unclear as standard and poor's has played a rather blatant and aggressive role in this whole unraveling of the european euro crisis and its december little nine so people here are beginning to get used to it and if any one of those is in the end it's going to be the credibility of institutions like standard and poor's and moody's who will seem to politically what you think fitch and moody's didn't go along with has done great. well i think perhaps they thought it might be a little bit too obvious or too brazen i can't i can't say you have to ask them now the c.e.o. of investment bank j.p. morgan referred to europe as the biggest threat to the global economies called for an asian solution so the fact comment though considering the nations that the e.u. countries are already trying to take to deal with a big problem well i don't i think that's a political comment by jamie dimon but it's certainly not a accurate assessment of the european economy the german economy the powerhouse of europe is extremely strong despite the turbulence in the world economy if any economy is in danger i would p

stable monday despite the wave of credit downgrade across the eurozone by the ratings giant standard and poor's slashed the credit scores of ninety you countries on friday including france which lost its aaa status and also austria too but other ratings agencies fitch has moved to say they're set to maintain france's top rating for now there's no panic among e.u. leaders at least publicly french president nicolas sarkozy said the downgrade will not damage his policies author and financial analyst says that u.s. based credit agencies and losing their credibility in the role that the u.s. agencies have played since the greek crisis erupted in december all nine has been what many people here see as a brazenly political rule so i don't think they're the independent agencies that they portray themselves to be many times when it comes to the interest of the wall street banks the so-called gobs of money banks like goldman sachs or others they tend to be rather leave me and when it comes to the interests of european institutions they tend to be rather aggressive which leads many europeans that i talk w

. >> standard and poor's has downgraded france's aaa credit rating. the decision could affect the country's borrowing rights and it deepens the eurozone crisis. 8 other countries have their work and ratings -- had their ratings downgraded. >> the french evening news tonight and the moment france learned that it had been stripped of its top aaa credit rating. facing an election, this had been president sarkozy's big fear. it was only the verdict of one's ratings agency but his opponents say it represents a failure of his policies. it was left to the french finance minister to make this announcement. >> it is not good news. this is not a catastrophe. the ratings agencies don't control the politics of france, we do. >> at the palace, and the president gathered together his top advisers. what the downgrade will mean is an increase in french borrowing costs. the debt is set to reach 90% of its output this year. they have to raise $290 billion -- they have to raise 290 billion euros to pay off what they currently have. the figure could increase. >> potential

. >> our headlines -- standard and poor's downgrades the special fund designed to save the euro as the ecb boss says investors should pay less attention to ratings agencies. rescue efforts resume on the wrecked costa concordia. the cruise companies blaming the accident on human error. meryl streep when the golden globe for her role as the "the iron lady." >> the ratings agency, standard and poor's, has downgraded the european financial stability facility. the special bailout fund set up by eurozone countries to rescue their common currency. the agency lowered the funds credit worthiness by one notch, from aaa to aa +. >> that makes it more expensive for the efsf to raise money to help bail out troubled eu nations. it follows a similar downgrade friday on a number of euros some countries, including france, that contribute. >> the downgrade comes as the european central bank president, mario draghi, called on investors and regulators to rely less on ratings agencies. addressing a committee of the european parliament, he saw to minimize this latest round of downgrades. >> week as regulato

downgrade cast a shadow over trading today with only a slight fall on friday readings dian standard and poor's slashed the scores of my e.u. nations including the aaa scores of france and austria germany's foreign minister has proposed europe gets its own credit agencies financial commentator jim rogers says u.s. based agencies are becoming obsolete. the fact is you do need somebody competent and somebody who can examine and decide who is who is solvent and who has not sought you know its own until a few months ago that they had the united states as a aaa credit united states is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world it's absurd that its true was was aaa now you just need somebody competent who can go in there it doesn't matter whether it's russian or australian american or european just so you have somebody competent and these guys the s. and p. and moody's have had up a semi monopoly for decades they have gotten corroded and lazy and sloppy and they're no longer confident the best way to get out of it is to go ahead and let people go bankrupt that the people who made mistakes

countries are downgraded by credit rating agencies standard and poor's over continues international worries that the blocks huge debt troubles are far from under control. plus destination unknown russia's mas pro food was groomed for its mission went astray before circling that has finally plunged into the ocean two months the treats launch but it's not yet clear if it's landed in the pacific on atlantico. and up next as promised the also of the dictatorship to democracy speaks to us said jean sharpsburg is described by some as the blueprint for nonviolent revolution can now asks whether his concept is realistic. i'm sitting down with jean sharp his book from dictatorship to democracy is seen by many as a guide on how to carry out a revolution through nonviolent means it's often referred to as the bible of color revolutions dr sharp looking at how revolutions and forward in the arab world do you see it as transition from dictatorship to democracy. in the. absence of bringing down the old system the old it's or them and it doesn't seem to you that people there are trading one form of oppress

