Pope Francis supports crackdown on US nuns

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says Pope Francis supports the Holy See's crackdown on the largest umbrella group of U.S. nuns, who were faulted for focusing too much on social justice instead of issues such as abortion.

American sisters had expressed hope that Francis, a Jesuit whose emphasis on the poor mirrored their social outreach, would take a different approach than his predecessor.

The Vatican last year imposed a reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious after determining the sisters took positions undermining Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality while promoting "radical feminist themes."

The heads of the conference met Monday with the Vatican's doctrine czar, Archbishop Gerhard Mueller. Mueller's office said he told the sisters that in discussions with Francis, the pope reaffirmed the Vatican's findings and reform program.

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Britain's PM Cameron unveils sweeping immigration crackdown

By Andrew Osborn

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron will unveil a sweeping immigration crackdown on Monday aimed at discouraging migrants from Romania and Bulgaria from moving to Britain when EU restrictions on their right to travel and work there expire next year.

Under his plans, access to Britain's National Health Service will be curbed, new migrants will have to wait up to five years for social housing, fines for employers who hire illegal workers will be doubled, and landlords who let to illegal immigrants could face fines too.

The lifting of European Union freedom of movement restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians has triggered warnings in the right-leaning press of "hordes" of welfare-hungry migrants descending on Britain at a time when the economy is stagnant and public resources are being squeezed.

Cameron's initiative reflects a change in the political mainstream after years of politicians shying away from the issue. All three main parties now talk tough on immigration after polls showed it had become one of voters' main worries ahead of a 2015 election and a once derided anti-immigration party surged in the polls.

In a speech that may stir controversy in Romania and Bulgaria, Cameron will say he wants to stop Britain's welfare system being "a soft touch" for migrants, saying that access to core public services is something newcomers should earn rather than automatically receive.

"Net migration needs to come down radically from hundreds of thousands a year to just tens of thousands," he will say, outlining measures that will apply to other EU nationals too.

The UK Independence Party or UKIP, has thrived in the polls after campaigning against "open-door" immigration, humiliating Cameron's ruling Conservative party in a vote for a parliamentary seat three weeks ago.

Cameron is expected to say: "While I have always believed in the benefits of immigration I have also always believed that immigration has to be properly controlled.

"As I have long argued, under the last government this simply wasn't the case. Immigration was far too high and badly out of control."

"SOMETHING FOR NOTHING CULTURE"

He will announce new measures to make it more difficult for nationals from the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes Romania and Bulgaria, to claim welfare benefits after six months. They will take effect in early 2014.

He will also promise to close a loophole that allows some people who have no right to work in Britain to claim benefits and subject newcomers to a much harder test to see if they are eligible for income-related benefits.

"Ending the something for nothing culture needs to apply to immigration as well as welfare. We're going to give migrants from the EEA a very clear message. Just like British citizens, there is no absolute right to unemployment benefit," he will say.

Under the plans, newcomers would also have to wait for up to five years before they could join a waiting list for social housing, and face "stricter charging" to use the health service or be obliged to have private health insurance.

"We should be clear that what we have is a free National Health Service, not a free International Health Service," Cameron will say.

His initiative has already been criticized by David Walker, the Bishop of Dudley, who told The Observer newspaper that politicians were exaggerating the immigration problem and considering "disproportionate" measures.

Last Friday, Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister and leader of the Liberal Democrat party, the junior member of Cameron's coalition, said Britain was considering obliging visitors from "high-risk" countries to hand over a returnable cash bond to deter them from overstaying their visas.

He also abandoned a promise to amnesty illegal immigrants after ten years.

Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, said on Saturday that the unexpected success of his own party had shifted the debate on immigration.

"If UKIP had not taken on this immigration debate, the others would not be talking about it at all," he told his party conference.

(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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Trafficking crackdown may be Obama's best chance on gun control

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Winning a crackdown on gun traffickers may be the best that President Barack Obama can get in his faltering efforts to have Congress pass gun control legislation.

Lawmakers are scaling back the White House's ambitions for sweeping gun control measures after a planned ban on assault weapons was effectively ruled out in the Senate this week.

Two Senators involved in the gun debate said on Wednesday that a bill to tackle trafficking looks like it is the gun control measure with the most chance of success.

"The most likely bill to pass" is a measure that would make it a federal crime to purchase guns for someone who is barred from owning one, said Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate.

Such transactions, dubbed "straw purchases," allow criminals to obtain firearms while avoiding background checks.

Durbin, from Illinois, said straw purchasing "is flooding Chicago with guns." The prospect of 15 years in jail under the bill will frighten off people who buy weapons for Chicago criminals, he said.

"It scares the hell out of them. It should be scaring the hell out of them. That's why I think this will be the lead piece of legislation," Durbin told a Wall Street Journal breakfast roundtable with reporters.

Durbin said the only other gun-related measure that will likely win approval is one to provide $40 million a year for 10 years to bolster school security. It is seen as a minor step in the fight against gun violence. "It is virtually non-controversial," Durbin said.

Republican Senator Charles Grassley from Iowa agreed that the two issues would receive support in the Senate.

"Those will pass," Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Reuters. "Trafficking firearms is a serious problem," he said.

Obama suffered a blow on Tuesday when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid acknowledged there was not enough support for prohibiting the sale of assault weapons.

The proposed ban was one of the parts of Obama's gun control efforts most directly linked to the December 14 massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 20 children and six adults dead. The gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, used an assault-style automatic rifle.

A push to impose a limit of 10 bullets on high-capacity ammunition clips is also likely to die in the Senate through lack of support from both Republicans who traditionally oppose gun control and pro-gun Democrats, some of whom fear being targeted by a National Rifle Association lobbying campaign.

The only remaining major gun control effort is a plan to expand background checks for gun buyers. But it is also in danger.

"It could pass the Senate, but it will never get through" the Republican-led House of Representatives, Grassley said.

The background check bill would "lead to (gun) registration," which has been long opposed by gun-rights advocates, Grassley said.

Federally registered gun dealers are required to conduct background checks on buyers, but about 40 percent of purchases are from private sellers who have no such obligation.

(Editing by Alistair Bell and Tim Dobbyn)

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