France's new prime minister takes office amid anti-government protests

Sebastien Lecornu, the loyalist picked by President Emmanuel Macron to be France's fifth prime minister in two years, took office on a day of sprawling anti-government protests on Wednesday that underlined the depth of the country's political crisis. Lecornu, a conservative Macron protege who most recently served as his defence minister, arrived at the prime minister's residence at midday where he met with former Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, who was ousted by parliament on Monday over plans to trim the country's outsized deficit. Lecornu may then use his first speech to lay out how he will seek to reach consensus with an unruly parliament, split into three distinct ideological blocs, and pass a slimmed-down budget for next year. Lecornu has...