New Delhi, Sept. 10 -- France's new Prime Minister, Sebastien Lecornu, the fifth in two years, took office on Wednesday amid sprawling anti-government "Block Everything" protests.

Lecornu, the loyalist picked by President Emmanuel Macron, most recently served as his defence minister. At midday, he arrived at the prime minister's residence, where he met with former prime minister Francois Bayrou.

Bayrou was ousted by Parliament on Monday over plans to trim the country's outsized deficit.

The new prime minister may use his first speech to outline a plan for reaching consensus with an unruly Parliament to pass a slimmed-down budget for next year.

He must submit a full draft of the 2026 budget to Parliament by 7 October.

The hard left ha...