Further downgrades may lie ahead:
A day after Standard & Poor's took the unprecedented step of downgrading the creditworthiness of the US government to AA from AAA, the ratings agency offered a full-throated defence of its decision, calling the bitter standoff between President Barack Obama and Congress over raising the debt ceiling a ``debacle'' and warning that further downgrades may lie ahead.
Yet another doomed spacecraft is set to fall back to Earth in the near future.