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A scandal hit maternity unit blamed for the needless deaths of 12 mothers and babies has been criticised again for providing poor care. Furness General Hospital , in Barrow, Cumbria, was slammed for shocking failures in a bombshell report that became known as the Morecambe Bay scandal back in March 2015. It prompted a national review of NHS maternity services. Although the hospital managed to improve, the Care Quality Commission watchdog said that following a recent unannounced inspection, it had been forced to downgrade the unit from good to inadequate. Ann Ford, the regulator’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals in the North, said past improvements at the unit ‘have not been sustained and the service has deteriorated, affecting patients and staff’. Furness General Hospital , in Barrow, Cumbria, was slammed for shocking failures in a bombshell report that became known as the Morecambe Bay scandal back in March 2015 Major care failures were linked to at least 12 deaths of mothers and

Australians are set to receive Covid-19 vaccine booster shots a year after their second doses despite reports immunity from the Pfizer vaccine declines well before 12 months. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation does not currently recommend booster shots but ministers are expecting this advice to change and have ordered millions of extra doses. In the face of an 'alarming' fourth wave of the Delta variant, Israel has already started offering third Pfizer shots to people over 60, and will soon include over 50s.  The US will also roll out booster shots from September 20 after its top doctors warned waning immunity would lead to 'reduced protection against severe disease, hospitalisation and death'.  It comes as Scott Morrison announced Pfizer would soon be rolled out to those aged 16 - 39, with young Australians able to start booking appointments within a week - though slots for the jab are already booked out at many centres until October at the earlies

New Zealand's growing Covid outbreak which has sparked a nationwide lockdown was caused by a traveller returning from Australia who had been in hotel quarantine, it was revealed today.  The New Zealander flew from Sydney to Auckland on August 7 and self-isolated in the Government's makeshift quarantine facility at the Crowne Plaza hotel. An investigation — which included analysis of positive samples — found the patient picked up the virus sometime in the days before travelling and tested positive on August 9. They were then hospitalised with the virus the following week. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern claimed the breakthrough should help 'stamp out' the virus by tracking its spread back to the source.  She said the fact the traveller had spent most of their time in quarantine or hospital suggested the virus hadn't been in the community as long as initially feared.   It comes as case numbers of Delta in New Zealand nearly doubled overnight to 21, a worrying sign the s

A couple who hosted the lockdown engagement party that shocked Melbourne have been fined along with their parents.  Nine of the 69 guests at the get-together to celebrate the upcoming marriage of Michal Franck and Yoni Rubin have now tested positive to the virus. A video of the event showed dozens of maskless people gathered in Caulfield North in Melbourne's south-east and Mr Rubin joking it was a 'group therapy session'.  The couple and Michal's skin cancer expert father Dr Mark Franck, 52, and his photographer wife Chana, 49, have been fined $5,452 each, Victoria Police said on Thursday.  Michal Franck and Yoni Rubin sparked outrage after hosting an engagement party for 69 people inside a Melbourne home in direct breach of the city's lockdown rules. Nine people who attended have since tested positive to Covid-19 Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton  said attendees had been helping police with their investigation but the handing out of further fines

Fully vaccinated Australians could soon get exemptions from Covid lockdown restrictions as Gladys Berejiklian prepares to sign off on a proposal allowing some businesses to reopen. The 'Freedom Plan' penned by New South Wales government ministers and officials is expected to be finalised next week if approved by the Premier. Under the controversial vaccine passport-style scheme, when the state's vaccination rate hits 70 per cent, those who are double-jabbed will be permitted to dine in outdoor restaurant settings, train at the gym or have a drink in beer gardens with capacity restrictions in place, The Australian reported.   NSW Police minister David Elliott confirmed that officials were already working 'very hard' on plans to reopen gyms, restaurants and parks. 'That is the plan and it is something that a lot of people have been working very hard towards,' he said    Fully vaccinated Australians could given the jump on Covid lockdown as Gladys Berejiklian p

An Australian journalist has revealed the disturbing details Taliban leaders told her in a face-to-face interview promising stonings for women, executions in soccer stadiums and amputations for criminals. BBC reporter Yalda Hakim says she travelled to Afghanistan earlier this month and met with Taliban officials who reportedly told her they wanted to return to the regime they had installed during the 1990s. She said they will look to implement the barbaric torture and archaic human rights atrocities that plagued their leadership before western intervention. 'I sat down with a Taliban frontline commander. He said to me: "We want to return to the kind of rule we had in the 90s",' Ms Hakim told Q&A. 'When I asked about a women committing adultery, he said: "Of course we'll have stonings. We'll have public executions, using soccer stadiums to do that, there'll be amputations of hands and feet if someone were to commit the crime of theft".'

Republicans are ramping up their criticism of Democratic President Joe Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal and ABC News sit-down with George Stephanopoulos - as the president has now gone nine days without taking questions from the rest of the press.     'Incompetent. Unhinged. Incoherent. Unfit,' tweeted Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott, sharing a clip from the Stephanopoulos interview. Earlier this week, Scott floated that Biden should be removed from office over the Afghanistan debacle.  Ohio Rep Steve Chabot, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee with jurisdiction over Afghanistan, told DailyMail.com: 'No matter how much President Biden makes excuses for his bungled withdrawal and rationalizes the consequences, the simple fact is that we are witnessing a truly monumental failure of leadership and planning that will haunt America for some time. 'Many predicted a rapid Taliban takeover, and the fact that we didn’t get everyone to safety, or eve