BREAKING NEWS

Obama initiates new measures to ease restrictions on Cuba

Americans traveling to Cuba will be allowed to bring home more of the communist-ruled island's coveted cigars and rum under new measures announced by the US government on Friday to further ease trade, travel and financial restrictions that have been in place for decades.

Cuba welcomed the steps, part of President Barack Obama's effort to make his historic opening to Cuba "irreversible" by the time he leaves office in January, but said they did not go far enough.

The latest in a series of new rules since the former Cold War foes began normalizing relations in 2014 will allow Cubans to buy certain US consumer goods online, open the door for Cuban pharmaceutical companies to do business in the United States and let Cubans and Americans do joint medical research.