Amid the hum and rumble of downtown Manhattan -- not to mention the clang of steel and the tangle of cranes -- hard-hatted workers in fluorescent orange vests yell orders, spread cement, move machines. Empty boxes litter the ground. Shop lights hang from extension cords like Christmas bulbs. Stacks of paving stones, cinderblocks and plywood are everywhere. Scaffolding andmesh divide work areas from visitors. Chain-link fencing marks a perimeter; beyond it, iron and steel rise from bedrock.

Indian forces have killed three Pakistani soldiers in firing across the Line of Control in the disputed region of Kashmir, the Pakistani army says. It has accused Indian forces of opening "unprovoked" fire across the LoC - which divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan - in the Neelum valley.

Sitra, Bahrain (CNN) -- Bahrain's interior ministry is offering a reward for information leading to the killer of a 14-year-old boy whose death has fueled protests, the state news agency reported Thursday. Witnesses said Wednesday they saw Ali Jawad al-Sheikh collapse after riot police fired a tear-gas round at him and other protesters in Sitra, southwest of the capital Manama.

A Kosovo man has told a German court he regrets shooting dead two US servicemen at Frankfurt airport and does not understand why he did it. Arid Uka, 21, told the court he had been radicalised by jihadist propaganda videos he watched online. Prosecutors believe he acted alone in carrying out the first deadly attack by an Islamist on German soil.

(CNN) -- Despite sunny skies, flood warnings remained in effect Wednesday for areas of several states hard-hit by Hurricane Irene, as authorities struggled to clean up and rebuild roads and bridges in the aftermath of the storm. "Nobody that got hit with this flooding dodged a bullet," Craig Fugate, Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, said Wednesday. "Loss of life, extensive damages, homes flooded ... it may not have been as big a deal on the coast, but these flood areas definitely got hit hard."

Amnesty International has said it believes that at least 88 people have died in detention in Syria during the past five months. It says those who died, including 10 children, were subjected to beatings, burns, electric shocks and other abuse.

Libya's interim leaders have given pro-Gaddafi forces until Saturday to surrender or face military force. Mustafa Abdul Jalil, who leads the National Transitional Council (NTC), said the ultimatum applied to loyalists of Col Muammar Gaddafi in his hometown of Sirte and in other towns. The announcement came after Col Gaddafi's wife and three of his adult children fled to neighbouring Algeria.

Rescue efforts are intensifying in flood-hit parts of the north-eastern US, as the death toll continues to rise two days after a fierce storm. Authorities have struggled to deliver supplies to Vermont and to New York towns isolated by washed-away roads.

Anti-government demonstrations are reported to be breaking out across Syria after morning prayers on the day of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Thousands took to the streets, including in suburbs of the capital, Damascus, demanding the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Brattleboro, Vermont (CNN) -- The torment from Irene isn't over as parts of the Northeast grapple with dangerous floodwaters, widespread power outages and stranded residents. At least 21 deaths across eight states were blamed on Irene, which had fizzled to a post-tropical cyclone and was headed over eastern Canada by Monday morning.

Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN) -- Nepal's parliament on Sunday elected a leader of the former Maoist rebels as the new prime minister with a simple majority. Baburam Bhattarai, 57, vice-chairman of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) will become the fourth prime minister since Nepal became a republic in 2008.

Baghdad (CNN) -- A series of bomb attacks throughout Iraq left 35 people dead and scores injured, officials with Iraq's Interior Ministry and police said Sunday. At least 28 people were killed in a suicide bombing attack in a Sunni mosque in the Ghazaliya neighborhood in western Baghdad late Sunday, an Interior Ministry official said. At least 37 others were wounded in the attack. A Sunni member of Parliament, Khalid al-Fahdawi, was among the dead.

Ocean City, Maryland (CNN) -- After slamming into the East Coast and knocking out power to almost 2 million people, Hurricane Irene is now taking aim at the biggest cities in the Northeast. Irene pummeled Ocean City, Maryland, early Sunday while en route to New York City, threatening to flood parts of Manhattan and bring the bustling city to a virtual standstill.

Fugitive Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi is ready to begin talks to transfer power, US media has been told. The spokesman told the Associated Press news agency negotiations would be led by Col Gaddafi's son, Saadi. He also said Col Gaddafi was still in Libya.

(CNN) -- The death of al Qaeda's No. 2, Atiyah Abdul Rahman in Pakistan, is a hammer blow to the terrorist organization. According to a U.S. official, Abdul Rahman, a 43-year-old veteran Libyan operative, rose to the number two spot after the death of Osama bin Laden in May, which saw the Egyptian Ayman al Zawahiri take over the leadership of the terrorist group. In that capacity Rahman ran daily operations for the group, according to the official.

Libyan rebel forces are pushing east towards Col Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, having taken most of Tripoli. They have been exchanging heavy rocket fire with about 1,000 Gaddafi loyalists on the road to the city and are bringing up reinforcements.

(CNN) -- Four Italian journalists were kidnapped Wednesday in Libya by unknown assailants, a spokesman for the Italian foreign ministry confirmed to CNN. One of the journalists was able to call his newspaper, and according to his editor he reported that he and his colleagues had been beaten when they were taken, and one of their drivers had been killed.

Some 12 million people around the world do not have citizenship of any country, and are being denied basic human rights as a result, the UN has warned. The organisation is calling for more countries to sign up to two conventions on statelessness. It says the issue is becoming worse as stateless children are born to stateless parents.

Col Muammar Gaddafi has made a speech vowing death or victory in the fight against "aggression", after Libyan rebels seized his Tripoli compound. In the audio speech, the colonel, whose whereabouts remain unknown, said he had made a "tactical" retreat from his Bab al-Aziziya compound in the capital.

A magnitude-5.8 earthquake has rattled the east coast of the United States. The quake centred on the state of Virginia but was felt in Washington, where the Pentagon and US Capitol were evacuated, as well as in New York. The National Cathedral was damaged and the Washington Monument closed. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

(CNN) -- Syrian dissidents have formed a national council to lead the opposition to Bashar al-Assad's regime, opposition members meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, said Tuesday. This appears to be one of several opposition movements and parties claiming to represent the Syrian opposition inside and outside Syria. The creation of the council came as Libya's National Transitional Council is primed to take the reins of power from the Moammar Gadhafi regime.