Today's Top Stories 10-7-11

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Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney says he will offer a more assertive foreign policy than President Barack Obama, promising increased military spending, a strong deterrent against Iran and an investment in missile defense systems.

President Obama is scheduled to confer today with U.S. Senate Democratic leaders on a strategy for getting a vote on a $447 billion jobs plan that he said would give the economy the “jolt” it needs to spark hiring.

Ireland aims to be the first of three bailed-out euro-area countries to exit their rescue program, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said.

Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross said employment gains in September that were almost double analysts’ forecasts aren’t enough to sustain growth in the U.S. economy. The economy needs 200,000 to 250,000 new jobs per month to expand.

Canada’s economy added the most jobs in eight months in September, led by hiring at schools, bringing the country’s jobless rate to its lowest since 2008 and adding to evidence the country is averting a new recession.

Payrolls climbed by 103,000 after a revised 57,000 increase the prior month, Labor Department data showed. The gain reflected the return to work of 45,000 telecommunications employees. The jobless rate held at 9.1 percent.

Investors withdrew about $113 million from U.S. municipal-bond mutual funds in the week through yesterday, Lipper US Fund Flows said today.

Italian bonds declined, erasing yesterday’s gains, amid fading optimism that euro-area officials are near to resolving the region’s debt crisis. German bunds fell after a U.S. report showed employers added more jobs last month than economists forecast. Portugal’s bonds slid as Moody’s said it cut the ratings on nine of the nation’s banks. Spanish bonds gained as the European Central Bank was said to buy the nation’s securities along with those of Italy.

AP Top Stories

Demonstrators filled Freedom Plaza in Washington for a peaceful afternoon protest against war and other causes, including corporate greed.

Libyan government forces fired rounds of heavy artillery at Muammar Gaddafi's home town of Sirte on Friday as they launched their largest assault so far to capture the last major bastion of support for the deposed leader.

Syrian security forces opened fire at protesters in several parts of the country on Friday, killing at least eight people and wounding scores, while a leading opposition figure was beaten up by pro-government gunmen and rushed to a hospital in Damascus, activist said.

Molly Katchpole, the 22-year-old Bank of America customer who organized a grassroots campaign against the new $5 debit card fee, delivered more than 153,000 petitions to a bank branch in D.C.

No major medical group recommends routine PSA blood tests to check men for prostate cancer, and now a government panel is saying they do more harm than good and healthy men should no longer receive the tests as part of routine cancer screening.

A Zogby poll showed Herman Cain leading the Republican field, topping former front-runner Mitt Romney by an astonishing 20 points.Cain would also narrowly edge out Obama in a general election, the poll found, by a 46 to 44 margin.

Wholesale businesses increased their stockpiles of autos, computer equipment and heavy machinery in August, boosting inventories for a 20th straight month as their sales rose at the fastest pace in five months.