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 is in sydney. this is beginning to sound costly? day for the commonwealth bank of australia and this particular legal requirement it didn't fulfil meant 15,000 customers we re didn't fulfil meant 15,000 customers were affected, they were supposed to have been put onto a low—cost comment, as the law determines. in their defence, staff at the bank said there were problems with the computer system. the bank is well and truly under the spotlight as a result. the shares in commonwealth bank have fallen. in previous hearings, the bank has been found to have misappropriated funds from customers and also charging clients who were dead fees, and that provoked one barbed comment from one observer saying the bank should open branches at cemeteries. that gives you an indication of the sort of pressure australia's financial pressure australia's financial pressure is under as a result of this royal commission. phil, thank you very much indeed. phil, thank you very much indeed. phil mercer in sydney there. now let's brief you on some other busines

she also has backing from the mercer family, the private uber-wealthy conservative donors who also pumped money into donald trump's 2016 presidential campaign. >> i mean, i have a great relationship with the mercers. and i'm very grateful to them for helping me along the political process. >> she is trying to motivate the type of voter that frankly showed up for donald trump two years ago that may have not voted in previous elections. >> reporter: just this past weekend a staffer for ward publicly implied that there might be some sort of conspiracy in the timing of mccain's announcement that he was discontinuing medical treatment. in a now deleted facebook post. i wonder if it's a coincidence that senator mccain released his statement on the kickoff day of kelli ward's bus tour or if it was a plan to take media attention off her campaign. ward herself replying in their comments, "i think they wanted to have a particular narrative that they hope is negative to me." at a press conference today ward addressed the comments. >> to be clear my comments were in no way directed at senator mccain

phil mercer, bbc news, new south wales. rajini: so they need rain there, but from droughts to floods -- in south france, hundreds of people, many of them foreign veholidaymakers, has been to safety after flash flooding tore through towns and villages. the storm followed a period of unusually hot weather across much of europe. the bbc's richard lister reports. richard: after the heat wave, the deluge. hail stones as big ales fell in southeastern france as thunderstorms rolled in. torrential rain turned drought-hit rivers into raging torrts, spilling over roads and causing chaos downstream.ve l campsites quickly terwhelmed. the water movingough with such force that camping gear and picnic tables were swept away. more than 400 police and firefighters fanned out to search for stransod tourists. me were found hypothermic and clinging to trees. these german teenagers were in a campsite when the flood struck. they were among more than 100 people who had tbe rescued. most with only the clothes they were wearing. "we could not even

phil mercer is in sydney and joins us how. phil mercer is in sydney and joins us now.p is akin to a sort of client— lawyer relationship? that's right. the church says it has no intention of changing the rules of secrecy surrounding the confessional. the catholic bishops conference here in australia says it is one of the main tenets of their faith and that to change it would go against everything they believe in. you have to say there could well be a collision looming between the catholic authorities. this is the biggest religious faith here in australia, and the state and federal authorities, given that two australian states have made it a crime for priests who failed to report child abuse that they hear on the confessional is. on the one hand you have the authorities who say that priests must give up this information, and on the other hand you have the catholic church saying, no, these secrecy rules are the fundamentals of our fate. what is the church's argument? that this would undermine the confidence and faith people have in terms of their confession? 0r faith peop

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

let's get the very latest from sydney and our correspondent, phil mercer.been a dramatic week, phil. just tell us more about scott morrison, the new prime minister. well, once upon a time, scott morrison was an immigration minister, more recently he has held the very important treasurer portfolio in the centre—right government of the outgoing prime minister malcolm turnbull. scott morrison has been a keen and loyal supporter of the outgoing pm, so what we expect is this victory of scott morrison will be seen as a victory for the more moderate part of the centre—right coalition, given that his challenger, peter dutton, was the candidate that the conservatives wanted to challenge for the leadership. sorry to interrupt you. we want to come back to you in a moment. first, malcolm turnbull is addressing the press. you know the foundation of everything you do in government is a strong economy and we have delivered, as we promised, jobs and growth — you may have heard that before. we've got record jobs growth in australia last year, we have strong economic growth,

