Castro to keep his state and university distinctions

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has an honorary doctor's degree from Prague's prestigious Charles University, and although the current university leadership would like to strip him of the title it is unable to do so, according to the daily Lidove Noviny. Fidel Castro received the honorary doctor's degree in 1972 during an official visit to then communist Czechoslovakia and Czech law does not present a means of stripping him of the title. According to the paper Charles University has stopped granting honorary doctorates to living politicians in order to avoid similar problems in the future. The Cuban leader was also honoured with the highest Czech state distinction - the Order of the White Lion.