Macron party loses ground, but not control, amid defections

PARIS (AP) — Defections by lawmakers disgruntled over President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies cost France’s ruling party its absolute majority in the lower house of parliament Tuesday, in a symbolic blow to Macron’s leadership amid the coronavirus crisis. The move leaves the centrist LREM party with 288 lawmakers out of a total of 577 — just one short of an absolute majority. Yet LREM and its centrist allies, including 46 lawmakers from…