phil mercer, bbc news, sydney.od giants kelloggs and kfc broke the rules about advertising to children. new regulations came into force last year, banning adverts of foods high in fat, sugar and salt to people under the age of 16. but health campaigners say there needs to be even stronger protection for children, as chi chi izundu reports. these complaints involve some of the biggest names in the food industry. coco pops granola! the watchdog upheld two complaints. this kellogg's cereal advert which was shown during a mr bean cartoon, and this kfc ad which was on a phone box close to a primary school. the advertising standards authority found the companies had broken rules over advertising food high in fat, sugar or salt, to children under 16. there are two upheld rulings against kfc and coco pops granola which is owned by kellogg's. and we are telling those companies that they can't repeat those ads. in terms of the kfc ad, they've got to take down the poster which was next to a school gate. and there will be a me

phil mercer in sydney, thank you. the headlines on bbc news... it is 16 minutes past ten.d out "an unauthorised take off" from the seattle tacoma international airport. the us space agency,nasa is forced to delay the launch of a space probe to study the sun's outer atmosphere. chemical giant monsanto is ordered to pay nearly 300 million dollars in damages to an american man who said its weedkiller made him terminally ill with cancer sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here'sjon acres.... the third day of the test between england and india starts later today and england are well on top thanks partly to the weather and some inspired bowling from jimmy anderson. the rain washed out day one and a large part of day two but it didn't put the england bowlers off, anderson took five wickets, chris works marked his return to international cricket with two wickets for 19 ones including the wickets for 19 ones including the wicket of virat kohli. they were all out for 107. when chris woakes claiming it was the most seamless transition. i thought, claiming it was

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, sydney.ts are to become available on the high street for the first time. superdrug says it will sell them with the kits providing a result in 15 minutes, forjust under £35. one leading hiv charity says it welcomes better access to testing, but is worried about the cost. our correspondent sarah campbell reports. the test involves a simple pinprick. antibodies in the blood are measured and after a few minutes the results. the manufacturers claim it's 99.7% accurate. alex sparrowhawk has been living with hiv for nine years. his diagnosis took far longer. when i was diagnosed, i had to wait a week for my result. which actually caused a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress. when i got the phone call, i knew it was going to be bad news. i worked full time and actually being able to come into a shop on the high street and doa come into a shop on the high street and do a test in my own time would be great. hiv diagnoses are down according to the latest figures from public health england. with, for the fir

employees between fifty and retirement age often get left by the wayside a study by consulting firm mercer says that's a worldwide phenomenon. especially in china where workers fifty years and older have a seventy nine percent chance of being replaced by automation technology in robot friendly japan the risk is actually lower and fifty nine percent right here in germany fifty seven percent of older employees are in danger of losing their jobs and fifty two percent of american workers over fifty are at risk employees without special skills could be in trouble if millions in asia become unemployed the economic and social consequences will be grave. now as we all know online shopping has been booming for yes but have you ever heard of trading for sales assistants on how best to do business in the financial walt a one job one retailer is trying to set them up as best it can customers here are trying out a prototype virtual reality shopping assistant. most transactions still involve exchanging hard cold cash for goods the primary method for food shoppers. but that's slowly changing. in retail o

yes yes on six six instead collect look for forms speech mercer had it has actually. to get really mad about it [inaudible] yeah. i don't i don't believe of the day trying to find. funding. of this district. as will the meeting meeting. three a lot longer than any sensations her church and state. you know i don't [inaudible] his voice. what's going on on its innocent acting trip trip. close the little collect from the from a second day of the israeli judges as he's concerned i know you'r. a and they need to start on the french restaurant over we are getting this noise ninety four so you know you know the excellence like i can to many many cheats. regard god out of one of us that's radiated from him right into a standing objection. thanks out of it john john and i wanted to decision. they would eventually these i don't think so. yeah. yeah yeah that not not. and is and i'm damage. done a ninety three that of asas readydy as well real or more they had to hand in would go on one date. on april nineteenth ian how now that the and i come come three times i made them out ag

and i point to this one, which kind of demonizes, again, i mentioned mercer green johnston as calling his satanic majesty. you see it actually illustrated in some of this propaganda. many of these posters were produced by the committee on public information, which was organized under george ceil, which basically created propaganda to promote the war, to sell the war to the american public who was kind of ambivalent for a number of years. when you create an army, the natural question is, well, this is -- you're going to build this military. however, what do you do about people who refuse to serve in the military for religious or political reasons? and this is where we get the idea of conscientious objectors. now today, because we have an all-volunteer military, this is something we're really concerned about. world war i, doesn't totally create conscientous subjecters but it does institution alize them. again, another example of individuals during world war i kind of cutting their teeth early on and ascending later from their experiences in world war i. one, you have this hawaii enlistm

