GERMANY: Prosecutors said today that they have charged one of the most prominent figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party with a second count of uttering a slogan used by the Nazi SA stormtroopers at a political event.

Bjorn Hocke was already scheduled to go on trial in Halle on April 18. 

Prosecutors in the eastern city said they would seek to have the new count added to those proceedings.

UGANDA: A top court today upheld an anti-gay law that allows the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.”

President Yoweri Museveni signed the Bill into law in May last year.

The law is supported by many in the East African country but widely condemned by rights activists and others abroad.

UKRAINE: Kiev today lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks after more than two years of war following Russia’s invasion.

The new mobilisation law came into force a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed it. Ukraine’s parliament passed it last year.

It was not immediately clear why Mr Zelensky took so long to sign the measure into law.

ZIMBABWE: A state of emergency was declared in Zimbabwe today over a devastating drought that’s sweeping across much of southern Africa, with the country’s president saying it needs $2 billion (£1.6bn) for humanitarian assistance.

The declaration was widely expected following similar actions by neighbouring Zambia and Malawi, where drought linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon has scorched crops, leaving millions of people in need of food assistance.