our correspondent, phil mercer, sent this report from gunnedah, about 260 miles north of sydney.t's been two years since decent rains fell here, but this farming family is determined to beat the drought. keeping its beef herd alive is exhausting and expensive. crops have failed and the monthly food bill is £25,000. a daily grind

phil mercer, bbc news, near gunnedah, in new south wales. world, but a group of gay men in kenya has started hosting talent contests to celebrate their diversity. despite facing discrimination in a country where homosexual acts are illegal, the men say they'll carry on perfoming — even if it is behind closed doors. bbc africa went along to one of the shows. we are looking for kenya to embrace drag queens. we are there. they know we exist. they haven't except that it. -- we exist. they haven't except that it. —— accepted it. can you, most of them are homophobic. —— kenya. if they realise that you're a man and dressing a woman summerland at eating you physically. some will ask you questions, are you out to your family? they will threaten new, say that they want to out do. mostly they think we are doing sex work or just exposing ourselves. they take it as prostitution. it is not like that. it is showcasing our talent and showcasing our diversity. we are still cross—dressers, we don't want to change our gender. my family, what i can say, my fami

phil mercer, bbc news, near gunnedah, in new south wales. stay with us on bbc news.as ensured the british government allows his family to stay in the country. —— how a nine—year—old chess star. the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutal former dictator, has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later, when the sun set over the bay of bengal. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: turkey's lira hits an all—time low, it drops around 20% in one day, as president trump doubles tarrifs on turkish steel and aluminium. the saudi—led coalition says it will investigate its air strike in yemen which killed at least 29 children. a new app is to offer rewards to families for talking to each ot

phil mercer, bbc news, near gunnedah, in new south wales.tion system to make sure businesses can still attract workers from the eu after brexit. it wants immigration targets to be scrapped. instead, it says people coming to the uk should be asked to prove they can make a positive contribution to the economy. matt cole reports. british agriculture needs 60,000 seasonal farm workers every year, just one reason the cbi says eu immigration matters. then there are nurses, software engineers, builders, architects, with that claim that they constitute between four and 30% of different sectors' workforces. so the government must abandon caps on numbers, but it recommends controls, limiting those without a job to a three—month stay, u nless without a job to a three—month stay, unless they are studying or financially independent. eu citizens will also have to register with the authorities and would be limited to what in work benefits they can claim. the cbi also said companies must prioritise recruitment of british staff in areas with high unemploymen

phil mercer, bbc news, near gunnedah, in new south wales.are waiting to hear what the future holds for them after sports direct owner mike ashley buys the troubled house of fraser. cricketer ben stokes has finished giving evidence at his affray trial — he admitted being involved in a fight, but said he was acting in self defence. heavy floods force the evacuation of more than 1,600 people in south—eastern france — one man is missing after being swept away. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the summer heatwave and england's world cup run helped the uk economy grow by 0.4% in the second quarter. there was also a boost from strongerfigures in construction and services. those gdp numbers have had little effect on sterling, which has fallen below 1.28 against the dollar for the first time in more than year, as those doubts over a no—deal on brexit keep investors concerned. and a massive data breach at butlins. the holiday firm says up to 34,000 guests at their resorts may have had their personal information stolen by hackers. butl

phil mercer, bbc news, near gunnedah in new south wales. time for a look at the weather. little bit of flooding here and there on the rows from the big downpours. thunder and lightning as we have a look at the lightening strikes in a saint in a bit more detail. the weekend is going to change through the next 48 hours or so, we will see some sunshine and back to showers than sunshine again. i was going to show you lightning bolts here, but they have disappeared for some reason. anyway, the course of the rest of this evening then. this skies clear habitually across the uk and it is going to turn chile. colder than last night, in major towns and cities, temperatures down to maybe eight or 10 degrees. in rural spots, even for 5 degrees. then saturday, a weather front is approaching out of the atlantic and that the spell rain for many of us but look at the clock there in the morning. the morning is looking fine, lots of sunshine around. then the clouds increase and we expect rain in wales and the southwest. but two printers become quite nicely, in the 20s widely, more human on

our correspondent, phil mercer, sent this report from gunnedah, about 260 miles north of sydney.ght. keeping its beef herd alive is exhausting and expensive. crops have failed and the monthly fee bill is £25,000. it is the daily grind that is taking its toll. everybody is a bit stressed and under more pressure financially and therefore you're stressed and your relationships, and you try to keep it together. we can see the seasons are no longer what we would call normal. we have had the lowest rainfall in 116 years of recording so this is the worst. they should be some of australia's prime cultural land. in good times, these fields would have crops ofjourneys. but just look at it fields would have crops ofjourneys. butjust look at it now. the earth is bone dry and barren. and many farming communities are struggling like never before. as the big dry in eastern australia strengthened its grip. the lack of rain has dramatically altered the landscape. all of new south wales is now officially in drought. for many, it isa officially in drought. for many, it is a disaster. the small town