from sydney, phil mercer explains the tailwinds giving our lift to the airline's strong results. flying kangaroo as it has faced up to the twin challenges of stiff competition and higher fuel prices. the company has renewed its partnership with emirates and switched from dubai to singapore, it is hard for its second london service. —— its hub. one of the headline moments was the non—stop services from perth in western australia to london. there were concerns at the time that passengers may find the 17 el non—stop journey too tiring and they would miss out on stopovers in asia and the middle east —— 17 hour. qantas says that the route is performing well and above expectations. in recent times, qantas, australia's national carrier, has been boosted by its domestic services and also its budget flights. qantas is almost 100 yea rs budget flights. qantas is almost 100 years old. back in 1921, the fleet consisted of two biplanes. it has 110w consisted of two biplanes. it has now become one of the major players in the ultra competitive global aviation industry. all right, and that was p

phil mercer reports.seen as the place to be for the good life. —— sonny. there has not been a recession here since the early 1990s. and as for economic growth at over 3%, it is the envy of the world. natural gas exports and massive infrastructure projects will keep the australian economy marching on, but does gdp accurately reflect how the country feels about wealth and financial security? the answer to that is no according to the national australia bank's well—being index. it has found levels of satisfaction and happiness are at their lowest since the survey began in 2013. many australian families say they are struggling to get ahead. in football terms they are 2-0 ahead. in football terms they are 2—0 down with five minutes to play to rising debt, soaring utility bills and sluggish wage growth. my plan is to try to bring in more money because i work as a nurse and i want to finish my registration in nursing and if i can do anotherjob i will. but this is a distraction, playing football, to distract me fr

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

rupert watson is the head of allocation from mercer.dani was talking about, if i look at the markets at the moment, you do not want to be out of the united states. the momentum trade is working. it is all about the tech. how do i invest in anything else right now because of the amazing performance in the united states? just figuring out what my strategy should look like in september. is it different substantially from when i started holiday? rupert: over the last few months it has been about trade wars or trade tensions between the u.s. and most of the world. also, the u.s. economy continues to power ahead. equities continue to power ahead. seemingly unaffected by tensions. the u.s. is approaching the end of it cycle. the u.s. economy has been growing strongly for a while. unemployment is low and likely to go lower over the next few months. we expect unemployment to fall to 3.5% or below by next year. that is anyone's guess. targetflation already at and likely to go above target, we think the federal reserve will keep going. that does m

phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. valencia region on spain's east coast, more than 600 firefighters and 25 aircraft are battling the flames in searing temperatures. more than 2,700 hectares have burned since the fire broke out on monday. emergency services say they believe the fire was caused by lightning. meanwhile, a fire that prompted evacuation orders in two california communities is burning thousands of acres in the cleveland national forest for a third day. officials say flames have burned more than five miles, and the blaze is estimated to be only 5% contained. they've called for voluntary evacuations in several surrounding areas. the cause of the fire is under investigation. the democratic unionist mp ian paisley is facing the first ever parliamentary recall petition, under rules introduced in 2015 to allow voters to oust politicians. ian paisley is currently suspended by parliament for failing to declare two family holidays which were paid for by the sri lankan government. if 10% of his constituents in north

phil mercer, bbc news, sydney.naut alexander gerst took this pictures, showing the devastating impact of weeks of record temperatures on the planet. on twitter he says, "after several weeks of night flying, i was able to take the first day pictures of central europe and germany. the sight is shocking. everything that should be green is parched and brown". here's ben rich with the forecast. it is quite something seen pictures from the international space station. an incredible new perspective. you go outside and see how parched grass is booked to see it on that scale and to see how shocked they are, incredible. and there is still some dry weather in there is still some dry weather in the forecast for the next few days but some rain as well. we have brought in something a little bit cooler. we will stick with that cooler. we will stick with that cooler feel, dry weather with some sunshine but some showers as well. we have had showers today which will continue for a time. overnight, clear and starry skies. still some

phil mercer report phil: prosperous, safe home and sunny. australia is seen as the place to be for the good life. there is not beea recession here since the early 1990's. economic growth is over 3%. it is the envy of the world. natural gas exports andassive infrastructure projects wtrl keep the aian economy marching on. but those gdp accurately reflect how the country feel about wealth and financial security? the answer to rdat is no, acg to be national australia bank well-being index. it found that levels of satisfaction and happiness are --the survey began in 2013 at their lowest since the survey began in 2013. many families say they are strugglingo tt ahead thanks to rising debt, soaring utility , and sl wagegi with. >> since i work as a nurse, finishing nursing.stration and and if i need to get an exit job, i will. >> people e increasingly questioning the relevance of gdp as an indicator. we know that gdp has been strong in the last year, but we also know workers are not seeing wage increases. there is also a high level of job insecurity