rating agency standard and poor's. could more downgrades be on the way? and might start to see be tempted to -- and might sarkozy be tempted to follow the example of italy? the french president will be looking at all the options, and as he does so, he can count on the support of the german chancellor. and that support carries weight. on the liver tell -- on the lapel -- angela merkel's economic policies carry weight in france. >> a cartoonist depiction of relations between germany and france. >> all is not lost. he might feel cold a bit, but that is not so bad. >> merkel is the agenda. the german chancellor often plays the starring role in pictures by the famous cartoonist. there is plenty of talk about merkel and her budgetary discipline. >> there is less unemployment in germany. people are asking themselves some questions. >> surveys show that since the euro crisis in france, people have more confidence in merkel than in the run president. he and his challenger is often point to germany as an example. >> it is the only country in the european union that

based agencies such as standard and poor's and fish and european officials say their moves complicated there will complicate the currency union's efforts to ensure the worsening debt crisis however simon further fletcher from our nascent asset managers is skeptical about the creation of european nations. the establishment of a european only. she's a little it's a little on the silly side it's basically a slap down saying we don't want what you've said so we're going to sit about. independent films or report is that only going to be specifically for europeans and these are huge whole raft of questions but fundamentally it's me she going on i'm pretty unhappy with your club saying i'm going to go run off and join my own club. let's have a look at the markets no oil is gaining crude is trading near three day high france is pushing for faster enforcement of an iranian import bound while saudi arabia's oil minister was reported as saying that the world's biggest exporter wants to keep prices one hundred dollars a barrel u.s. stocks and bonds at the opening equities are rising along with the

stable on monday despite the wave of credit downgrades across the euro zone by the ratings giant standard and poor's and slashed the credit scores of ninety e.u. countries on friday including france which is aaa status and austria another ratings agency moody's says it will maintain france's top rating but will continue to review its position despite all this there was no panic among leaders at least publicly germany's foreign minister has even proposed europe gets its own credit agencies financial commentator jim rogers says that faith in the u.s. based rating companies is fast running out. you shouldn't vote bother to pay any attention to the rating agencies everything they've done in the past fifteen or twenty years has been wrong the fact is you do need somebody competent and somebody who can examine and decide who is who is solvent and who is not you know it's only until a few months ago that they had the united states is a aaa credit united states is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world it's absurd that it's true as was aaa so you just need somebody competent who can go in the

nevertheless, following standard and poors downgrade of the eurozone bailout fund known as the efsf, we may see up side capped there. we will see how the day proceeds. also, talking about currencies and the euro, let's have another look at some of the crosses there. the dollar yen and euro yen, euro yen as you mention, 97.31-36, but did trade lower than that. it did hit fresh 11 year lows yesterday. we saw a negative impact on japan's blue chip exporters with heavy exposure to markets like canon, con i ka, minimum oath a. with the u.s. or a short week, the focus remains on earnings there. and we're going to have key names like microsoft, google, intel, and manufacturing and housing data is due out later this week. investors may stay sidelined ahead of those. also, we have china's gdp numbers, and although we have seen considerable growth, in recent quarters, a slight slow down, may be a little focus there for major japanese companies selling into china's markets. ai? >> ramin, to add to the list of focus points, catherine had a breaking story, olympus back in the spotlight today. what

two weeks after standard and poor's downgraded nine eurozone members, ratings agency fitch cut its ratings of five nations, and lowered its outlook on ireland. fitch cited the poor finances in spain, italy, belgium, slovenia, and cyprus, which makes them all more vulnerable to sharp turns in market sentiment. the announcement of the downgrade comes ahead of an eu summit monday where political leaders are said to discuss ways out of the sovereign debt crisis. the three big ratings agencies have come under fire for their role in the eurozone debt crisis. their verdict on the country's creditworthiness can make or bake -- make or break a nation. europe is looking for ways to curb the agency's power. >> fitch, movies, and standard and poor's in u.s. appear to have a big influence over global finance. any company they downgrade usually sees a drop in share prices. >> they are there to make profits. they have economic interests. they have political philosophies. so it is necessary that we provide a countermeasure. more competition here in europe. that will be a large, competitive, and independen

