In July, the security forces were judged to be failing across the board in this area, but Friday's report gave the army a satisfactory rating while saying that the police forces continued to fall short.

CNN: White House report shows meager gains in Iraq

The rating agency downgraded French debt one notch to AA1, saying its resilience to future euro area shocks is becoming more difficult to predict.

FORBES: Stocks Survive Hewlett-Packard's Big Bungle, France's Downgrade