French PM Lecornu races against the clock to form government

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu faces a race against time to form a government by Monday's budget deadline, as divisions emerged within the conservative Les Republicains party over whether to accept ministerial posts in his cabinet. Just two days after being reappointed, Lecornu must present a draft budget bill to cabinet and parliament on Monday, requiring key ministerial positions to be filled immediately amid France's deepest political crisis in decades. The LR party's governing body said on Saturday that "the trust and conditions are not in place" to join Lecornu's government, yet a majority of the party's lower house members favour taking cabinet positions to influence the budget, according to Le Monde newspaper. Former Prime Minister Michel Barnier, a prominent...