again tonight we have two big breaking stories. one is hurricane irene now officially a major storm. the view here from space it is huge. category 3 and getting stronger this hour. now pointed straight at the carolinas and threatening the entire northeastern seaboard. we ll have a lot of details about that tonight. the other breaking story, of course, libya and the hunt for gadhafi. the opposition s already got his cap. this guy took it out of his palace. now they want that head that goes with it and they re willing to pay. $2.5 million for the dictator dead or alive, they say. one of his sons still at large is sending e-mails to our nick robertson. nick just got another one a few minutes ago and he joins us shortly. in the meantime, heavy fighting today in tripoli. take a look. this is from the capital s eastern neighborhoods, not far from the airport. the field in opposition hands but still taking heavy shell, from loyalist fighters nearby, some of it just within the la
broker a ceasefire. meantime, a bombshell in the business world to tell you about. steve jobs steps aside as apple s ceo. we ll hear who s in line to replace the long-time leader. and hurricane irene batters the dominican republic, is over the bahamas and is heading towards the united states. full coverage of all these stories is straight ahead. captions by vitac battles, bounty and an offer to broker a ceasefire. we begin this hour with developments from libya. fighting continues to rage in the capital as rebels take on pockets of resistance. gunfire can be heard in the streets. clearly intense scenes playing out there. among the hot spots, the tripoli airport which has seen some of the most intense fighting. rebels are in control there, but they re now fighting gadhafi loyalists just east of it. one thing we re not seeing, any sign of this man, muammar gadhafi. but a benghazi businessman is hoping to change that. he s offered a $2.5 million bounty. and now one
battle to the compound of moammar gadhafi, pushing inside and knocking over statues of the long-time libyan leader. making off with weapons but finding no sign of him or his family. the reuters news agency reports that gadhafi has been heard on a local radio station. now according to reuters in his radio address gadhafi says his withdrawal from the compound was a tactical move. his location is still not known as we ve said. meantime, pockets of fighting remain, including at tripoli s airport. that s where cnn s arwa damon has been reporting. rebels took over the airport monday but it is still a target for loyalist troops. and international journalists are trapped in the rixos hotel in the libyan capital. the journalists including our own matthew chance, remain virtual prisoners being held by troops loyal to gadhafi. cnn s sara sidner was right in the middle of all the the chaos at that gadhafi compound. rebels invited her in as they swept through the complex. the late
i m nina dos santos. good afternoon from cnn hong kong. i m andrew streechbs. you re watching cnn s coverage of the battle for libya s future. opposition leaders claim rebel forces now control 90% of libya. they also say think ooer planning to move some of their power base today from the eastern city of benghazi to the capital tripoli. meantime, the last vestiges of moammar gadhafi s power base appear to be crumbling. after hours of fighting, rebels finally over ran his heavily fortified compound on tuesday, carting out weapons, knocking over statues and raising their flag. there s no sign of colonel gadhafi at the compound nor anywhere else. but libya reportedly heard from its embattled leader in an audio broadcast directed to his supporters. his exact whereabouts remain unknown. residents turned out on tuesday to celebrate the rebel takeover of the gadhafi compound. the gadhafi loyalists still control libya s rixist hotel. they re preventing people from leaving it, incl
international calls for both factions and for him to step down. and over in libya, a critical battle may be the key to victory there. word now that rebels claimed control of brega. and helping rebels narrow in on gaddafi s strong hold in the capital of tripoli. the libyan dictator has seen his control shrink, the last weeks. jamie: there are questions back at home over the political fallout. did you see this bench clearing brawl on beijing s olympic arena between u.s. and china. during vice-president joe biden s visit, watch this.