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Buffett's Berkshire seeks Fed leeway to boost BofA bet: Bloomberg Shares of BofA were up 3% after the report came out. Berkshire, which has a 9.96% stake in BofA, filed an application with the Fed in recent weeks making a variety of assurances that it will passively invest in the bank, the report said https://bloom.bg/2ISBQEW citing a copy of the application provided by the regulator. 'Smart, ambitious, kind:' Shooting victim a family linchpin Atatiana Jefferson was devoted to her family and had moved into her mother's Fort Worth home earlier this year to help as her mom's health declined, relatives said. The 28-year-old Jefferson, who family members sometimes called "Tay," and her nephew had devoted their night to Call of Duty and were still up playing the video game when the officer shot. "They did that all night - from sunset until the time that they lost track of time ... when they heard someone prowling around in the bushes," Merritt said during news conference with her family Monday. Ukraine peace plan in limbo after inconclusive talks A plan for Ukrainian and separatists to pull back their troops and weapons in eastern Ukraine remained in limbo after another round of inconclusive talks Tuesday. Ukraine's newly-elected president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has sought to revive a long-stalled peace plan by pressing for a troop withdrawal and local elections in the nation's rebel-held east, where a five-year conflict between the separatists and Ukrainian troops has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. Zelenskiy has insisted the pullback of troops and an election plan are necessary for calling a summit with leaders of Russia, France and Germany, but he has faced stiff resistance from far-right and ultranationalist groups who call his moves a capitulation to Russia. US STOCKS-Wall Street gains after strong start to earnings season Wall Street rose 1% on Tuesday as strong earnings from JPMorgan, UnitedHealth and Johnson & Johnson allayed concerns about the fallout from a prolonged U.S.-China trade war on Corporate America. All three major stock indexes hit three-week highs after quarterly results from some of the largest U.S. banks showed strong consumer confidence in the face of recession fears that had led businesses to pull back on spending. Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co hit a record high, and lifted the S&P 500 banking sector to its highest level in a year. WeWork bond prices at record low on possible debt-heavy financing deal The price of WeWork's U.S. junk bond fell to an all-time low on Tuesday, last trading at 78 cents on the dollar, as the company weighed financing options including a package that may include at least $2 billion of unsecured notes with a 15% coupon. The office sharing company's May 2025 7.875% junk bond worth $702 million <96208LAA9=> was last down 12.5%, down 25.7% from a record high in mid-August. WeWork parent We Companies is leaning toward a near $5 billion financing package led by JPMorgan Chase & Co , instead of selling a controlling stake to Japan's SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T> , Bloomberg reported late on Monday. Nigeria's land borders closed to all goods - head of customs Nigeria has closed its land borders to all movement of goods and has no timeline for reopening them, the head of the nation's customs agency said. "All goods for now are banned from being exported or imported through our land borders and that is to ensure that we have total control over what comes in," Hameed Ali, comptroller-general of the Nigerian Customs Service told reporters in Abuja this week. UPDATE 1-Young Africans face poor job prospects as education deteriorates - report The quality of education and training provided by African countries has deteriorated since 2014, leaving many of the continent's growing population of young people ill-prepared to enter the job market, an influential report said on Tuesday. The African Governance Report 2019, which uses data from the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), the most comprehensive survey of its kind on the continent, found that enrolment and access to education was particularly low in the tertiary sector. "This has resulted in the burgeoning youth population being faced with increasing struggles when entering the job market," researchers at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation wrote ahead of a full report due to be published next year. NASA moves up 1st all-female spacewalk to fix power unit NASA is moving up the first all-female spacewalk to this week because of a power system failure at the International Space Station. Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir will now venture out Thursday or Friday, instead of next Monday, to deal with the problem. It will be the first spacewalk by only women in more than a half-century of spacewalking. Fewer emergency surgeries, more deaths in British hospitals vs U.S. Deaths in the hospital were significantly higher in England for all seven types of abdominal emergencies analyzed in the study, suggesting that some of these deaths might be attributable to not having received surgery to correct the problem, researchers write in Annals of Surgery. Differences between England's publicly-funded National Health Service and the private medical centers of the U.S. may influence the availability of resources and services, "including life-saving treatment in an emergency setting," Sheraz R. Markar of Imperial College London and St. George's University of London and colleagues write. UPDATE 2-Fortnite launches "Chapter 2" after Call of Duty challenge Epic Games' launched a "Chapter 2" reboot of its battle royale smash hit "Fortnite" on Tuesday, drawing the eyeballs of millions of gamers globally as it bid to halt defections to rivals "Apex Legends" and "Call of Duty". Fortnite, which as of earlier this year had 250 million registered players https://www.pcgamesn.com/fortnite/fortnite-battle-royale-player-numbers, has