These are the stories you should be monitoring today.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday, called on Churches for religious tolerance and prayers for those in government to overcome numerous challenges facing the nation.

Osinbajo, who made the remark at the inauguration of the Deeper Life Bible Church new Headquarters Auditorium, Gbagada, Lagos, said that governance was a spiritual warfare.

“It is the duty of the Church, as we are, that the Church prays for the government; that the Church upholds the hands of those in government, not by complaining but by supporting us with prayers.

“Governance is a spiritual warfare if anyone does not know that, I know. I ask the Church to pray for everyone of us in the position of authority in this land,” Osinbajo pleaded.

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The Governor of Ekiti, Ayo Fayose‘s half-brother, Olanipekun Oluwayose announced his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday.

Oluwayose said he was leaving the PDP for the Action Democratic Party (ADP) because he could no longer bear the continued impoverishment of Ekiti people by the Ayo Fayose administration.

His declaration came at his home town, Afao-Ekiti, as the ADP’s governorship aspirant, Segun Adewale, arrived the community for his campaign mobilisation.

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The 24 Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Tuesday night, have announced their endorsement of President Muhammadu Buhari as the candidate for the 2019 Presidential election.

The Governor of Imo, Rochas Okorocha, made this known to State House Correspondents after a closed door meeting with the President at the Presidential villa, Abuja, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

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The Federal Government has appealed to the striking Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) to call off their strike as negotiations are ongoing.

The Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, made the appeal at the induction of foreign trained medical laboratory scientists in Abuja by the Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria (MLSC).

The Minister condemned the strike, noting that nobody is considering the plight of patients in federal public hospitals.

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The Pan-African Yoruba group, Afenifere, has condemned the anticipatory approval and payment of $496 million by President Buhari for the purchase of A29 Super Tucano Aircraft as an act of corruption and misappropriation of public funds even as it called on the National Assembly to ensure that the full wrath of the law is brought to bear on the issue.

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And… stories from around the world.

President Donald Trump‘s administration faces the Supreme Court today to defend the legality of his travel ban targeting people from several Muslim-majority countries, one of the most contentious actions of his presidency.

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An Indian spiritual guru who has claimed to have followers spread across the world, Asaram Bapu, has been found guillty of rape.

A court in Jodhpur ruled that Bapu, 77, raped a 16-year-old girl in 2013 at his ashram there.

He is also standing trial in another rape case in Gujarat state.

Bapu teaches meditation and yoga.

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French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed negotiations on a “new deal” aimed at curbing Iran’s military power and regional activities, to exist alongside a three year-old agreement that restricts the country’s nuclear programme.

Macron offered the idea of a new deal at a joint White House press conference with his US counterpart as a way of salvaging the 2015 agreement, which Trump has threatened to leave.

The offer seemed calculated to appease the Donald Trump’s discontent with the current agreement, the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Programme of Action (JCPOA) by proposing a broader initiative to tackle other elements of Iran’s challenge in the region, particularly its ballistic missile programme, and its military role in Syria.

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The UN’s two most senior Syria experts have warned of an Aleppo-style humanitarian catastrophe in Idlib as an EU donor conference aimed to raise up to $6 billion (£4 billion) to help Syrians displaced both inside and outside the country.

Idlib is the last major territory still in rebel hands. It is partly held by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadi group that Russia and the Syrian government regard as a legitimate target in an area where civilians and fighters continue to pour in as part of evacuation deals in other parts of the country.

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Happy Salah!!

Liverpool‘s Mohamed Salah tormented his old club with two goals and two assists to put the Reds in dreamland as they raced out to a 5-0 lead over Roma in the Champions League.

Roma boss Eusebio Di Francesco said his side “made it easy” for Liverpool to run out to a 5-2 win, though he retained hope of another dramatic second-leg comeback.