based agencies such as standard and poor's and fitch european officials say their moves complicate the currency union's efforts to endure the worsening debt crisis however simon father fletcher from the nascence asset managers is skeptical about the creation of european agencies. the establishment of a european only. she's a little it's a little on the silly side it's basically the sort of slap down saying we don't going point you've said so we're going to set up a road. independent observer report is it only going to be specifically for europeans and it's no use the whole raft of questions but fundamentally it's basically saying only one pretty unhappy with your club saying i'm going to go run off and join my own club. let's take a look at the markets now first of all it's gaining crude is trading near a three day high france is pushing for faster and forced much of an iranian import ban while saudi arabia's oil minister was reported as saying that the world's biggest exporter wants to keep prices at one hundred dollars a pound. and europe markets have been comfortably in the black fo

based agencies such as standard and poor's and fitch european officials say their move complicate the currency union's efforts to endure the worsening debt crisis however simon for them fletcher former nice's of asset managers is skeptical about the creation of european agencies. the astonishment of a european only. she's a little it's a little on the silly sigh and it's basically the sort of slap down saying we don't like what you've said so we're going to set up a rather easy independent to report is it only going to be specifically for europeans and i use the whole raft of questions but fundamentally it's basically saying i'm pretty unhappy with what your club saying i'm going to go from join my own club. who has ignored warnings from the french rating agency which has lowered its forecast for russia's credit rating it's gaining some strength as exporters so foreign currencies ahead of the tax period. of from b. to b. capital says that future prospects for the ruble remain stable despite the economic uncertainty. for. the most conservative of the wall. the current is the strongest

is being done great to get it standard and poor's the firm which demoted ninety nations and stripped from true of the top status is. the rescue from gloucester hundred ninety billion euros in aaa guarantees and therefore. not his own score down as a result but better news though for france is that the other major ratings firms are keeping its position high with president sarkozy saying s. and p. a solitary move won't affect his debt reduction policies resulting his next hour it's the currency not the credit score of the root of the problem. when you look at the reality of the past twenty years the european union has changed very little by the way if we remember back then we thought we were still having referendums on such decisions so the mass treatment for men who got through but in the second referendum on the lisbon treaty the french voted no in ireland they voted no it was rejected by the people who didn't forcibly look voted in by m.p.'s it is clear that this representative democracy actually represents no one at all bure opinion was meant to bring down unemployment bring prospe

eurozone suffers a fresh financial blow as nine nations get a downgrade from credit ratings agency standard and poor's france and austria have lost their top scores sending markets into a sharp fall with the single currency hitting its lowest mark in over a year. to news or marks a year since president ben ali was toppled by an uprising that also spearheaded a wave of revolution.

eurozone suffers a fresh financial blow as nine nations get a downgrade from credit rating agency standard and poor's france and austria have lost their top score sending markets into shop for the single currency hitting its lowest market over again. in these earmarks a year since president ben ali was toppled by an uprising that also spearheaded a wave of revolutions across the arab world and the civil rights movement is being marred by a worrying signs.

political apparatus of the treasury and wall street standard and poor's has played a rather late and aggressive role in this whole raveling of the europeans euro crisis since december of zero nine so people here are beginning to get used to it and if anyone loses in the end it's going to be the credibility of institutions like standard and poor's and moody's. as a rare in the u.s. in gauging the deepening standoff america's mainstream media are being accused of fueling the fire sanctions over two rounds nuclear program on uncertainty in the gulf have provided news outlets in the state for the platform to speculate over the likelihood of war and result he's got a chance you can reports next it's not the first time american viewers have been led to believe that conflict is inevitable. try to options bomb iran or let iran get the bomb with tension between iran and the west as high as ever for a host of hardline speakers on us mainstream media seem to be pushing the audience to believe that war is inevitable and the better way to prevent iran from getting nuclear weapons is to attack its

germany wants europe has a long way to restore investor cards this comes as regimes agency standard and poor's deems the eurozone increasing to be unfit to do with its debt crisis. and the years since tunisia's person ben ali was ousted the new is this leaders are accused of ignoring the real.

eurozone suffers a fresh financial blair was nine nations get a downgrade credit ratings agency standard and poor's france and australia have lost their top schools and markets into shop for the single currency that was knocked over here. to new zealand marks a year since president ben ali was toppled by an uprising but also spearheaded the wave of revolutions across the aisle one of the sort of breakthrough mood is being mocked by whining.