been down since Sunday, giving users no option other than staring at a black screen after a season-ending in-game event where its original island was sucked into a black hole. The changes, hashtagged #FirstDrop, were received well by gamers, with 'Fortnite is back' trending on U.S. Twitter with 13 thousand tweets. Deputies ask man to quit calling about his stolen marijuana Authorities say a Florida man repeatedly called 911 to report that his roommate had stolen his marijuana. A deputy for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office posted a Twitter response to the man's calls Saturday night: Stop calling. Deputy Neal Zalva says in the Twitter video that he called the man back to tell him to quit contacting the sheriff's office about his stolen marijuana. Netanyahu asks Putin to pardon American-Israeli jailed on drug charges Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to pardon an American-Israeli woman sentenced to 7-1/2 years in jail for a few grams of cannabis found in her luggage at a Moscow airport. Naama Issachar's case has opened up an unusually public rift between Israel and Russia. Mexican president confirms Pemex union boss under investigation The veteran leader of Mexico's powerful oil workers' union faces formal accusations of wrongdoing, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday, slowly turning up pressure on the labor boss to step aside. Earlier this year, sources said the attorney general's office had accused Pemex union chief Carlos Romero Deschamps and several relatives of illicit enrichment and money laundering, charges he has consistently denied. "Complaints have been presented to the attorney general's office," Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference. Florida jury spares life of man who killed law professor A Florida jury took a half hour Tuesday to spare the life of a man they convicted last week in the slaying of a Florida State University law professor who was gunned down in his garage. Instead, a Leon County judge sentenced Sigfredo Garcia to spend the rest of his life in prison for his role in the killing of law professor Dan Markel five years ago. The case had riveted Florida's capital as sordid details began to emerge about a messy divorce, tensions with in-laws and child custody battles that culminated in a murder-for-hire plot. American lawyer fatally shot in Pacific nation of Micronesia, officials say An American lawyer was shot and killed on the Pacific nation of Micronesia on Monday evening, officials said. Rachelle Bergeron was shot as she returned home from her daily jog on the tiny island of Yap, where she served as acting attorney general of Yap State. UPDATE 1-Democrat Warren rejects money from big tech, bank execs in White House bid U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren said on Tuesday she will not accept campaign contributions of more than $200 from executives at large tech companies, big banks, private equity firms or hedge funds, escalating her quest to eliminate the influence of moneyed interests on her campaign. Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts who has made anti-corruption efforts a focus of her White House bid, has called for a breakup of big tech companies and recently attacked Facebook's political advertising policies. The White House hopeful had likewise pledged to not take money from federal lobbyists, rejected large contributions from executives at fossil fuel and big pharmaceutical companies and said she would not accept support from a type of well-funded political action committee known as a Super PAC. The Latest: No kids in schoolyard when homemade bomb blew up Montana authorities say they are searching for additional explosive devices after a small homemade bomb blew up in an elementary school playground in Helena. Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton says school officials blocked off the area and phoned police minutes before classes began for the day around 8:20 a.m. The explosion did not damage any property. UPDATE 1-U.S. to mount pressure on Turkey to halt Syria offensive, may increase sanctions -U.S. official The United States will mount diplomatic pressure on Turkey and threaten Ankara with more sanctions to persuade it to reach a ceasefire and halt its military offensive in northeastern Syria, a senior administration official said on Tuesday. A week after reversing U.S. policy and moving troops out of the way to allow Turkey to attack Washington's Syrian Kurdish allies, President Donald Trump announced a package of sanctions to punish Ankara but Turkey ignored the penalties and pressed on with its assault on Tuesday. UPDATE 1-Prince William highlights UK's 'unique bonds' with Pakistan during visit with wife Kate Britain's Prince William said the United Kingdom and Pakistan share "unique bonds" in a speech at the country's national monument in Islamabad on Tuesday evening during a five-day visit to the South Asian nation with his wife Kate. Prince William spoke of the warm welcome and delicious food they had experienced in Pakistan after arriving on Monday evening and visiting local school children and Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan. "The UK and Pakistan share unique bonds and so it will always be in our best interests for you to succeed," William said at the event hosted by the British High Commission, adding that 1.5 million people living in the UK had Pakistani heritage and the UK was one of Pakistan's top investors. UPDATE 1-France, Britain try to revive fight against Islamic State; decry Turkey, U.S. France and Britain on Tuesday accused Turkey and the United States of undoing five years worth of work in fighting Islamic State and scrambled to define how to react should militants escape prisons and camps in Syria. Turkey has pressed on with its assault against Kurdish militias in northern Syria, while the Russia-backed Syrian army roared into one of the most hotly contested cities abandoned by U.S. forces in President Donald Trump's retreat. What's at stake for each