the only mistake rodriguez made of the day, drove in a run, pirates strikes out mercer to end the inning. giants looking to get on the board. hunley chugging around the score, game tied at one. hunley is in with a three- bagger. it's hunley again off morin's glove. the giants lead 3-1. move it, top 5. rodriguez showed great location and strikes out musgrove to end the inning. seven innings, four strike outs, two hits, and one run. will smith got diaz a line out to center field. giants win 4-3. rodriguezs the win. he is 6-1, beefing up his rookie of the year credentials. injuries continuing to pile up for the 49ers. a knee injury od news from the mri. reportedly, it's only a muscle strain and not something more serious. if you saw the 49er pre-season game, six guys left the field in the first quarter. so they escaped serious injury, it appears. next game saturday in houston on the big five. >> absolutely. thanks, dennis. >> we'll be right back. this is not a bed. it's a revolution in sleep. the new sleep number 360 smart bed, from $999, intelligently senses your movement and automatically

phil mercer, bbc news, sydney.et for the first time. superdrug says it will sell them, with the kits providing a result in 15 minutes, for just under 35 pounds. forjust under £35. one leading hiv charity says it welcomes better access to testing, but is worried about the cost. our correspondent sarah campbell reports. the test involves a simple pinprick. antibodies in the blood are measured and after a few minutes the results. the manufacturers claim it's 99.7% accurate. alex sparrowhawk has been living with hiv for nine years. when i was diagnosed, i had to wait a week for my result. which actually caused a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress. when i got the phone call, i knew it was going to be bad news. i worked full time and actually being able to come into a shop on the high street and do a test in my own time would be great. hiv diagnoses are down with, for the first time from a decline in the number of gay and bisexual men being diagnosed. but it is estimated that more than 10,000 people in england are unaware t

phil mercer, bbc news, new south wales.ng its military facilities in disputed territory in the south china sea. specifically, in the spratlys, a chain of islands which lie between vietnam and the philippines, with china to the far north. all three countries have claims on the spratly islands, but it is china that has been building on them to such a huge scale. rupert wingfield hayes joined a us navy surveillance flight over the islands, and has sent us this report. right now i am at the airbase on the island. and this is a us navy aircraft. it is anti—summary and surveillance plane. today we are going does do something amazing. we're going to get on board here and fly with a crew down over the south china see. two and half hours of south, we get our first view of the huge chinese artificial islands. this one is called reef. it is clear they know we were coming. can i have they know we were coming. can i have the sovereignty of the land and the agenda? . it is a routine occurrence for us, it happens throughout the flight for

phil mercer sent this report from sydney. prosperous, safe and sunny.nomic growth, at over 3%, it's the envy of the world. natural gas exports and massive infrastructure projects will keep the australian economy marching on. but does gdp accurately reflect how the country feels about wealth and financial security? well, the answer to that is no. according to the national australia bank's well—being index. it's found that levels of satisfaction and happiness are at their lowest since the survey began in 2013. many australian families say they're struggling to get ahead. in football terms, they're 2—0 down with five minutes to play thanks to rising debt, soaring utility bills and sluggish wage growth. my plan now is to try and bring some more money in because i work as a nurse, finish off my registration in nursing. and if i can do an extra job, i will. but this is a distraction, playing football, to distract me from reality. well, it's ok for us at the moment, because both my husband and i are working in fairly stable jobs but i'm a bit worried about my

reporter: the fear is that a dry spring will be follootd by anothernd punishing summer for a phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. laura: commemorations have been taking place in the french city of amiens to mark 100 years since the battle there that was pivotato bringing an end to world war i. prince william and the british e minister both spoke at special service at the city cathedral. the bbc's rober hall has more. robert: this is a landscape where the course of a terrib nflict was changed. in amiens cathedral, music and personal accounts combined to tell the story. the attack at amiens was a total surprise. at dawn, huge allied bombardment systematically destroyed german guns. the smoke barely clearing before 500 tankled men from six countries in an advance which took somof them eight miles into enemy territory. the battle whose significance was underlined by the duke of cambridge. prince william: today we return to learn more about the experience of those involved during the historic summer of 1918, to honor the falleof all nations. robert: the amiens attacks weree plto the last detail. as

