Events at a Glance

SECURITY

Key lawmakers reached agreement on an air travel security bill that would put federal workers in charge of screening passengers and baggage at the nation’s airports, clearing the way for congressional passage of legislation that President Bush can sign before Thanksgiving.

MILITARY FRONT

Taliban forces in the Afghan cities of Kunduz and Kandahar dug in for what could be the regime’s last conventional battles; U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks said American troops were “tightening the noose” around Taliban leaders and their allies in the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

INVESTIGATION

Federal authorities said they have found no evidence indicating that any of the roughly 1,200 people arrested in the United States played a role in the Sept. 11 suicide hijacking plot.

RESCUE

Six women among the eight aid workers being held by the Taliban set fire to their burkas, the head-to-toe covering that Afghan women were required to wear, to help guide Special Forces rescue helicopters to the rendezvous site in Afghanistan.

BIN LADEN

U.S. intelligence and defense officials, caught off guard by the rapid collapse of Taliban control over much of Afghanistan, fear that Osama bin Laden, who they believe is still on the run, may try to flee the country before he can be captured or killed.