US hits 8 Cuban officials with travel bans

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has slapped a travel ban on eight Cuban officials it says have been complicit in the repression of opposition protesters and other dissidents. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced visa restrictions on Thursday in a statement that condemned an ongoing crackdown on participants in demonstrations that began last July. The eight officials were not named, but Blinken said all of them are connected to the “detention, sentencing and imprisonment” of peaceful protesters. The U.S. says about 600 protesters across the communist island remain jailed after the July 11 protests despite appeals for their release.