French President Emmanuel Macron has named centrist ally François Bayrou as prime minister, after a historic parliamentary vote ousted the previous government last week.

Macron is half-way through his second term as president and Bayrou will be his fourth prime minister this year. French politics has been deadlocked ever since Macron called snap p

New French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on Friday he faced a "Himalaya" of a challenge to tackle France's deficit, with opponents' lukewarm reactions to his appointment underlining the difficulty of the job he faces.