Castros' 60-yr-rule in Cuba nears end, V-P to be Prez

Havana: Cuba’s National Assembly on Wednesday began a historic two-day meeting to elect a successor to President Raul Castro, who steps down Thursday, passing the baton to a new generation in a transition that brings to a close the Castro brothers’ six-decade grip on power.

“We have come a long way so that our children, those of the present and those of the future, will be happy,” Mr Castro, 86, said in one of his last speeches as the leader last month.

Assembly members are widely expected to vote in his successor of choice, first vice-president Miguel Diaz-Canel.