Iran 'adhering to nuclear deal'

ROME • The United Nations atomic agency chief yesterday affirmed Iran's commitment to a 2015 nuclear deal, in a statement that came as United States President Donald Trump said Teheran was not living up to the "spirit" of the agreement. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said in prepared remarks during a conference in Rome: "I can state that the nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the (nuclear agreement) are being implemented."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Boko Haram trials begin in Nigeria

KANO (Nigeria) • Nigeria was yesterday preparing for its first major prosecutions of suspects linked to the Boko Haram conflict in closed-door trials at a military base.

The defendants have all been arrested and detained since the start of the Islamist insurgency in the country's north-east in 2009.

The Justice Ministry announced last month that some 1,670 detainees would go on trial at a civilian court at a military base in Kainji, in the central state of Niger. A further 651 others, held at the Giwa barracks in the capital of the north-eastern state of Borno, Maiduguri, will then be tried.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Pence exits NFL game after protest

WASHINGTON • United States Vice-President Mike Pence walked out of a National Football League game on Sunday after some players knelt during the national anthem, a form of demonstration that began last year in protest against police violence toward racial minorities. Mr Pence was attending a game in his home state of Indiana between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers.

REUTERS