Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Another Canadian lawmaker switches sides

TORONTO (AP) — Another opposition Conservative lawmaker in Canada has defected to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s governing Liberals. Carney announced on social media that Alberta Member of Parliament Matt Jeneroux had crossed the floor to join the Liberal caucus. It’s the third Conservative lawmaker to join the Liberals in recent months. The move puts the Liberals closer to having a majority government and being able to pass any bill without the support of an opposition party. The defection is another blow to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who lost the last national election in April and even his own seat in Parliament. He has since rejoined the House of Commons.

Secretly recorded sexual encounters investigated

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Ghana and Kenya have launched investigations into the activities of a man believed to be a Russian national who is accused of secretly recording sexual encounters with several women and publishing them online without their consent. Ghana also summoned Russia’s ambassador to discuss the case, which has sparked public outrage. Ghana’s Foreign Ministry also says it called in Russian Ambassador Sergei Berdnikov to discuss the case, saying that ambassador expressed Russia’s willingness to cooperate in the case. However, Berdnikov was quoted as saying he could not confirm that the man was a Russian national.

Lawmakers will elect Peru’s next president after the latest ouster

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s Congress is picking a new interim president as it scrambles to steady the country after ousting José Jerí. On Wednesday night, lawmakers vote among four little-known members of Congress. The winner will lead the Andean country until July 28, when power passes to the winner of an election in April. Congress removed Jerí on Tuesday after reports of undisclosed meetings with Chinese business owners, including a state contractor. Prosecutors have opened two preliminary investigations into alleged illegal sponsorship of private interests and influence-peddling.

Officials aided illegally-built mansions in park

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — An investigation shows that illegal luxury mansions have been built in a Sierra Leone national park that serves as an environmental buffer for its capital. The Associated Press and The Gecko Project exclusively obtained the government investigation’s unpublished findings that say senior officials issued land ownership documents. A visit by journalists found that construction continues over two years after the country’s president received the findings. The illegal construction in the Western Area Peninsula National Park threatens deforestation that the findings call “an environmental time bomb.” A door-to-door survey found owners include officials reportedly working in the president’s office, land ministry and Environment Protection Agency.

French police arrest 11 after student beaten to death

PARIS (AP) — French police have arrested 11 people after a far-right student died from a beating in Lyon. Quentin Deranque, 23, died in a hospital on Saturday. He was attacked Thursday during clashes between far-left and far-right supporters. The fighting broke out on the margins of a student meeting where far-left lawmaker was a keynote speaker. The death has sparked a storm of recriminations, mostly targeting the hard-left France Unbowed party. Its leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon says the party bears no blame for the tragedy.

Australia bans citizen, alleged IS, from re-entry

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s government has banned an Australian with alleged ties to the militant Islamic State group from returning from a detention camp in Syria. The Australian is among a group of 34 women and children who had planned to fly from Damascus to Australia on Monday but were turned back by Syrian authorities to the Roj detention camp due to procedural problems. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Wednesday one of the group had been assessed by Australian security agencies as meeting a risk threshold to be banned from entering the country. He did not identify that individual or say how long the ban would extend.

British House of Lords shaken by Epstein files

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s House of Lords is facing scrutiny as an indirect result of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Peter Mandelson quit the Lords over his friendship with Epstein. The episode has emboldened critics who say the unelected house is antiquated, undemocratic and far too slow at punishing bad behavior by its members. Supporters say it plays a vital role by reviewing and amending bills approved by the elected House of Commons. Successive governments have pledged reform but struggled to deliver. The Labour government is in the process of ejecting the final hereditary aristocrats from the chamber and is facing calls to go further and tighten up scrutiny of appointees.