WASHINGTON — The Trump administration last week ordered US diplomats abroad to lobby against pro-migration policies and raise concerns over what it says are migrant populations committing violent crimes, according to a State Department cable seen by Reuters.

The cable, sent on Friday to dozens of US embassies across Europe, Canada and Australia, argues that crime and human rights abuses linked to mass migration and “individuals of a migration background” were a significant concern in Europe and the West. It says these incidents threaten public safety and social cohesion around the world.

It instructs US missions to report to Washington on such crimes and abuses and to provide analysis of how the host country reacts, while pushing the governments to reform migration policies and limit any programs that enable mass migration.

“We encourage your government to ensure that policies protect your citizens from the negative social impacts of mass migration, including displacement, sexual assault, and the breakdown of law and order,” reads one of more than a dozen talking points the State Department provided to US diplomats in the cable, which was first reported by the New York Times.

Anti-immigration was a major part of Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign. After taking office, he launched an aggressive enforcement campaign, surging troops to the southern border and pledging to deport millions of immigrants who were in the US illegally.

The Republican president has repeatedly blamed migrants in the US illegally for fueling violent crime, although studies show immigrants are not more likely to commit crimes.

The administration has also worked to internationalize its restrictive approach. In September, top officials urged other nations to join a global campaign to roll back asylum protections, a major shift that would seek to reshape the post-World War II framework around humanitarian migration.

Late last month, Mr. Trump slashed the limit on refugee admissions for fiscal 2026 to a record low 7,500 from the 100,000 who entered under then-President Joseph R. Biden in fiscal 2024. Mr. Trump said his administration would focus on bringing in white South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity.

A State Department spokesperson, asked for comment on the cable, said mass migration was a human rights issue and that it regularly led to a rise in violent crimes. The spokesperson did not provide any data to support the assertion.

The cable, which quotes Mr. Trump as saying that “a nation without borders is not a nation,” also asks governments to resist practices that “disproportionately favor migrant populations at the expense of local communities, including displacement, legal consequences for criticizing mass migration.” — Reuters

HONG KONG — A huge fire still burning in a Hong Kong apartment complex that has killed at least 44 people and left nearly 300 missing may have been caused by a “grossly negligent” construction firm using unsafe materials, police said on Thursday.

Almost a full day after the fire began, firefighters were struggling to reach residents potentially trapped on the upper floors of the Wang Fuk Court housing complex due to intense heat and thick smoke from the fire that erupted on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said in addition to the buildings being covered with protective mesh sheets and plastic that may not meet fire standards, they discovered some windows on one unaffected building were sealed with a foam material, installed by a construction company carrying out year-long maintenance work.

“We have reason to believe that the company’s responsible parties were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties,” said Eileen Chung, a Hong Kong police superintendent.

Three men from the construction company, two directors and one engineering consultant, had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over the fire, she added.

Police officers searched the housing estate’s building maintenance company on Thursday morning, seizing documents that mention of Wang Fuk Court, local media reported. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The tightly packed complex in the northern Tai Po district has 2,000 apartments in eight blocks that are home to more than 4,600 people in a city struggling with chronic shortages of affordable housing.

By Thursday morning, authorities said they had brought the fire in four of seven blocks under control, with operations continuing in three blocks. Video from the scene some 22 hours after the blaze started showed flames still leaping from at least two of the 32-story towers sheathed in green construction mesh and bamboo scaffolding.

The bamboo scaffolding is a mainstay of traditional Chinese architecture but has been subject to a phaseout in Hong Kong since March for safety reasons.

A firefighter was among the 44 killed, with 45 people in hospital in critical condition, Hong Kong police told a press conference before dawn on Thursday.

“The priority is to extinguish the fire and rescue the residents who are trapped,” Hong Kong leader John Lee told reporters. “The second is to support the injured. The third is to support and recover. Then, we’ll launch a thorough investigation.”

Some 279 people were uncontactable, and 900 were in eight shelters, he added.

The death toll is now the highest in a Hong Kong fire since 1948, when 176 people were killed in a warehouse blaze.

SEARCHING FOR RELATIVES
The latest fire has prompted comparisons to the Grenfell Tower inferno that killed 72 people in London in 2017. That fire was blamed on firms fitting the exterior with flammable cladding, as well as failings by the government and the construction industry.

“Our hearts go out to all those affected by the horrific fire in Hong Kong,” the Grenfell United survivors’ group said on social media. “To the families, friends and communities, we stand with you. You are not alone.”

Harry Cheung, 66, who has lived at Block Two in one of the complexes for more than 40 years, said he heard a loud noise about 2:45 p.m. (0645 GMT) and saw fire erupt in a nearby block.

