The US has loosened Cuba travel and trade restrictions starting with January 16, US officials say.
Measures include allowing US citizens to use credit cards in Cuba and for US businesses to export some technologies.
Americans will be able to take home up to $100 in alcohol and tobacco from Cuba. Correspondents say it means the US ban on Cuban cigars is over.
The move comes after the US and Cuba countries agreed last month to restore diplomatic relations severed since 1961.
Although the latest moves put a large dent in the US trade embargo against Cuba, only Congress can lift it completely.
Earlier this week, US officials said Cuba had completed the release of 53 political prisoners agreed as part of the historic deal.
“Today’s announcement takes us one step closer to replacing out-of-date policies that were not working and puts in place a policy that helps promote political and economic freedom for the Cuban people,” said US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew in a statement.
Under the new regulations, US citizens will be allowed to travel to Cuba for any of a dozen specific reasons without first obtaining a special license from the US government.
US credit and debit cards can be used there and there will be no more limits on how much money US citizens can spend in Cuba each day.
US companies will also find it easier to export mobile phones and software to Cuba, as well as provide internet services there.
A change in the regulations will also allow US investments in some small businesses and agricultural operations.
The thaw in relations between the two countries was announced last month in simultaneous televised speeches by President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro.
Later this month, US Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson will lead a delegation to Cuba to discuss migration issues.
They will be the first high-level talks since the easing of relations was announced.
US trade sanctions have led game maker Blizzard to cut off access to World of Warcraft (Wow) in Iran.
Blizzard posted a statement to its player-forum site after hundreds of Iranian players said they had lost access to the game.
Access was lost recently, it said, because it had “tightened up its procedures” to comply with sanctions.
This also meant, said Blizzard, that it could not give refunds to players or transfer their accounts.
The problem for Iranians came to light late last week as hundreds of players in the country posted messages to Blizzard’s European Battle.net forums complaining they could no longer access the game.
US trade sanctions have led game maker Blizzard to cut off access to World of Warcraft (Wow) in Iran
Many of those posting messages said they could not connect directly to World of Warcraft but could get access when they used a proxy server outside Iran.
The outpouring of complaints led Blizzard to post a statement explaining what had happened.
The statement said US economic sanctions and trade restrictions meant it could not do business with people living in certain nations. One of which was Iran.
“This week, Blizzard tightened up its procedures to ensure compliance with these laws, and players connecting from the affected nations are restricted from access to Blizzard games and services,” read the statement.
Unfortunately, said Blizzard, the same sanctions meant it could not give refunds to players in Iran or help them move their account elsewhere.
“We apologize for any inconvenience this causes and will happily lift these restrictions as soon as US law allows,” it added.
Although the block on Wow has been imposed by Blizzard, other reports suggest a wider government ban might have been imposed.
Players of Wow and other games, including Guild Wars, said when they had tried to log in they had been redirected to a page saying the connection had been blocked because the games promoted “superstition and mythology”.
Blizzard said it had no information about Iranian government action against online games.
