U.S. BARS CHINESE OFFICIALS

The Trump administration on Tuesday slapped travel bans on Chinese officials involved in a massive crackdown against Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in its west.

The State Department said it would not issue visas to Chinese government and Communist Party officials believed to be responsible for or complicit in mass detentions and abuses in western Xinjiang province.

Johnson & Johnson, Risperdal maker hit with $8B verdict.

DELPHIA» A Philadelphia jury on Tuesday awarded $8 billion in punitive damages against Johnson & Johnson and one if its subsidiaries over a drug the companies made that the plaintiff’s attorneys say is linked to the abnormal growth of female breast tissue in boys.

Johnson and Johnson immediately denounced the award after the jury’s decision in the Court of Common pleas, saying it’s “excessive and unfounded” and vowing immediate action to overturn it.

The antipsychotic drug Risperdal is at the center of the lawsuit, with the plaintiff’s attorneys arguing it’s linked to abnormal growth of female breast tissue in boys, an incurable condition known as gynecomastia.

Democratic presidential debate scheduled for Nov. 20.

W ASHING

The fifth Democratic presidential debate has been scheduled for Nov. 20 in Georgia.

The Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday that the debate will be hosted by The Washington Post and MSNBC.

Trump’s rally on despite costs dispute.

MINNEAPOLIS» President Donald Trump’s campaign said a rally in Minneapolis will go ahead as planned on Thursday after it threatened a lawsuit over the city’s effort to recover $530,000 in security costs.

The campaign said the city sent the security cost estimate to the Target Center’s operator, AEG Management, which threatened to cancel its contract to host the rally if the costs weren’t covered.

Later Tuesday, the Trump campaign said in a statement that the operators of the Target Center had backed off canceling the contract, with no agreement by the campaign to pay additional money.

3 sexually transmitted diseases hit new highs.

ORK» U.S. infections

NE WY from three sexually transmitted diseases have risen for the fifth consecutive year.

More than 1.7 million cases of chlamydia were reported last year, up 3%. The infection rate rose 3% from 2017.

About 580,000 gonorrhea cases were reported. That’s the highest number since 1991. The rate rose 5%. Scientists worry that antibiotic resistance may be a factor.

And the syphilis rate rose 15%. About 35,000 cases of the most contagious forms of the disease were reported — also the most since 1991.