By Katrin Bennhold President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to press ahead with reforms but tone down his flashy image in a bid to restore his popularity with low-income voters after his center-right party suffered a setback in local elections Sunday, officials close to his office said.

By ANGELA CHARLTON PARIS - When histories of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency are written, November 2007 will deserve a chapter all its own.

By John Lichfield France was reeling last night from a double political shock. The defeated presidential candidate, Segolene Royal announced that she had ended her 27-year relationship with the Socialist party leader, Francois Hollande.

VOTERS resoundingly endorsed President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to overhaul France's economy, giving his party a commanding lead in the first round of elections for parliament, according to preliminary official results.

By Jamey Keaten, Associated Press PARIS -- Nicolas Sarkozy won the women's vote and fared well among blue-collar workers, even though his rival for the French presidency was a woman and a Socialist.