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Rescuers in China were still finding survivors as they braved strong aftershocks and landslides Friday, days after a massive earthquake devastated parts of southwest Sichuan province. The death toll from the country's worst quake in decades stood at more than 21,500, and President Hu Jintao made his first tour of the affected areas.

General Motors is closing four plants in North America, a move prompted by soaring gas prices and slumping sales of sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks. At the same time, GM plans a new emphasis on compact cars and is reviewing the future of the Hummer.

Claude Knobler hoped to have a Hollywood career. Instead, he ended up delivering singing telegrams in a gorilla suit, working as a private eye and being a stay-at-home dad. Though it's a less sensible life than he had imagined, Knobler has learned to love life's ridiculousness.

Two medical devices aimed at treating depression are up for review this week by the Food and Drug Administration: Transcranial magnetic stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation.

Smart elevators are designed to transform the simple act of traveling between floors in a building. With fewer stops, passengers arrive at their destinations more quickly. But they can also take a little getting used to.

The FBI reports violent crime rose across the country in the first half of 2006, the second straight annual increase. Particularly disturbing to police officers and those who study crime is the sharp increase in murders and robberies.

City buses in Atlanta are now wrapped in ads that glow in the dark. The military developed the technology, which has been used with road crews, on billboards and now on city bus campaigns.

Another large group of National Guard members leaves Southern California on Monday, bound for a one-year tour of duty in Iraq. Meanwhile, a new report says war deployments are taking their toll on Guard units nationwide.

President Bush meets with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Sao Paolo, where the two leaders promoted a new partnership to push for more production of ethanol. But they also acknowledged they've hit some rough spots in talks over trade.

Even though Toyota is on track to surpass General Motors as the world's biggest car company, managers aren't necessarily jubilant. Toyota's success does not mean it has stopped looking for new ways to make production better and more efficient.