappeared.

A new United Nations report says at least 36 people, including 30 children, were killed in a helicopter raid by the Afghan government as they attended a religious ceremony.

The Afghan government said the April 2 attack was intended to hit members of a Taliban special forces group as well as a senior leadership group.

The UN could not confirm any allegations of the helicopters deliberately targeting civilians.