France downgrade fuels fresh euro worries

The eurozone crisis was facing fresh turmoil today after the credit worthiness of France and eight other eurozone nations were downgraded by a leading ratings agency.

In a dramatic new blow to the struggling single currency, Standard & Poor's (S&P) stripped France of its gold-plated AAA credit rating, and also lowered the long-term ratings on Austria, Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia, by one notch.