House vote fails to override Trump's border emergency

March 26 (UPI) – President Donald Trump's first veto will stand after House Democrats failed to override it Tuesday, meaning the national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border stays and will allow the government to divert money to build a wall. The chamber needed 290 votes to override the veto, but got just 248 – well short of a two-thirds majority. Three lawmakers didn't vote and 14 Republicans voted to overturn Trump's veto.

The vote is a victory for Trump, who can now proceed with reallocating billions of dollars in funding for a wall at the border. The House and Senate passed a resolution to end Trump's national emergency declaration, saying his attempt to bypass Congress is unconstitutional. The vote came a day after the Defense Department authorized more than $1 billion in transferred funds to begin building parts of the wall. The showdown over wall funding led to the 35-day federal shutdown. Realizing Congress wouldn't pass a bill that included border money, Trump declared the emergency. Missouri Rep. Sam Graves backs Trump's declaration, saying the border crisis should have been dealt with years ago. "We can and we must do more to slow the flow of illegal drugs into this country," he said.

Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio said the wall will require eminent domain, and noted that drug smugglers use drones, catapults and tunnels to get around walls. He wants more technology at ports of entry. Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro said he's concerned the emergency sets a precedent for future presidents to circumvent Congress. "What we have here is an act of constitutional vandalism. An executive trying to steal the power of the purse away from the Congress," Castro said. "Even those who agree with the wall should agree that this is not the way to do it." Arizona Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick said military bases in her district will lose some funding as a result, because money will be reallocated. "I'm here to say, 'No way,"' Kirkpatrick said Tuesday. "We don't want the expensive or ineffective wall. We want out military bases funded. I will continue to take actions to block this brutal decisions." The commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, Gen. Robert Neller, warned the Trump administration that shuffling funds poses an "unacceptable risk to Marine Corps combat readiness and solvency."

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/03/26/House-vote-fails-to-override-Trumps-border-emergency/3061553616467/

Police look at possible tie between New Zealand shooting, Austria

March 26 (UPI) – Authorities are looking for a possible connection between this month's shooting attack at two New Zealand mosques and an Austrian man. Fifty people were killed in the March 15 attack at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Police named the gunman as Australian Brendan Tarrant.

The Austrian man, Martin Sellner, said his home has been searched – and noted that his Identitarian Movement received a donation from Tarrant before the attack. Sellner said he was attempting to contact his attorney about the donation when Austrian authorities arrived and took several electronic devices. The Identitarian Movement is considered a far-right and white nationalist movement. Sellner denied any connection with Tarrant or the shooting and said he "had nothing to do with the attack." He added that he would donate the money allegedly donated by Tarrant to charity.

Austrian Interior Ministry Christoph Poelzl acknowledged the country's domestic intelligence agency searched Sellner's property in Vienna at the request of prosecutors. "Any connection between the Christchurch attacker and members of the Identitarians in Austria needs to be comprehensively and ruthlessly investigated," Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz tweeted. "It is important that the independent justice system can use all necessary means and resources to conduct its investigation together with the security services and expose these networks. There needs to be total clarity about all extremist activities," Kurz said.

Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, called for a detailed inquiry for connections to the Christchurch shooting. "All suspicions of extremism are acted upon, whether they are right, left or religiously motivated," Strache wrote on Twitter. "Fanaticism has no place in our society."

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2019/03/26/Police-look-at-possible-tie-between-New-Zealand-shooting-Austria/9831553616238/

Former longtime fugitive of Italian justice admits murders

Cesare Battisti, extradited from Bolivia to Italy in January, has admitted committing politically motivated murders in the 1970s, the Italian press reported. His extradition ended decades of being a fugitive of justice as he continued to deny he was responsible. "It was a war. Now I ask the victim's families' pardon," said 64-year-old Battisti, a former extremist, Italy's La Repubblica newspaper reported Monday.

Battisti admitted during questioning by officials that he was the the primary perpetrator of two murders and also assisted in two others, La Repubblica said. Battisti refused to cooperate with authorities, did not name other people involved and cannot qualify for benefits for those who repent. He also confessed to other crimes committed while he was a member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism during the 1970s in Italy – a period marked by political violence. Previously, Battisti only admitted participation in a left-wing political organization as a youngster.

Italian authorities in January took custody of Battisti from Bolivia to begin serving a life sentence to begin serving a life sentence after his capture. Battisti had been sentenced in absentia for four homicides in the 1970s. For several years, he dodged the Italian justice by living in countries including Brazil and France, where authorities allowed him for years to set up residence. He dedicated himself to activities that included writing crime novels and working as real estate broker.

Adriano Sabadin, who was 16 years old when his father, a far-right militant and butcher, was killed by the Armed Proletarian Group, told La Repubblica that "the word pardon is not in my vocabulary."

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2019/03/25/Former-longtime-fugitive-of-Italian-justice-admits-murders/8961553532568/