New French cabinet to be unveiled

PARIS, Wednesday

The new French government line-up under Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will be unveiled late on Wednesday, the presidency said.

The Elysee Palace had said in a statement that the new cabinet would be announced at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT), but a presidential spokesman later said the announcement would be made "late in the day".

President Francois Hollande's chief of staff Pierre-Rene Lemas is to announce the makeup of the new cabinet, which is to hold its first session on Thursday.

Ayrault took over as prime minister on Wednesday, a day after Hollande's inauguration following his defeat of incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in France's May 6 presidential run-off vote.