Around 30 hostages kidnapped by Tuareg rebels in a deadly siege at local government offices in northern Mali were released on Monday, the United Nations said.

"We have just taken back around 30 hostages. They are in not bad condition. Two are very tired," an official from MINUSMA, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Mali, told Agence France Presse.

Jurors in the New York trial of British hate preacher Abu Hamza on Monday found him guilty of kidnapping and terrorism offenses.

The former imam of the north London Finsbury Park mosque, real name Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, showed no reaction to the verdict, which carries a possible life sentence. He is to be sentenced September 9.

Europe's far-right is looking to overcome deep divisions and establish itself as a major player in Brussels after EU elections this week where it is expected to make significant gains.

With voters tired of a European Union handing down decisions from on high, parties like France's National Front (FN), Britain's UKIP and Austria's Freedom Party (FPOe) are going strong in the polls ahead of the May 22-25 ballot.

British Prime Minister David Cameron insisted Monday he would not resign if Scotland votes to leave the United Kingdom.

Cameron ruled out standing down as premier if voters in Scotland plump for independence in the September 18 referendum.

Family members, lawmakers and other supporters of a former U.S. Marine held in Iran called for his release Monday ahead of his 1,000th day in captivity.

Amir Hekmati was arrested in August 2011, put on trial and found guilty of spying for the CIA. He was subsequently sentenced to death, a penalty that was recently overturned and reduced to 10 years.

A top U.N. rights official warned on Monday of a risk of a major exodus from rebel-held areas of east Ukraine because of the near collapse of basic services there.

Ivan Simonovic also cautioned in an interview with Agence France Presse against expecting that Sunday's election would provide a "miracle" that would resolve a crisis that threatens Ukraine's very existence, saying the window of opportunity was closing fast.

The United States is sending 26 tons of humanitarian aid to the Balkans to help with relief efforts after floods devastated the region, the Pentagon said Monday.

The assistance included water purification units, water cans, generators, fuel, kitchen equipment, sleeping bags, shovels and wet weather gear, a Pentagon spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Cathy Wilkinson, said.

Bosnia said Monday it was witnessing "the biggest exodus" since the 1990s war after the worst floods in a century inundated huge swathes of the Balkans, killing at least 47 people.

Muddy waters from the Sava River have submerged houses, churches, mosques and roads in Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia after record rainfall last week wreaked havoc across the region.

The Vatican on Monday said it was setting up an appeals body for priests under internal investigation by the Catholic Church for alleged child sex crimes.

The new committee will be part of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Church's doctrinal watchdog, which handles investigations carried out under Canon Law.

A Somali politician was wounded Monday in a bomb blast in the latest in a string of attacks in the war ravaged capital Mogadishu, a local official said.

"The bomb was attached to his car... seriously injuring him," local district commissioner Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir told Agence France Presse.