eurozone credit downgrades could worsen the region's debt crisis late friday ratings agency standard and poor's downgraded nine countries with france and austria losing their prized aaa grades and portugal plummeting to junk status and now all the numbers u.k. footsies nearly flat as media and publishing company pearson rose two point seven percent in germany the dax is supported by not a two point nine percent gain for com make a dime or at two percent rise for the wattle b.m.w. u.s. markets are closed monday for martin luther jupiter day here in russia markets closed in the black with the r.t.s. finishing over half a percent of them was six of just the combined trading volumes on the r.t.s. and my six exceeded ten trillion dollars last year that appeared to be the best results not only among c.i.s. countries but it western europe too analysts say it was supported by the operational effect of the merger approaches to me for six. years the main movers on the my six day energy majors were supported by strong oil prices the largest private all covered in look. on dirt just under one percent highe

based agencies such as standard and poor's and fitch european officials say their moves complicate the currency union's efforts to endure the worsening debt crisis however simon further fletcher from managers is skeptical about the creation. of the establishment of a european only. a little it's a little on the silly song and it's basically a slap down saying we don't like what you've said so we're going to set up a road. independent report is only going to be specifically for europeans and these are huge hole wrong of questions but fundamentally it's basically saying i'm pretty unhappy with your pope saying i'm going to go and join my own club. let's look at the markets now for us all crude is trading mixed this all those prices are climbing on signs that china's economy avoid a sharp slowdown and keep global demand strong stocks in the u.s. are rising strongly at midday on signs of resilience in europe's debt markets and a gradual slowdown in china all that is easing fears that recent credit rating downgrades would prevent troubled nations from obtaining funds and the european market

to invest trust this comes as a ratings agency standard and poor's dina's the euro zone increasingly unfit to deal with its debt crisis and. since denise's president ben ali was ousted the new islamist leaders are accused of ignoring the real issues of poverty and unemployment in favor of spreading every article religious agenda. as the headlines up next saucy martian entries delves into russian culture and. hello good to see you again as we continue our exploration of the italian capital now russian culture has made its impact in many corners of the world and rome is no exception so in this week's program we'll be exploring a various russian it's early and connections will be meeting experts ex-pats will prove my theory russia is closer than you think. standing in front of the ilford to be on a monument you would get a sense of how grounds the italian capital is rich in history culture and style drawn to many cities around the world the bostitch history intense music scene autistic treasures and all round appeal london athens moscow the russian capital is often called the rome of th

their prized aaa grades and slashing the scores of seven other nations leaders had back at standard and poor's the agency behind the move calling the decision in comprehensible artie's tests are silly and has more on the wider implications. this comes at a time when optimism was just about going up when it comes to the euro zone with some positive data coming out first week of two thousand and twelve well clearly a new such as this would again down to investor confidence and a stall in that process now this downgrade of france was not entirely unexpected i mean s. and p. had given it warnings the last year and even a lot of the analysts we've been talking to had said that a french downgrade was imminent so now that it has actually happened still the markets reacted negatively to all of this is happening because of france's role in the bailouts is one of the reasons in the it's role in the bailouts of greece of italy through the european central bank as well support your goal so it has left the financial system the banking system of france in a very vulnerable position now when it comes to ital

turning out of the crisis in the eurozone and the follow up over the downgrade by ratings agency standard and poor's for france and eight other eurozone countries it seems as of now at least the fall out is minimal the french president nicolas sarkozy downplaying it and saying it would change nothing and it seems at least for now many investors may agree that's no major earthquakes in the markets have been experienced by this downgrade author and investor jim rogers gave his take on all things euro to our own and he said now way take a listen you shouldn't but bother to pay any attention to the rating agencies everything they've done in the past fifteen or twenty years has been wrong i stopped bothering him long ago everybody knows that france is no longer aaa everybody knows that italy is no longer as highly rated as it used to be the market knows all of this this is not news i know you have to report something but this is not news to people in the market nevertheless some time markets do react to these are rating slashes by us and p. and other agencies specifically saying this time around that eur

road as nine nations get a downgrade credit ratings agency standard and poor's. the single currency hitting its. present. spearheaded a wave of revolutions across the world celebrates.

your credit downgrade could have worsened the region's debt crisis like friday ratings agency standard and poor'sdowngraded nine countries with france and all still losing their prized aaa grades and portugal plummeting to junk steps. to the numbers european stock markets are swinging in and out of positive territory rate traders mall and the impact of rating downgrades. actions and also weight of french debt sales in germany the dax is supported by two point nine percent gain for com make a dime or a two percent rise for rival going w. the u.s. markets are closed monday for martin luther king jr day and it's a choppy trade for the russian markets as well with watty s. gaining over half a percent from isaacs is in the black as well and now the main movers on my six the sour chips are mixed energy majors are supported by strong or prices the largest private all company to call is up half a percent preferred shares of oil pipeline operator transacted down struggling to keep up last week's momentum and banking stocks are on the rise bank is almost zero point four percent in the black. and oil is gai

