US economy has slowed significantly, says Ben Bernanke

Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, said the economy had slowed significantly in recent months due to the continuing eurozone debt crisis and uncertainty surrounding US fiscal policy.

Feisty Sarkozy shrugs off French credit downgrade

MADRID (AP) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy bluntly declared Monday that a harsh downgrade by Standard & Poor's of France's formerly top-rung debt rating "changes nothing" for the eurozone's No. 2 economy.