● JERUSALEM POST Gay Pride event kicks off at Hebrew University stadium

As the hotly-contested Jerusalem?s Gay Pride event kicked off at Hebrew University?s Givat Ram Stadium, Jerusalem Police prevented some 50 gay activists who had gathered at the city?s Liberty Bell Park from holding a spontaneous march in the direction of the rally. Twenty of the activists were arrested after they refused to get on buses to the university. Also in Liberty Bell Park, clashes were reported between the activists and right-wing opponents of the march. Earlier, police detained a 14-year-old youth after he was caught in possession of spikes. Police suspected that the teen was intending to scatter the spikes on the roads leading to the Gay Pride event. In addition, some 30 sacks of sand were found in Kiryat Moshe, which police claimed protestors planned to use to block roads leading to the event. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem?s Sacher Park, five religious youths were caught in possession of brass knuckles, clubs, knives and a pistol. Police arrested the five, who were suspected of planning to violently disrupt the Gay Pride event.

● THE DAILY MIRROR 1,600 suspects 200 cells, 30 major terrorist plots

S top spy says more than 200 al-Qaeda cells are plotting at least 30 major attacks in the UK.The head of MI5 said her agents are tracking 1,600 fanatics, who may in future have biological, radioactive or even nuclear weapons.In a speech cleared by the Home Secretary, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller warned: «My officers and police are working to contend with some 200 networks, totalling over 1,600 identified individuals actively engaged in plotting terrorist acts here and overseas. And there will be many we don?t know, too.» She said MI5 was struggling to cope with an 80 per cent increase in workload since January leaving 2,800 case officers at full stretch. She also warned there are more than 10,000 British web users who regularly log on to UK-based extremist sites.In her speech to academics at the University of London, Dame Eliza said : «Killing oneself and others is an attractive option for some citizens. The threat is serious, is growing and will be with us for a generation. It is a sustained campaign. It aims to wear down our will to resist.» She added: «It is the youth being targeted, groomed, radicalised and set on a path that frighteningly quickly could end in mass murder of their fellow UK citizens ? or their early death in a suicide attack on a foreign battlefield.»

● THE INDIAN EXPRESS SRK is just plain yummy: Priyanka Chopra, Bollywood actress

Priyanka Chopra says she is a big fan of actor Shah Rukh Khan because «he inspires you to give your best» Chopra played Khan?s girlfriend in her latest movie Don, which was released last month. «He is just plain yummy,» Chopra told a movie magazine. «It took me a while to snap out of my fixation and treat him as a co-star.» Khan «just inspires you to give your best,» she said. «Even now, after so many years, he seems to be just a regular guy doing his job.»

● THE NEW YORK TIMES Concession in Virginia completes Midterm sweep

Democrats gained control of the Senate on Thursday, giving them a majority in both houses of Congress for the first time since 1994 and increased influence over President Bush?s policies at home and abroad, starting with the war in Iraq. The Democrats picked up the seat they needed to capture the Senate when the Republican incumbent in Virginia, George Allen, conceded to Jim Webb, his Democratic challenger, completing a broad realignment of power in Washington. Including two independents who align themselves with the Democrats, Democrats will have a 51-to-49 advantage in the new Senate.Within moments of Mr. Allen?s announcement, Democrats rallied outside the Capitol to celebrate their victory, cheering and chanting, while their leaders began planning how to proceed after a dozen years in which their only taste of power in Congress was when they controlled the Senate for a period in 2001 and 2002.«The election?s over,» said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who will be the new majority leader. «It?s time for a change.»Mr. Bush continued adapting to the new political climate by having lunch with Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, who stands on the cusp of becoming the first woman to serve as speaker of the House. He invited Mr. Reid to join him at breakfast at the White House yesterday.