Ghana is accepting west Africans deported from the United States, Ghanaian President John Mahama said Wednesday.Deporting people to third countries — in many cases places they’ve never lived — has been a hallmark of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants, notably by sending hundreds to a notorious prison in El Salvador.Mahama told reporters Wednesday that Ghana had agreed to take in nationals from west Africa, where a regional agreement allows visa-free travel.”We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US. And we agreed with them that west African nationals were acceptable,” Mahama said.He said a “first batch” of 14 people had come to Ghana, including “several” Nigerians who have since returned to their home countries though he did not provide a timeline for when that occurred. Another arrived from The Gambia.Ghana has long been home to Nigerian immigrants, though recent weeks have seen sporadic anti-Nigerian protests in several cities where groups of demonstrators demanded their expulsion, blaming them for rising crime, prostitution and unfair economic competition.In late July, Nigeria sent a special envoy and its foreign ministry urged calm while Ghanaian and Nigerian officials held talks to defuse tensions.- Deal comes amid tariff, visa pressure -The deportation agreement comes as Washington has hiked tariffs on Ghanaian goods and restricted visas issued to its nationals.Mahama described relations between Accra and Washington as “tightening”, though he said relations remained positive.Neighbouring Nigeria, for its part, has pushed back against accepting third-party deportees.”The US is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the US, some straight out of prisons,” Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said in an interview with local broadcaster Channels Television in July.”It will be difficult for Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners,” he said, going on to suggest that recent tariff threats were related to the issue of deportations.In an unprecedented move, Trump has overseen the deportation of hundreds of people to Panama, including some who were sent away before they could have their asylum applications processed.Hundreds have also been sent to El Salvador, with the US administration invoking an 18th century law to remove people it has accused of being Venezuelan gang members. Some were sent despite US judges ordering the planes carrying them to turn around. The White House has also deported third-country nationals to South Sudan, a war-torn, impoverished country.

Right-wing youth activist and influencer Charlie Kirk, a major ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead Wednesday in a “political assassination” that sparked fears of more political violence in an increasingly febrile United States.Trump confirmed on social media that Kirk, 31, had died from his injuries.”The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.Kirk was hit while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University.Video from the scene showed him addressing a large crowd when the sound of a single shot rang out. Kirk appeared to collapse in his chair before the camera swiftly moved and sounds of panic erupted in the audience.Investigators said they believed the single bullet had come from a campus rooftop, fired by someone dressed in black, in what appeared to be a targeted killing.FBI Director Kash Patel said one person was being held.”The subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody,” Patel said on X.Illustrating the huge importance of Kirk in Trump’s orbit, the 79-year-old Republican ordered flags on government buildings to be lowered to half-staff until Sunday. American flags at the White House were lowered shortly after the president’s order.”No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us,” Trump wrote. Utah Governor Spencer Cox told reporters Kirk’s killing was “a tragic day for our nation.””I want to be clear that this is a political assassination,” he said.Cox, a Republican, appealed for Americans to take a step back from such violence as the nation readies to mark a milestone anniversary of its 1776 founding.”We just need every single person in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be, to ask ourselves: Is this what 250 years has wrought on us?”- ‘He fell back’ -Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, who was at the rally, told Fox News the shooting had happened while Kirk was doing a question-and-answer session with the crowd.”First question was about religion. He went on for about 15-20, minutes. Second question, interestingly, was about transgender shooters, mass shooters, and in the midst of that, the shot rang out,” a visibly shaken Chaffetz told the network.”As soon as that shot went out, he fell back,” he said. “Everybody hit the deck… a lot of people started screaming, and then everybody started running.”- Turning Point -Kirk had an outsized influence in US politics, helping the rise of Trump’s support among younger voters — one of the key factors in the Republican’s return to power last year.With natural showmanship skills, Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012 to drive conservative viewpoints among young people, turning him into the go-to spokesman on television networks and at conferences for the youthful hard-right.He used his enormous audiences on Instagram and YouTube to build support for anti-immigration policies, outspoken Christianity and gun ownership, and to spread viral, carefully edited clips of his back-and-forths during debates at his many campus events.His presence on campuses was seen on the right as a welcome contrast to widespread liberal viewpoints in higher education, but have sparked often fierce opposition.News of the shooting provoked horror across the political spectrum.”Dear God, protect Charlie in his darkest hour,” Vice President JD Vance posted on social media, alongside a picture of the two men and the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr.Right wing media figure Tomi Lahren called Kirk “visionary.”Figures on the left also condemned the attack and urged calm.”There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now,” former president Joe Biden wrote on X.California Governor Gavin Newsom — a frequent foil for right-wing figures like Kirk — called the attack “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” while Biden’s vice president Kamala Harris said “political violence has no place in America.”Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords — a Democrat who survived an assassination attempt herself — said she was “horrified” by the attack.”Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence,” Giffords said.