ANALYSIS

Years before leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales was elected to office in 2006, he chaired the country's coca growers union, a post which he was recently re-elected to and has held since 1996.

The late King Hussein of Jordan titled his autobiography ?Uneasy Lies the Head.? That could be the title Thorsten Heins, CEO of Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM), the ailing BlackBerry developer, could use for his book, too.

The Mughal empire, which at its peak ruled a vast expanse of territory from Bengal in the east to Baluchistan in the west, was deeply influenced by Persian culture and especially its poetry.

North Korea's now got its own version of the loveable Disney pantheon, but the phenomenon is revealing of much more than Americanization across the globe.

Libya?s new ?liberal? government may distance itself from the West and from NATO, which helped rebels free the country from Moammar Gadhafi.

Widespread poverty, an under-educated populace, underpaid police, extensive criminal gangs, vigilante justice, lynchings and corrupt politicians all conspire to make rural Bihar a dangerous place.

Russia isn't the first place that comes to mind when thinking of free speech, but that's exactly where the second World Media Summit was held. Attendees including BBC and CNN heard about a free press from Vladimir Putin, and about world harmony from the North Koreans.

The Beatles and Rolling Stones were inadvertently stepping into a vacuum ? the biggest rock star in the world, Elvis Presley, was inducted into the army in 1962.

Many small businesses have been paying nearly twice the amount for half the health care benefits that they are entitled to provide their employees. However, under the new health care mandate, health insurance will be more affordable for small companies.

Even the president of South Sudan recognizes that true independence has not been achieved, but China and Japan may help change that.

As investors await second-quarter earnings from leading technology companies, several warning signs indicate that save for special cases, it won?t be a blow-out.

With the government failing to step in to resolve the dispute -- as it has done three times since 2007 -- Statoil, BP and Eni are preparing to instigate a full closure of output at midnight on Monday, cutting off more than 2 million barrels of oil, natural gas liquids and condensate per day.

BlackBerry developer Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) values its intellectual property at $3.37 billion, or nearly 85 percent of the value of the entire company.

The long-anticipated showdown between Egypt's military and its new president -- the Muslim Brotherhood's Muhammad Morsi -- has opened, with Morsi, the SCAF and the Supreme Court heading into a three-way contest.

Scranton, Pa., Mayor Chris Doherty is in a deadlock with the city council and public-employee unions over budgetary issues. Unfortunately, 400 workers are having trouble paying their bills because of the blame game.

The sand is running out of the hourglass for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday. Her words speak to the recent intensification of the standoff between Western powers and the Syrian regime.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Shah of Iran were solidly supported by the U.S., Israel, and Western Europe -- a scenario that outraged much of the populace in each country and exacerbated festering resentments.

If defected Syrian regime official Manaf Tlas goes to Paris, it would be in line with a growing trend of bonhomie between Syrian opposition activists and the City of Light.

Even though Rinehart's fortune is now more than ten times that of Oprah Winfrey, few outside her native Australia have ever heard of her.

If there is one reliable trend in Venezuela, it would appear to be a steadily rising murder rate. Violent crime in general -- whether it be homicide, robbery, kidnapping or assault -- is already a glaring problem in the oil-rich, Socialist-led South American nation, and as it continues to grow it will only further entrench itself as an imperative issue in the upcoming presidential elections in October.

Although Friday's closely watched June jobs report missed expectations, analysts are looking on the bright side: Income and hours worked both rose and the country's job market is still growing, despite global turmoil.

The current situation in Libya means that there is no clear best choice for Libya's 2.7 million registered voters.

Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), the No. 1 e-retailer, could be on the verge of selling its own smartphones which would be made by the same Taiwanese contractor used by Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, reports said.

What does a summer estate in the French countryside have to do with a dilapidated slum on the outskirts of Paris? More than you'd think, as it turns out.

Since its May 17 pricing at $38 a share, the stunning collapse in the value of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) the No. 1 social networking site has made history ? for its sheer size and magnitude.The IPO market remains weak.

A major study released by Japan's first-ever independent commission appointed by Parliament says the nuclear disaster was ultimately caused by government-business collusion but lays blame on Japan's society as well.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, may introduce a smaller version of the iPad to compete with products from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), the No. 1 search engine, and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), the No. 1 e-retailer and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), reports said.

U.S. mortgage interest rates for 30-year, fixed loans are at/near 40-year lows. Further, while there's nothing like owning a home, for several reasons 'this is not your father's housing market.' There are pitfalls and pratfalls, and prospective buyers would be wise to review these five tips before taking the plunge.

Neither sanctuaries nor moratoriums have stopped Japanese crews from killing hundreds of whales every year in the waters surrounding Antarctica.