FIDEL CASTRO'S SON KILLS HIMSELF

The late Cuban leader, Fidel Castro's oldest son killed himself on Thursday after months of treatment for depression, reported state media. He was 68.

The official website Cubadebate said that Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart had been in a "deeply depressed state". A brief note read on state television said his treatment had "required an initial hospitalisation then outpatient follow-up".

Known for his resemblance to his father, Fidel Castro – Cuba's late revolutionary leader, Castro Diaz-Balart earned himself the nickname 'Fidelito' or Little Fidel.

Castro Diaz-Balart studied nuclear physics in the former Soviet Union and served as scientific adviser to the Council of State. He was vice president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences and previously led Cuba's nuclear programme.

He was born to Fidel Castro's first wife, Mirta Diaz-Balart, a Cuban woman who Fidel married in his youth before beginning the revolutionary struggle that later brought him and his brother Raul to power. Because of Fidel's maternal lineage, Castro Diaz-Balart is the cousin to US Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, who represents Cuban exiles in Florida.

Fidel Castro, the father, died in November 2016 at the age of 90.