“I immediately went back to pack up my things,” he said.

“I don’t even know how I feel right now. I’m just thinking about where I’m going to sleep tonight.”

A woman surnamed Ng, 52, was distraught as she looked for her daughter outside a shelter.

“She and her father are still not out yet. They didn’t have water to save our building,” she sobbed, carrying her daughter’s graduation photo.

Another long-time resident, a woman surnamed Chu, said she still had not been able to contact her friends who live in the next block. After staying over at a friend’s place on Wednesday night, the 70-year-old came back to see her home still burning.

“We don’t know what to do,” she said.

An online app showed missing persons reports submitted through a linked Google document that detailed residents of individual towers and rooms.

It includes descriptions like “mother-in-law in her 70s, missing” or “one boy and one girl” or “Rooftop: 33-year-old male.”

One description simply says “27^th floor, room 1: He is dead.” Reuters could not independently verify the information on the app.

CHINA’S XI URGES ‘ALL-OUT’ EFFORT AGAINST FIRE
Many residents took to social media to criticize what they saw as negligence and cost cutting as a cause of the fire. One video showed several construction workers smoking on the bamboo scaffolding surrounding one of the complex’s blocks during the renovation process.

From the mainland, China’s President Xi Jinping urged an “all-out effort” to extinguish the fire and to minimize casualties and losses, China’s state broadcaster CCTV said.

Hong Kong’s Transport Department said that a number of roads would remain closed in the area on Thursday morning and 39 bus routes have been diverted, while nearby schools have been closed.

Hong Kong’s government started phasing out bamboo scaffolding in March, citing worker safety after 22 deaths involving bamboo scaffolders between 2019 and 2024. It announced that 50% of public construction works would be required to use metal frames instead.

Hong Kong’s sky-high property prices have long been a trigger for social discontent in the city, and the fire tragedy could further stoke resentment towards authorities ahead of a city-wide legislative election in early December.

Wang Fuk Court is one of many high-rise housing complexes in Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Tai Po, located near the border with mainland China, is an established suburban district with some 300,000 residents.

Occupied since 1983, the complex is under the government’s subsidized home ownership scheme, according to property agency websites. According to online posts, it has been undergoing renovations for a year at a cost of HK$330 million ($42.43 million), with each unit paying between HK$160,000 and HK$180,000. ($1 = 7.7779 Hong Kong dollars). — Reuters

SYDNEY — Australia will overhaul its environment laws in long-awaited reforms after the Greens party agreed to back the center-left Labor government’s legislation on the final day of parliament for the year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday.

The reforms will establish an independent National Environment Protection Agency to strengthen compliance and enforcement, impose higher penalties for major breaches of the law, and remove exemptions from the legislation for “high-risk land clearing and regional forest agreements.”

The Greens said Labor’s plan to allow coal and gas projects to use fast-tracked approvals based on “national interest” would also be dropped.

“This is a landmark day for the environment in this country. It is also a good day for business in this country by providing more certainty, reducing delays and making sure that we get better outcomes and improved productivity,” Mr. Albanese told reporters.

After pledging to set up an independent environmental protection agency in its 2022 election manifesto, Labor has battled criticism from all sides in its efforts to overhaul environmental law in a way that would better protect nature but also speed up the approvals process for projects in sectors such as critical minerals, renewable energy and housing.

The bill drew criticism from Australia’s conservative opposition, the fossil fuel industry, and farmers, while mining groups expressed concern about increasing regulation.

Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley accused the Greens of being “at war with gas.”

Lobby group Australian Energy Producers said the bill would hamper new gas supply to tight domestic markets and was “simply not in the national interest.”

Labor, which lacks a Senate majority, had been negotiating separately with the conservative Liberal-National coalition and the Greens to secure support for the legislation.

The Greens said while the bill remained “woefully short” of what was needed to address the climate crisis, their negotiations had improved the legislation.

“Greens pressure made this bill better than the weak laws we have now, and infinitely better than if the government had done a deal with the climate deniers in the Coalition,” said Greens Senator Larissa Waters.

She said the party had secured stronger safeguards for native forests, closed loopholes on land-clearing, and prevented Labor from fast-tracking coal and gas projects.

The Clean Energy Council, which represents the renewable energy industry, welcomed the reforms, which will speed up approvals for renewable energy projects that have struggled with complex procedures at both state and federal level.

In early August, Australia’s Productivity Commission called for the simplification of renewable energy projects to hit its target of 82% renewable energy in the grid by 2030. ($1 = 1.5344 Australian dollars). — Reuters