Other moves included scrapping extraordinary powers granted to the president, limiting his stay in office to two consecutive five-year terms and promoting small- and medium-scale enterprises.

CNN: 'LIKE TALKING TO A WALL'

Abdul Gayoom, president of the tiny island republic of the Maldives, has been in office since November 1978 and has been elected again for a fifth consecutive five-year term.

ECONOMIST: Letters

In his speech then, Raul Castro said the limit of two consecutive five-year terms would apply to "the current president of the Council of State and his ministers" - a reference to himself.

BBC: Cuba President Raul Castro seeks term limits on leaders

Google's average price for search ads has fallen from the previous year in five consecutive quarters, largely because marketing on mobile devices hasn't proven it can be as fruitful as on personal computers.

NPR: Yahoo Taps Into Google's Ad Network, Expertise

The struggling smartphone maker has seen its BlackBerry unit sales fall year-over-year for the last five consecutive quarters.

FORBES: RIM On The Rebound As BB10 Nearing Launch Gives Investors Hope

The international division clearly is Wal-Mart's growth engine, now that sales at U.S. stores open at least a year have fallen for five consecutive quarters.

WSJ: Wal-Mart Bids $4.6 Billion for South Africa's Massmart

The team is averaging 25, 363 fans a game this season, 12, 000 fewer than five years ago, and are currently headed for their fifth consecutive year of declining attendance.

FORBES: Purchase Of Astros By Crane Will Rely Heavily On Debt

While this quintessential luxury brand faced a more challenging environment, Mercedes still managed to emerge from the recession with renewed momentum, launching five new models and building share of market, as it is looking to its 14th consecutive year of sales growth in 2011.

FORBES: Mercedes' Steve Cannon On Repositioning A Luxury Brand During The Recession

Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff concluded that when countries carry debt of more than 90% of GDP for five or more consecutive years, economic growth gets chopped down by more than a whole percentage point each year for decades.

CNN: Cuts too deep? No, not deep enough