AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

China’s Xi strikes nationalistic tone in parliament address

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping struck a strongly nationalistic tone in his closing address Tuesday to the annual session of the ceremonial parliament at which term limits on his rule were abolished.

Speaking before the nearly 3,000 members of the National People’s Congress, Xi declared that the Chinese people were now “closer now than at any time in history to realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

“In the face of national righteousness and the tide of history, all attempts or tricks aimed at dividing the motherland are doomed to failure,” Xi said to loud applause. “All will receive the condemnation of the people and the punishment of history.”

The Chinese people, he said, are united in their belief that “every inch of our great motherland absolutely cannot and absolutely will not be separated from China.”

The session had approved a range of new appointments, including that of key Xi ally Wang Qishan as vice-president. New ministers were also appointed and a law passed establishing a powerful new anti-corruption body to oversee the civil service.

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Fear mounts in Austin as serial bomber uses tripwire

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The hunt for the serial bomber who has been leaving deadly explosives in packages on Austin doorsteps took a new, more sinister turn Monday when investigators said the fourth and latest blast was triggered along a street by a nearly invisible tripwire.

Police and federal agents said that suggests a “higher level of sophistication” than they have seen before, and means the carnage is now random, rather than targeted at someone in particular. Underscoring that point, a relative says the most-recent explosion left what appeared to be nails stuck in his grandson’s knees.

“The game went up a little bit — well, it went up a lot yesterday with the tripwire,” Christopher Combs, FBI agent in charge of the bureau’s San Antonio division, said in an interview.

Two people have now been killed and four wounded in bombings over a span of less than three weeks.

The latest happened Sunday night in southwest Austin’s quiet Travis Country neighbourhood, wounding two men in their 20s who were walking in the dark. They suffered what police said were significant injuries and remained hospitalized in stable condition.

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Scandal-hit Weinstein Co. files for bankruptcy protection

NEW YORK CITY (AP) — The Weinstein Co. filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday with a buyout offer in hand from a private equity firm, the latest twist in its efforts to survive the sexual misconduct scandal that brought down co-founder Harvey Weinstein, shook Hollywood and triggered a movement that spread out to convulse other industries.

The company also announced it was releasing any victims of or witnesses to Weinstein’s alleged misconduct from non-disclosure agreements preventing them from speaking out. That step had long been sought by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who filed a lawsuit against the company last month on behalf of its employees.

The Weinstein Co. said it has entered into a “stalking horse” agreement with an affiliate of Dallas-based Lantern Capital Partners as part of its bankruptcy protection filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. That means Lantern has agreed to buy the company, subject to approval from the court.

The company made the filing about two weeks after negotiations to sell the company to a group of investors fell apart. Lantern, which had been one of those investors, has now offered to buy most of the assets of the company and keep on its employees, the Weinstein Co. said.

Other bidders also could emerge, particularly those interested in the company’s lucrative 277-film library, which includes award-winning films from big-name directors like Quentin Tarantino and horror releases from its Dimension label. Free of liabilities, the company’s assets could increase in value in a bankruptcy.

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10 Things to Know for Tuesday

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Tuesday:

1. POLICE MAKE DIRECT APPEAL TO BOMBER

In the search for answers to a series of explosions in Austin, Texas, authorities have come ahead with a simple plea to whoever’s behind the blasts: Talk to us.

2. SELF-DRIVING UBER STRIKES, KILLS PEDESTRIAN

The fatality in a Phoenix suburb is the first involving a fully autonomous test vehicle, prompting the ride-hailing company to suspend all road-testing of such autos in the U.S. and Canada.

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Police assemble patchwork of clues in hunt for Austin bomber

NEW YORK (AP) — In the search for answers to a series of explosions in Texas, authorities have come ahead with a simple plea to whoever’s behind the blasts: Talk to us.

The Austin police chief’s direct appeal, complete with promises to listen to the bomber and try to understand the reasons, reflects the stubborn progress of the investigation in which there’s no known motivation and the ties between the victims are opaque at best. It may also represent a ploy to coax a response that could give clues or help police prepare for what might come next.

“It puts law enforcement and police in a down power dynamic and instills power on the person,” said Randall Rogan, a Wake Forest University professor who is an expert on forensic linguistic analysis and worked with the FBI on the Unabomber case. “It gives (perpetrators) a sense of satisfaction, of pride, of accomplishment, that they are in charge.”

An explosion on Sunday night was the fourth in Austin this month, and represented a stepped-up level of sophistication in the attack. Unlike the previous bombings, which involved packages left on doorsteps, the latest one was placed near a hiking trail and had a thin translucent tripwire like fishing line. Two people have died in the explosions and four others have been injured.

Hundreds of officers from multiple law enforcement agencies are on the case.

