Australia’s gaffe-prone prime minister took back his second Nazi-related comment in a month after he compared the opposition party leader to German World War II-era propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

Australia’s Parliament House lifted a short-lived ban on facial coverings including burqas and niqabs after the prime minister intervened.

World-renowned Aids researchers and activists heading to an international conference in Australia were on board the downed Malaysian jet, it has emerged.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard today dismissed calls from lawmakers within his ruling Liberal Party to ban girls from wearing Muslim headscarves in public schools.