France's new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu promised a "profound break" with the past on Wednesday as he faced the thorny task of trying to build a government with enough parliamentary support to pull the country out of a political crisis.

Lecornu's first day on the job coincided with street protests across France in a show of grassroots opposition to President Emmanuel Macron, which resulted in clashes with police and dozens of arrests, as well as a fire that broke out at a restaurant in central Paris.

But the protests, called by a collective without a clear leader, had an uneven impact across the country.

The president appointed Lecornu -- a close Macron ally and defence minister for the past three years -- late on Tuesday, only 24 hours after his predecessor Francois Bayrou lost a

See Full Page