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TOKYO -- Aguri Suzuki, a 44-year-old real estate agent, says she sometimes thinks the ground is shaking even when it is not. When she sees a tree branch swaying in the wind, she worries there has been an earthquake. Doctors here say they are seeing more people who are experiencing such phantom quakes, as well as other symptoms of ''earthquake sickness'' like dizziness and anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global economic downturn, and efforts to reverse it, will probably make China an even stronger economic competitor than it was before the crisis. China, the world's third-largest economy behind the United States and Japan, had already become more assertive; now it is exploiting its unusual position as a country with piles of cash and a strong banking system, at a time when many countries have neither, to acquire natural resources and make new friends. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]