When Raúl Castro steps down as president in April, he will hand his successor the unfinished task of reforming the economy -- Cuba’s most urgent and increasingly controversial challenge.

HAVANA, April 19: A 57-year-old bureaucrat will take Raul Castro’s place as the president of Cuba on Thursday as a government led by a single family for six decades tries to ensure the long-term survival of one of the world’s last communist states.

HAVANA, September 9: Hurricane Irma walloped Cuba’s northern coast on Saturday as a Category 5 storm, as millions of Florida residents were ordered to evacuate after the storm killed 21 people in the eastern Caribbean and left catastrophic destruction in its wake.

The son of a wealthy landowner, Fidel Castro turned his back on a life of privilege to lead a left-wing revolution in Cuba that endured for decades and was shaped by his political cunning, keen sense of destiny and boundless ego.

Factbox: Facts about Cuba's Fidel Castro

November 26, 2016 14:15 pm

The following are some facts about former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

HAVANA, Nov 26:  Former President Fidel Castro, who led a rebel army to improbable victory in Cuba, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 U.S. presidents during his half century rule, has died at age 90.