Cuban President Raul Castro to retire in 2018

Cuban President Raul Castro has said he will stand down at the end of his second term in 2018, following his re-election by the National Assembly.

Mr Castro, 81, formally assumed the presidency in 2008 - two years after replacing his ailing brother Fidel.

The Communist assembly, whose members ran for office unopposed, also chose Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez as Mr Castro's first vice-president.

Mr Diaz-Canel, 52, is widely seen as Raul Castro's successor.

On Sunday 86-year-old Fidel Castro - who was in power for five decades - made a rare public appearance at the opening session of the assembly in the capital Havana.

The Castros have been running Cuba under a one-party system since the 1959 revolution, which ousted the US-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.