Mr Son argues that, whoever runs the new fibre-optic network, improved internet access is a vital part of any plan to revive Japan’s stagnant economy.

Authorities are set to drain stagnant water by the end of the month which continues to submerge part of remote mountainous town in northwest China's Gansu Province.

Agriculture is stagnant in part because of a lack of the most rudimentary of roads to get to and from fields.