Hello, I'm Ed Butler.

Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC.

Coming up, the new Big Dry, Australia's drought brings misery for farmers and for cows.

Just dry dirt.

And when you walk around here, you can feel it crumpling under your feet.

It looks like a lunar landscape, I reckon.

But the hot sun feels like a blessing in Cuba. Locales there are cashing in on a wave of tourism.

According to one story I heard, a number of visitors were caught unawares by the extent of the tourism boom in Cuba and hadn't booked ahead.

They ended up sleeping in public

squares in the town until the local authorities ordered people to take them in. All that to come

in Business Daily from the BBC. Well, disastrous droughts, we're told, are afflicting southern Africa

at the moment, Zimbabwe especially.

It's not much better in Australia either.

A record-breaking drought there is covering more than 80% of the northern state of Queensland, as we speak,

putting great pressure on farmers.

Meanwhile, in the southern state of Victoria, bushfires are causing a big disruption to business and tourism.

Phil Mercer reports on the latest Big Dry to affect Australia.

This is Harvey Range Road, about half an hour's drive out of Townsville, amid the eucalyptus trees and the termite mounds, the land is bone dry. It is grey and lifeless.

And farmers in this part of Queensland say they haven't had decent rain for more than a year.

Just dry dirt. And when you walk around here, you can feel it crumpling under your feet.

It looks like a lunar landscape, I reckon. Through the gates at Wonderland Station lie dusty tracks that meander across

parched fields and creeks. For grazier Jeff Toombie, feeding a herd of 500 cattle, is a daily

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