of the 12 Democrats in Tuesday's debate Tonight's goal: A plurality of Americans now say they believe Trump's accusations are hurting Biden's prospects of becoming the Democratic nominee. Tonight's goal: It's all about Iowa. Tonight's goal: His campaign hopes the debate will mark Sanders's triumphant return to the trail. Kremlin envoy says Turkish military must not stay in Syria Russia's presidential envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, said on Tuesday that Turkey has no right to deploy its forces in Syria permanently. Speaking to journalists in Abu Dhabi about the Turkish military operation in Syria, he said that, according to earlier agreements, Turkish military can only cross into Syria and go 5-10 kilometres into its territory. Dutch police investigate family living in isolation on farm Dutch authorities were Tuesday trying to piece together the story of a family found living isolated from the outside world in the rural east of the Netherlands. Mayor Roger de Groot said that the six-member family is believed to have lived for nine years on a farm in Ruinerwold, 130 kilometers (80 miles) northeast of Amsterdam. Dutch media reported that the family was made up of five adult siblings and their father. UPDATE 1-New Pratt engine checks after Swiss A220 diverts to Paris PARIS/VIENNA, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Pratt & Whitney recommended checks on engines on Airbus A220 aircraft and some Embraer jets after a Geneva-bound Swiss jet diverted to Paris with an engine problem, prompting the grounding of the rest of the airline's A220 fleet. French air accident investigators classified the problem that disrupted the Swiss flight shortly after departure from London Heathrow as a "serious incident" and said it would be investigated by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. Swiss, owned by Germany's Lufthansa, said it had grounded its fleet of 29 Airbus A220 jets for a review of their engines. UPDATE 2-Trump administration proposes plan to raise U.S. biofuels use -EPA The Trump administration, in an effort to mend fences with the powerful corn lobby, proposed a deal on Tuesday to offset waivers for oil refiners exempting them from the nation's biofuel blending requirements. The proposed plan would calculate the volume of biofuels U.S. refiners have to blend by using a three-year average of exempted gallons as recommended by the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency said. This will potentially boost demand for biofuels like ethanol, a response to farmers outraged by the EPA's decision in August to exempt 31 oil refineries from their obligations under the nation's Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Police: Popped balloon led to evacuation of Florida mall Police say a popped balloon was what prompted erroneous reports of an active shooter at a Florida mall, triggering an evacuation of shoppers and massive police response. The Boca Raton Police Department said in a statement Tuesday that surveillance video shows a janitor popped the balloon in the food court of the Town Center mall on Sunday after it got tangled in his pushcart. Romanian president asks Ludovic Orban to form new government Romania's president has nominated Ludovic Orban of the center-right National Liberal Party to form a new government and become the country's next prime minister. Orban has 10 days from Iohannis' announcement on Tuesday to gain the support of parliament, which must approve the new government. Orban's nomination comes after the Social Democratic government led by Viorica Dancila, beset by corruption scandals, lost a no-confidence vote in the legislature last week. Felicity Huffman reports to prison to serve 14-day sentence in 'Varsity Blues' college entrance scam Oscar-nominated actress Felicity Huffman, who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the massive "Varsity Blues" college entrance scandal that ensnared her and dozens of parents, reported to a Northern California prison on Tuesday to begin serving a 14-day sentence, according to her representative. Huffman was sentence in September by Boston federal court Judge Indira Talwani after the actress pleaded guilty earlier this year to a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Reward offered for Alabama toddler kidnapped from party One minute, police said, 3-year-old Kamille McKinney was playing outside at a birthday party on a cool fall night. Investigators say they've since located the vehicle and arrested two people they call persons of interest, but the mystery remained Tuesday: What happened to the little girl everyone calls Cupcake? Gov. Kay Ivey's office announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the child's disappearance, and police expanded an amber alert to neighboring states, seeking information about the girl. Lululemon investigates Bangladesh factory over workers' treatment Canadian yoga pants specialist, Lululemon Athletica Inc, said on Tuesday it was investigating a factory in Bangladesh over the treatment of female workers making its clothes. Factory workers said they were verbally abused, beaten, forced to work overtime and paid about 85 pounds ($110) a month - less than the cost of a pair of leggings sold by the company - according to an investigation by The Guardian newspaper. The rights of workers in Bangladesh, a global manufacturing hub, have come under increased scrutiny in recent years, particularly since the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013 that killed more than 1,100 people. UPDATE 1-Royal Mail union votes overwhelmingly in favour of a nationwide strike Britain's Royal Mail staff want to go on a nationwide strike, the Communications Workers Union (CWU) said on Tuesday, after it alleged that the company failed to adhere to a pension deal signed last year. CWU said more than 97% of a ballot of roughly 110,000 British postal workers were in favour of going on strike. Some 76% of its members working in Royal Mail voted in the ballot, the union said