phil mercer reports now from sydney. australia is a land well used to nature's extremes.ted continent, but the resilience of its farming communities is being severely tested. official figures show that australia's most populous state, new south wales, is now entirely in drought. two years ago, there were floods on gary sunderland's farm near the town of condobolin. how quickly things can change. now, it's just the opposite story. lambs are going dry, no feed, stock are dying. some farmers have been carting up to 100,000 litres of water to their livestock since january. this video taken earlier this year shows cattle swarming around a water tanker. farmers in the small towns across new south wales are helping each other out with donations. many here say it is the worst they've ever known. all the climate gurus, that know all about the weather, still can't tell us when it's going to break. they've got no idea. we just — we're blind. you know, we'vejust got to plan and hope and pray that it rains. government aid will ease the financial burdens, and the prime minister is prom

ballot, winning the vote for the leadership of the liberal party by 48—35. 0ur correspondent phil mercer doesn't necessarily end here, does it? no, it doesn't. this leadership election was called by the prime minister, malcolm turnbull, in an attempt to quell mounting internal dissent within his centre—right coalition government. you're absolutely right. in the end mr turnbull prevailed by 13 votes, but the margin of victory has many commentators here in australia believing that mr turnbull‘s edition is still very precarious. 0ne media a nalyst is still very precarious. 0ne media analyst saying that mr turnbull had been mortally wounded, and they say that because he survived one leadership challenge, there is no suggestion that he can do so again, because of those mounting forces against him. and the weakness of his position as leader seems to have already killed off a significant chunk of australia's policy on climate change. the reason why mr turnbull is in this predicament is, after a string of very poor polling results in national opinion polls, australians and politicians here ta ke

phil mercer sent this report. australia is a land well used to nature's extremes.'s driest inhabited continent. but the resilience of its farming communities is being severely tested. official figures show that australia's most populous state, new south wales, is now entirely in drought. two years ago, there were floods on gary sunderland's farm near the town of condobolin. how quickly things can change. now, it's just the opposite story. lambs are going dry, no feed, stock are dying. some farmers have been carting up to 100,000 litres of water to their livestock since january. this video taken earlier this year shows cattle swarming around a water tanker. farmers in the small towns across new south wales are helping each other out with donations. many here say it is the worst they've ever known. all the climate gurus, that know all about the weather, still can't tell us when it's going to break. they've got no idea, so wejust — we run blind. you know, we'vejust got to plan and hope and pray that it rains. government aid will ease the financial burdens, and the pri

karl mercer reports. after a few false starts, the annual ritual of carnival begins.e than a million people are expected on these streets and locals are well used to their own security measures. but this year for the first time at carnival, police will be bringing these, knife arches which they say will be put at strategic points on the route. we don't select people to go through the knife arches. they'll be put in the middle of busy streets on approaches to carnival, and people just flow through them. we'll have other officers there who can look at the behaviour of people approaching knife arches to understand if there's any reason at all why people don't want to go through the knife arches. that would tell us that they are coming to carnival for a reason that we don't want. the local mp wasn't told by police about the latest move. she says that although she understands why they want to bring in the arches, she's not sure they will work. there are all kinds of ways of doing damage to people if you want to, and metal knives is not the only one. so i have concerns and

phil mercer is in sydney. it has been an absolutely to mulch is weak.e make of scott morrison and his promise with regard to the drought as his top priority. first of all, ask yourself if australians are actually paying attention to the words coming out of the politicians mouth, i get the impression most australians are sick and tired of the shenanigans down in canberra, it has been described as one of the most destructive weeks of party infighting in recent australian political history, and trying to rise above it all is the new man in charge, scott morrison, due to be sworn in in the next half hour. at a press conference he was giving the impression that it is back to business, the government will make the drought in eastern australia a priority, and along with his new deputy, he wanted to give the impression that they were the new generation that would take the government forward, and scott morrison's task is absolutely immense, he has thejob morrison's task is absolutely immense, he has the job of trying to heal a disunited and fractured coalition g

