For Beijing, the real danger never came from the distant and sparse Tibetan plateau but from a lesser known but far more disaffected region: China's restive Muslim provinces, says a Daily Telegraph Leader. The Uighurs of Xinjiang in the far north west have long complained of religious and political oppression under nearly six decades of Chinese Communist rule. Numbering around eight million, they have recently been the target of infiltration and agitation by al-Qaeda and extremist groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir. The latest attack has put Beijing on full alert. The Olympics will go ahead with panache. But beneath the glitter lurk ingredients all too common nowadays: worry, a security alert and overreaction.  Leader Daily Telegraph
Full article: Delicate China
Joseph Mackertich: Seven ways it could still go wrong for China

We all knew that Beijing was going to go big on the Olympic Games, writes Jim White. But no one can have expected this, the manner in which a gigantic city of some 17 million inhabitants has given itself over so completely to a sporting event. This is about commerce, not nationalism. There is nothing Chinese detectable anywhere. The place has been transformed from the capital of the world's most populous country into the epicentre of Olympic World, another planet entirely. Until you come here and experience this monolith in action, you have no idea how all-consuming the Olympic Games are. They cast a shadow so long it blanks out all available light. For those of us visiting from Britain, this comes with a tinge of alarm. It is, after all, our turn next.   Jim White Daily Telegraph
Full article: The Games: Beijing's on another planet

It seems that the Blairites have decided that they have had enough of Gordon Brown and are planning a leadership challenge led by the young David Miliband, says Clare Short. They have obviously lost control of their senses. The first problem is that most normal people have never heard of David Miliband. Those who want to save Labour from a dreadful result in 2010 need to look at the reality rather than their own propaganda. Blairism was a failure. Brown's problem is that he doesn't have the guts to return to his social democratic roots. David Miliband will not become the leader. The system makes a challenge almost impossible. The Blairites have learned no lessons from Blair's failure and have made no policy proposals. They are simply creating division and bitterness that will make the Labour defeat even worse.    Clare Short The Independent
Full article: How can Miliband be the answer to Labour’s ills?

The Tory leader and the Shadow Chancellor are friends and political soul mates but when it comes to policy on marriage they could be heading for a messy divorce, says Rachel Sylvester. Cameron wants to create a new version of the married couples allowance that Labour scrapped. Mr Osborne disagrees. For him, it is not the State's job to tell people how to live their lives. He is concerned that the Tories will alienate voters if they appear to stigmatise single mothers and cohabiting couples. This is partly to do with their backgrounds: Mr Cameron's mother was a magistrate in rural Berkshire and a traditional Tory, Mr Osborne's mother ran a deli in West London and went on protest marches. The Conservative leader is also a regular churchgoer.   Rachel Sylvester The Times
Full article: Marriage is a divorcing issue for the Tories

Solzhenitsyn was among those cultural luminaries who helped Russia re-emerge as a state from the ruins of the Soviet Union, says Mary Dejevsky. His work fostered not only a sense of continuity, but a sense of conscience. It supplied many of the less edifying chapters edited out of the country's fractured past. Today's Russia is sceptical of the very 19th-century brand of Russian exceptionalism that distinguished his thinking. To this extent, Solzhenitsyn had outlived his age. When he died, on his estate outside Moscow, Solzhenitsyn was culturally back on his country's margins - probably where he would most like to be.     Mary Dejevsky The Independent
Full article: Farewell to the keeper of Russia’s conscience