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Republicans tell Trump: Lay off Mueller _ but they don’t act

WASHINGTON (AP) — More Republicans are telling President Donald Trump in ever blunter terms to lay off his escalating criticism of special counsel Robert Mueller and the Russia probe. But party leaders are taking no action to protect Mueller, embracing a familiar strategy with the president — simply waiting out the storm.

Trump blistered Mueller and his investigation all weekend on Twitter and started in again Monday, questioning the probe’s legitimacy with language no recent president has used for a federal inquiry. “A total WITCH HUNT with massive conflicts of interest!” Trump tweeted.

Mueller is leading a criminal probe into whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign had ties to Russia and whether there has been obstruction of justice since then.

Trump was told to cut it out on Sunday by such notable Republicans as Trey Gowdy, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Then on Monday he was told that firing Mueller would be “the stupidest thing the president could do” by Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

But Hatch, on CNN, also said he didn’t see any need for legislation to protect Mueller. And that sentiment was widely echoed by GOP leaders.

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Self-driving vehicle strikes and kills pedestrian in Arizona

A self-driving Uber SUV struck and killed a pedestrian in suburban Phoenix in the first death involving a fully autonomous test vehicle — a crash that could have far-reaching consequences for the new technology.

The fatality Sunday night in Tempe was the event many in the auto and technology industries were dreading but knew was inevitable.

Uber immediately suspended all road-testing of such autos in the Phoenix area, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto. The testing has been going on for months as automakers and technology companies like the ride-hailing service compete to be the first with cars that operate on their own.

The Volvo was in self-driving mode with a human backup driver at the wheel when it hit 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg as she was walking a bicycle outside the lines of a crosswalk, police said. She died at a hospital.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi expressed condolences on his Twitter account and said the company is working with local law enforcement on the investigation.

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Quick court fight as Mississippi sets 15-week abortion ban

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi moved quickly toward a legal confrontation over the nation’s most restrictive abortion law Monday.

Within six hours, the governor signed a bill banning most abortions after 15 weeks of gestation, the state’s lone abortion clinic sued, and a federal judge set a Tuesday morning hearing to consider blocking the restrictions.

Abortion opponents sought the confrontation, hoping federal courts will ultimately prohibit abortions before a fetus is viable. Current federal law blocks such restrictions by states.

Some legal experts have said a change in the law is unlikely unless the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court changes in a way that favours abortion opponents.

Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed House Bill 1510 in a closed ceremony attended by legislative supporters and abortion opponents.

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How Facebook likes could profile voters for manipulation

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook “likes” can tell a lot about a person. Maybe even enough to fuel a voter-manipulation effort like the one a Trump-affiliated data-mining firm stands accused of — and which Facebook may have enabled.

The social network is under fire after The New York Times and The Guardian newspaper reported that former Trump campaign consultant Cambridge Analytica used data, including user likes, inappropriately obtained from roughly 50 million Facebook users to try to influence elections.

Monday was a wild roller coaster ride for Facebook, whose shares plunged 7 per cent in its worst one-day decline since 2014. Officials in the EU and the U.S. sought answers, while Britain’s information commissioner said she will seek a warrant to access Cambridge Analytica’s servers because the British firm had been “unco-operative” in her investigation. The first casualty of that investigation was an audit of Cambridge that Facebook had announced earlier in the day; the company said it “stood down” that effort at the request of British officials.

Adding to the turmoil, the New York Times reported that Facebook security chief Alex Stamos will step down by August following clashes over how aggressively Facebook should address its role in spreading disinformation. In a tweet , Stamos said he’s still fully engaged at Facebook but that his role has changed.

It would have been quieter had Facebook likes not turned out to be so revealing. Researchers in a 2013 study found that likes on hobbies, interests and other attributes can predict personal attributes such as sexual orientation and political affiliation. Computers analyze such data to look for patterns that might not be obvious, such as a link between a preference for curly fries and higher intelligence.

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Trump calls for death penalty to ‘get tough’ on drug pushers

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Embracing the tough penalties favoured by global strongmen, President Donald Trump on Monday brandished the death penalty as a fitting punishment for drug traffickers fueling the opioid epidemic.

The scourge has torn through the rural and working-class communities that in large numbers voted for Trump. And the president, though he has come under criticism for being slow to unveil his plan, has seized on harsh sentences as key to stopping the plague.

“Toughness is the thing that they most fear,” Trump said.

The president made his announcement in New Hampshire, a state hit hard by opioids and an early marker for the re-election campaign he has already announced. Trump called for broadening education and awareness about drug addiction while expanding access to proven treatment and recovery efforts. But the backbone of his plan is to toughen punishments for those caught trafficking highly addictive drugs.

“This isn’t about nice anymore,” Trump said. “This is about winning a very, very tough problem and if we don’t get very tough on these dealers it’s not going to happen folks. … I want to win this battle.”