Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's incited the ire of European Union officials on Friday when it snatched away the region's top AAA rating, citing tensions between member states and a deterioration in their overall financial health. Downgrading the EU to AA+, the agency said the 28 countries' combined creditworthiness had declined – but officials and leaders shot back with an assertion that the region had barely any outstanding debt relative to GDP. Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, said: "The commission disagrees with S&P that member states' obligations to the budget in a ... (full story)