Obama administration punches new holes in embargo on Cuba (Yahoo Sports)

The Obama administration punched a new series of holes in the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba on Tuesday, turning a ban on U.S. tourism to Cuba into an unenforceable honor system and paving the way for Cuban athletes to one day play Major League Baseball and other U.S. professional sports. Five days ahead of the first presidential trip to Havana in nearly 90 years, the U.S. also eliminated a ban on Cuban access to the international banking system. The inability to send or receive payments that passed even momentarily through the U.S. banking system had crippled the country's ability to trade with third countries and became a major hindrance to the U.S. attempt to normalize relations with Cuba.