BBC News with Fiona MacDonald

Military and diplomatic pressure is growing on the army mutineers who overthrew the government of Mali last week. Tuareg rebels in the north have seized the town of Kidal after Malian troops abandoned their positions. Thomas Fessy, in neighbouring Senegal, has the details.

If the soldiers behind the coup thought they'd be in a better position once in power to fight northern rebels, they must now be worried. The leader of the coup, Captain Amadou Sanogo, has called for outside help to resist the rebels' advance as they now threaten two other regional capitals, including the fabled Timbuktu. But Captain Sanogo's cry for help is unlikely to be acted on until he cedes power. The regional bloc Ecowas has threatened to impose tough sanctions that would cut off money from its neighbours if power isn't handed back to the civilians on Monday.

The United States is preparing to increase oil sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. President Obama has issued a statement saying there was enough oil on the world market to allow a significant reduction in purchases from Iran. Paul Adams reports from Washington.

After June, financial institutions that continue to buy oil through Iran's central bank, where almost all such transactions are processed, will face sanctions. White House officials say the president decided to issue his statement after careful consideration of a number of factors, including global economic trends, supply and demand for non-Iranian oil, as well as spare capacity. There are exceptions: the US has already granted waivers to 10 EU countries and Japan because they've taken steps of their own.