Aside from all the Olympic updates today, the most eye-grabbing headline was at the bottom of the Morning Post: another vicious police attack in Xinjiang. Apparently, two armed suspects drove a dump truck into exercising officers, then jumped out of the vehicle and began to stab them with knives. They also tried to bomb the barracks in the station with homemade grenades and failed. It is the most serious attack on China for the past 10 years. Two citizens intentionally attack a border patrol station, and their goal wasn’t just 16 soldiers. It was the whole station.

Front Page Story

The front picture shows the importance of every day citizens. As you can see, every street vendor in Beijing has volunteered to be a part of security patrol. One million security volunteers in total. Never underestimate the power of the people.

Other headlines today

• The Olympic stadiums will open two hours earlier to accommodate all the security checks. The Chinese Olympic committee also released the dos and don’ts of the Olympic audience. Just sit tight and roll your eyes, otherwise you might have a problem.

• Shanghai will close all shops in the subway stations. Some 1,000 shops in 70 stations are targeted for closure. Good for security, bad for the owners of the shop who will receive zero compensation for their losses.

• The list of all the 841 torch bearers in Beijing has been announced. Yao Ming is among the lucky ones selected. Even better for him, this does not exclude him to being one of the possible candidates to light the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony. It pays to be the most popular sports star in China.

• The main theme song for the Olympics is still a secret three days before the start of the Games. Singers like Sarah Brightman have arrived in Beijing for a chance to be the top star of Olympics Beijing 2008.
  

• Even the music played in the background of the award ceremony gets a mention today. It will be composed by Tan Dun, music director for the film ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’. Expect to hear something classical, traditional, very Chinese and cool.

• Weather is really nice for this summer. The second consecutive summer I have been in Shanghai. I believe it would be an accurate statement if I said it is better than last year. Well, enjoy. High today of 35 degrees.

Zaobao! Zabao! is a daily article by Li Yizhong that translates and puts into brief perspective the headlines of the Shanghai Morning Post's daily newspaper. Read more of his work on the Zaobao! Zaobao! blog.