New France PM Barnier promises 'change' as he takes office

France's new right-wing Prime Minister Michel Barnier promised Thursday to address the grievances of the French but also implement "change" as he took office following almost two months of political deadlock.

President Emmanuel Macron tasked the veteran politician with forming a government earlier in the day, seeking to move forward after July snap elections in which his centrist alliance lost its relative majority in parliament.

Barnier, the European Union's former Brexit negotiator and an ex-foreign minister, is the oldest premier in the history of modern France. At a handover ceremony, Barnier said the priorities of his government would include "responding, as much as we can, to the challenges, to the angers, to the suffering" of French people.