Zdanivsky turned to boosting when his spine was crushed in a car accident in 1994, because he didn't want the injury to curb his passion for mountain climbing.

BBC: Paralympic athletes who harm themselves to perform better

In the land of lifetime employment (at least for many workers in big companies), Mr Ghosn shocked Japan by announcing the closure of five factories employing over 16, 000 people in Japan alone, cutting capacity by 30% to bring it more into line with sales and boosting utilisation rates to around the 75-80% rates at which car makers begin to make money.

ECONOMIST: On the rocky road to marriage | The

After one has made every last power plant, jet engine, assembly line and car as efficient as they can possibly be given today's technology, one either hopes for an energy-boosting technological miracle or else starts restructuring the economy.

WSJ: Joseph Sternberg: All the Hot Air in China