rating could be about to be cut according to a senior eurozone source the speculation that standard and poor's might downgrade the country's status has sent world markets plunging after an optimistic start to the year let's now get more on this latest development from michael's point a senior who's in brussels so what will this downgrade bode for france and the euro zone if indeed it is true. well if indeed it is true the short answer to that is confidence investor confidence is the first thing that will be affected and then you'll have a downward spiral from then on based on those reports what we're seeing is a possible downgrade by one notch of france's credit rating as well as austria germany the netherlands finland and luxembourg will keep their current standing now france in particular has been closely watching especially since it's played a very big role in the bailouts for greece or portugal and also it leaves through the european central bank making it's a banking system financial system very very vulnerable and it had got warnings from s. and p. for one as well as a lot of analysts th

downgrade of france says it's not panicking in the wake of losing its top credit rating stated standard and poor's deane's the eurozone increasingly unfit to deal with its debt crisis.

warns europe has a long way to restore investor transit this comes as breaking news agency standard and poor's deems the eurozone increasingly unfit to deal with its debt crisis. and to get into tunisia president ben ali was ousted the new is the misleaders are accused of ignoring.

euro zone credit downgrade could worsen the region's debt crisis late friday ratings agency standard and poor's downgraded nine e.u. countries with france and austria losing their top notch status let's now cross live to our business desk for an update on trading for something and here in russia why do you know so how are the russian markets reacting to this one that's actual wall investors are nervous right now and we can see that in the numbers both the r.t.s. and m i six kicked off the trading session over one percent in the red and some analysts even said that the my sex could see its biggest daily fall since the twenty first of december or since then the markets have recovered slightly both the r.t.s. and the my six are now losing around a half a percent but all of this doesn't come as a surprise because it comes after s. and p. downgraded nine european countries including cyprus of malta austria and the russian markets closed before the news came out so now we're seeing the delayed reaction but strong food prices are preventing deeper falls but we could see the numbers change again and th

invests trust this comes as a ratings agency standard and poor's deems the eurozone increasingly unfit to deal with its debt crisis. say good sense tunisia's president ben ali was asked at the news that his leaders are accused of ignoring the real issues of poverty and unemployment in favor of the spreading of radical religious agenda. up next box guys and stays ahead but focus on the money mafia from italy to the u.s. . there this is the kaiser report you know globalization. allowed for the worse practices of various countries to become the global standard for example stacey herbert. max keiser are you talking about gangsterism i notice you're actually looking like a modern day gangster apparently old style gangsters handing out cash in bars and pool halls have been replaced by apparently respectable bankers lawyers or notaries according to a new report in italy mafia now italy's number one bank as crisis bites report organized crime now generates annual turnover of about one hundred forty billion euros and profits of more than one hundred billion euros which is seven percent of g.d.p

late friday, standard and poor's cut the ratings of italy, spain, portugal, and cyprus by two notches and france, slovakia, slovenia, saw a one-notch cut. traders said the cuts were expected to the market should not drop dramatically. u.s. markets are closed today for the holiday. still to come, and look at the newest batch of trainees learning how to rescue you from an avalanche. the astounding numbers that make these rescuers more likely to save lives. >> no major snow in the forecast just yet but futurecast showing the chance for ice. when and where, when we come back. first, >> in this afternoon's medical alert, this time of year people tend to avoid crowds and attempt to avoid germs. a new study shows germans are not the biggest health correct -- threat crowd offer. researchers found human stampede and he strokes of the main reason for death and illness at large events. over the last 30 years, more than 7000 people have died in trauma during tank -- stampede and 14,000 more have been injured. the risk of heart attack during group evans is also higher, especially when the event is

france's finance minister has confirmed that his country has lost its aaa credit rating after standard and poor's purportedly stripped it and austria of top marks sparking protests outside the offices agencies in paris. if it was not bad enough news for the eurozone, this coincides with a breakdown in talks aimed at writing down creases that -- greece's debt. i am joined now by a senior fellow at george mason university. >> thank you for having me. >> there has been a lot of speculation that this is on the cards. how big a deal is it? >> this is a big deal. no country that has triple a rating would like to be downgraded. this was expected, so a lot of investors included this expectation. there is a sense of relief that it is only one notch downgraded. this is a big deal because it includes -- there is more uncertainty now. we are going to look at how investors will look at france. there is already some evidence that capital is flying towards the u.s. as evidenced by the increase in interest rates. it is everyone's guess how far the damage could go. >> we are getting news that italy and possibly s