The Stars and Stripes rose today over the newly opened US embassy in Havana for the first time in 54 years, marking a symbolically charged victory lap for the Obama administration's new policy of engagement with Cuba. It's "a day for pushing aside old barriers and exploring new possibilities," said John Kerry at the ceremony. Hundreds of Cubans gathered outside the embassy for what they universally called a historic day, and Cuban TV carried the event live. (Read how a secret pregnancy nearly threw a wrench into US-Cuba talks.)