Martin Jacques, author of "When China Rules the World," and columnist for the Guardian and New Statesman offers three building blocks for understanding the rise of China.
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• Residents in Suining, Sichuan Province have discovered a previously unseen animal that has been named the 'Chinese Chupacabra' by the People's Daily. A cross between a hairless badger and a dog, the County Forestry Department is currently doing further investigations on this animal. [Go Chengdoo]
• Officials warn that the droughts affecting Southwest China are to become more severe. So far the drought has left 24.25 million people and 15.84 million farm animals short of water. Liu Ning, vice-minister of water resources, has noted that the drought looks to be spreading into areas of Northern China. [China.org]
• Hong Kong is jumping onto the green bandwagon as top financial leaders call for action to be taken against the unhealthily high levels of air pollution in the city. Comments came after pollution levels were calculated as being double that of the previous year. [New York Times]

• There aren't many of them still alive, but China still has women who went through and are willing to talk about “lotus feet,” that hundreds-year-old tradition of warping women's feet that was thankfully abolished after the revolution. [Wall Street Journal]
• Paul French talks to author Martin Jacques, who recently published the book When China Rules the World, about Chinese investment and business in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere, as well as the future of Sino-US relations. [China Rhyming]
• China will finally begin separating suspects arrested for minor offenses from violent criminals as it announces possible reforms to its detention system. The fact that they didn't before gives us the most unimaginable chills. [Time]