Here are the stories that drove the conversation today:

The Federal Government has declared Tuesday, May 29, as a public holiday to enable Nigerians to celebrate the country’s Democracy Day.

The Ministry of Interior disclosed the decision in a statement by its Permanent Secretary, Dr Muhammed Umar, on Friday.

The date also coincides with the third year anniversary of the current administration at the federal level led by President Muhammadu Buhari.

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The Gombe State Police Command on Friday, said they had recovered the mace of the state’s House of Assembly, forcefully taken away in a scuffle by some members during plenary on Thursday.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Shina Olukolu, told newsmen in Gombe that the mace was found around National Industrial Court in the state capital in the early hours of Friday.

The mace, was said to have been whisked away by some aggrieved members of the assembly after a failed attempt to change their leadership.

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The United Nations, through the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund, on Friday in Abuja, donated $2m in support of the response to the deadly outbreak of cholera in Yobe State.

According to a statement issued by Ms. Samantha Newport, Head of Communications, UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a total of 404 cases and 15 deaths have been reported in North-East.

She added that United Nations and its partners have activated an immediate emergency response in the affected communities in support of the State Ministry of Health.

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The Zamfara House of Assembly has directed its secretariat to write a letter to Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, over incessant killings and security challenges in the state.

The assembly gave the directive during plenary session, in Gusau, on Friday.

The decision following a complaint by Alhaji Abdullahi Dansadau (APC, Maru South) under matters of urgent public importance about the killing of innocent citizens in the state by bandits which he described as worrisome.

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Three fallen Nigerian peacekeepers will be honoured, among others, in commemoration of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, the United Nations (UN) has said.

According to a statement by the National Information Officer, United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Oluseyi Soremekun, the commemoration will begin on Tuesday, May 29 and the honouring of fallen heroes will take place in New York on Friday, June 1.

The three Nigerians: Ali Suleiman, a Lt. Col. who served with the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); Warrant Officer Remmy Amakwe who was deployed with the African Union – United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID); and Kolawole Shogaolu who served in a civilian capacity in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

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And stories from around the world:

US President Donald Trump has said on Friday, that the meeting with Kim Jong Un could go ahead after all — possibly even on the originally scheduled date of June 12.

“We’re going to see what happens,” Trump told reporters at the White House,  one day after abruptly pulling the plug on a high-stakes summit with North Korea,  after welcoming Pyongyang’s latest statement on the talks as “very good news.”

“It could even be the 12th,” he added. (AFP)

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As the latest round of protests drew several thousand participants, dozens of Palestinians demonstrating at the Gaza border were on Friday injured by Israeli gunfire and tear gas.

Protests along the border reached a peak on May 14 when Gaza medical sources said at least 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire. The violence has tapered off since but there are still sporadic flare-ups.

Since the border protests began, 113 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, Gaza medical officials said. (Reuters)

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 The Police in Oklahoma have praised two armed bystanders after they shot and killed a gunman, Alexander Tilghman (28) who opened fire on diners at a restaurant in the US state.

Oklahoma City police said four victims were injured on Thursday before the duo confronted the shooter as he fled the scene and “fatally shot him”.

The gunman shot three people. A fourth person broke his arm. All the victims are in good condition, say police. (BBC)

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People in Ireland voted Friday in a landmark referendum on whether the traditionally Catholic country should liberalise some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe.

Nearly 3.5 million voters were asked whether they wanted to overturn a constitutional ban on abortion, following an emotional campaign.

The pro-choice campaign had an early lead in opinion polls but lost some of its advantage in recent weeks and experts have predicted the result could be exceptionally close, with many undecided voters. (AFP)

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About 50 people have died and more than 60 people survived after a boat travelling from Monkoto to Mbandaka capsized on a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials say.

The vice-governor of Tshuapa province in the north of the country said the cause of the accident was not clear.