more on this now with our sydney correspondent phil mercer, who has spent time in the drought zone thisuth wales. it was extraordinary to see prime agricultural land that has been laid to waste. many farmers haven't seen decent rain for the best part of two years. we went to a small community and met kate james. she is a beef farmer, struggling to stay on the land, determined to beat the drought but she says the daily grind of life on the farm is a challenge. you wake up and you think, 0k, we've got to do this all again. there's no room for a break, no room to be sick, there's no room to not feel like doing it today. the cows need to be fed. it is a gorgeous day, it is a sunny, winter's day but we are having quite warm days in the middle of winter and this is not normal. this is quite exceptional. the land is brown, the land is cracked, it is barren in that part of new south wales. it's not just farmers being affected, their families and children are also being psychologically, as well as financially affected by the big dry. we went to the town of manila in new south wales and the deput

moved into the next room after she discovered fdr had a relationship with her social secretary lucy mercer and she felt she didn't want to be in the same room with him so she moved next door. you'll notice that next to the bed, there are a couple of phones. there is one on the little table next to the bed. and then there is the one on the wall. the one on the wall is really an important phone because that was the direct line to the white house. so fdr could pick up that phone, and he would get the white house telephone operator, louise ha hackmeister, or hacky, as they called her, whenever he needed to. so that was great. in this room there was a little chair that his little famous scotty dog used to sleep on. that was his special spot in this big room. it was a room where in the mornings, fdr would meet with his staff. he used to spend some time in bed looking at the papers first. and then he would have a quick meeting with any members of his cabinet or staff that he needed to. so it was very convenient for him. that's why some chairs in here so that they could sit and talk to the preside

our correspondent phil mercer is in sydney. what is likely to happen next now?n's capital. we now hear that malcolm turnbull, the prime minister, will resign and quit parliament if the mps in his governing liberal party decide to have a leadership challenge. that seems almost certain. the meeting was due to start at midday here in eastern australia so a few minutes ago. we understand that it has not started yet but as we say, things are moving quickly. it seems certain that by the close of business today, australians will have a new prime minister. he or she will have a huge challenge on their hands and we understand that the challenges at the moment would be peter dutton, who challenged mr turnbull earlier this week, alongside the treasurer, scott morrison and the foreign ministerjulie bishop. these are unprecedented times in australian politics and safe to say the situation in the nation's capital can best be described as rather chaotic. and this is the sixth prime minister in a decade? people are not happy about that. and theissue people are not happy about t

phil, thank you, phil mercer in sydney. comments by boris johnson, back to our top story about the comments by borisjohnson, lord nicholls, you. i do rather agree with boris that the idea of banning the burqa is deeply illiberal. yet sadly his use of language, it cut off that debate before it even started. i think the smart thing for boris to do so that we can debate this ina boris to do so that we can debate this in a sensible way is to apologise for the offence caused in some of the articles and then we can move on. not much chance of that! i think he is away on holiday, but i'm sure that once he knows there is a reaction in the uk to his remarks, it's that you can't defend liberal values by using illiberal language. what of those who suggest it is time to go further and withdraw the whip from him? i think you can't deal with over the top comments by over the top measures. i think we are so far away from that, that particular measure, boris has misspoken. he has been careless with his language. he isa been careless with h

phil mercer reports now from sydney. australia is a land well used to nature's extremes.abited continent, but the resilience of its farming communities is being severely tested. official figures show that australia's most populous state, new south wales, is now entirely in drought. two years ago, there were floods on gary sunderland's farm near the town of condobolin. how quickly things can change. now, it's just the opposite story. the land has gone dry. no feed. stock are dying. some farmers have been carting up to 100,000 litres of water to their livestock since january. this video, taken earlier this year, shows cattle swarming around a water tanker. farmers in the small towns across new south wales are helping each other out with donations. many here say it's the worst they've ever known. all the climate gurus who know all about the weather still don't know when it's going to break. they've got no idea. we've just... we run blind. you know, we'vejust got to plan and hope and pray that it rains. government aid will ease the financial burdens and the prime minister is

legend has made his footballing debut for central coast mariners in australia. 0ur correspondent phil mercers greeted by one almighty roar at the central coast stadium you might be able to see behind me. normally these preseason games attract a few hundred people. today about 10,000 supporters came to cheer on usain bolt in the latest part of his odyssey to become a professional footballer. he came on midway through the second half. there were a few nice touches, a few forg etta ble a few nice touches, a few forgettable ones and some nervous touches as well but one thing you cannot doubt is the endeavour of the sprint king. every touch was applauded by the supporters and they really did appreciate the sprinkling of stardust on their club. last season the central coast mariners came bottom of australia's a—league, average attendance about 7000 so if he was to come here it would be a massive boost that people are realistic to know he has an awful to do to make the grade. the footballing gods might be shining on him but it is of course up to the coaches here on the central coast to determine if