A spokesman for the United Nations mission in Mali confirmed that about 200 Malian soldiers and police had reached Kidal. Earlier in the day, Tuareg rebels occupying the town had returned to barracks. They’ll be banned from patrolling there in the lead-up to elections on the 28th of July. The Malian army was chased out of Kidal by rebels last year. Their advance backed by Islamist militants prompted France to send troops to its former colony earlier this year.

The anti-secret website Wikileaks says the fugitive American intelligence analyst Edward Snowden has applied to a further six countries for asylum. Mr Snowden, who’s believed to have taken temporary refuge in the transit areas of Moscow airport, has already asked 21 other countries for asylum.

Portugal’s coalition government appears to have survived a political crisis that threatened it with collapse as the country struggles to fulfil its tough international bailout conditions. A government spokesman says the Prime Minister Passos Coelho has reached an agreement with his centre-right coalition partner and Foreign Minister Paulo Portas, who earlier this week handed in his resignation. Details will be released on Saturday when the coalition partners meet. The deal has to be approved by President Cavaco Silva.

Reports are coming in of a bomb attack at a Shiite mosque in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Officials say 15 people have been killed and more than 30 injured. The attack occurred on Friday evening during prayers. Earlier a car bomb exploded in Samarra, killing four people.