Mark Memmott

The dramatic scenes Tuesday of joy and looting at what was Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's main compound in Tripoli have again raised the prospect that "the war is almost over," NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reported on Morning Edition earlier today.

Hurricane Irene "continues to strengthen as it pounds the southeastern Bahamas," the National Hurricane Center reports, and "will likely become a major hurricane later today."

Irene is a "category two" hurricane at this moment. The Hurricane Center expects it will be upgraded to "category three," with winds of more than 111 mph, today.

We'll have more on each of these topics shortly, but first we want to quickly pass on the main headlines related to the day's three major stories:

-- Libya: "From Hiding, Gadhafi Tells Libyans To Free Tripoli."

We have to confess we didn't know that for decades, scientists have been trying to find the "parent yeast" that makes lager beer possible.

Apparently they were.

And now, they may have an answer: Beech forests in Argentina.

"The largest earthquake to strike Colorado in almost 40 years" shook buildings but apparently caused little damage late last night, Denver's ABC 7 News reports. A few homes may have been damaged and some rock slides were reported.

It was a 5.3 magnitude temblor and the epicenter was "about 180 miles south of Denver."