https://www.cwu.org/press_release/postal-workers-deliver-record-yes-vote-for-national-strike-action. Catalans keep up pressure for split from Spain with second day of protests Demonstrators blocked a train station and several motorways in Spain's Catalonia region on Tuesday, a second day of protests over Monday's jailing of nine separatists by the supreme court over their role in a failed secession bid. Police intervened to remove the protesters, who had turned out in smaller numbers than on Monday, while a rally in central Barcelona closed a main thoroughfare to traffic and pro-independence leaders vowed to keep pushing for a new referendum. Various other rallies were planned for later in the day and pro-independence labour union confederation IAC announced a general strike in Catalonia on Friday against labour laws which unions say infringe workers' rights. Bulgaria to release Australian Palfreeman from detention centre Bulgaria will release Jock Palfreeman from an immigration detention centre on Tuesday, more than three weeks after a court granted parole to the Australian convicted of murder, a senior interior ministry official said. Palfreeman's parole angered nationalist politicians in the Balkan country and has prompted the chief prosecutor to ask for a review of the ruling by the country's highest court, which now has two months come up with a decision. The case has strained relations between Bulgaria and Australia, whose Foreign Minister Marise Payne has expressed "deep disappointment" that Palfreeman was still in custody after being granted parole. French police teargas protesting firefighters in Paris French police fired tear gas and water cannons on Tuesday in clashes with firefighters protesting in Paris over their working conditions. Thousands of firefighters from across the country attended the protest in the French capital, calling for better pay, guarantees of their pension benefits and greater respect for their profession. Firefighters tried to climb the steel barriers around France's lower house of parliament while police officers threw teargas grenades at them, a Reuters journalist reported. Nigerian police raid frees scores of beaten, starved boys For the second time in a month, police in northern Nigeria have raided a building where hundreds of boys were held in dehumanizing conditions, officials said Tuesday. This time, the building was discovered in President Muhammadu Buhari's hometown, putting pressure on him to act against the practice of sending children to institutions run by Islamic scholars rather than conventional schools. More than 300 boys had been held in the building raided on Monday in Daura, Katsina state police spokesman Gambo Isa told The Associated Press. Exploded device discovered at Montana school, no injuries Authorities found the remnants of a small homemade bomb that blew up in an elementary school playground in Helena on Tuesday morning. No threat was made against Rossiter Elementary school before the exploded bomb packed in a duct tape-wrapped soda bottle was found, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said. "There's a lot of unanswered questions," Dutton said. TikTok brings in ex-U.S. congressmen to review content policies TikTok will bring in an external group comprising former U.S. congressmen to review and advise on its content moderation policies including on child safety, misinformation and hate speech, the popular Chinese-owned video app said on Tuesday. The group, K&L Gates, will work with TikTok's internal U.S. management team, the company said. The group includes former congressmen Bart Gordon and Jeff Denham. Native American group seeks to slow Alamo church renovation A Native American group is calling on officials to slow down the renovation of the Alamo church in San Antonio, after archaeological reports showed human remains were found at the property. The Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation filed a federal lawsuit last month seeking to halt the $450 million makeover of the sacred shrine that's on track to be completed by 2024. The San Antonio Express-News reports the group wants a say in what happens to unearthed human remains because many group members are descendants of people who lived near the site. Sheriff: Still unknown how Wyoming teen knew her killer Detectives are still trying to find out how a Wyoming girl met the 17-year-old charged with killing her in his basement in South Dakota, the sheriff overseeing the investigation said Tuesday. Meade County Sheriff Ron Merwin said Shayna Ritthaler, 16, was shot once in the head by the defendant, who is charged as an adult with second-degree murder. The Associated Press isn't naming the defendant because his lawyer is trying to get the case moved to juvenile court. Pro-Brexit lawmaker Baker says optimistic a tolerable deal can be struck The leader of the strongly pro-Brexit faction within Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party said he was optimistic that a tolerable deal could be struck with the European Union that he could vote for in parliament. Steve Baker, the head of the European Research Group which wants a cleaner break with Brussels, told reporters after he emerged from a meeting in Johnson's office that he was very pleased the government was making progress. U.S. to push diplomacy in bid to halt Syria attacks, may increase sanctions -U.S. official The United States plans to focus on a diplomatic push for a ceasefire in Syria, a senior U.S. State Department official told reporters on Tuesday as Turkey pressed on with its assault on northern Syria and ignored the threat of U.S. sanctions. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Trump administration would continue pressuring Turkey as the United States evaluated the situation, adding that sanctions could increase if the crisis is not resolved. Pharrell Williams says embarrassed by sexist hit song 'Blurred Lines' American singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams said he was "embarrassed" by one of his biggest pop hits, the 2013 song "Blurred Lines", having realised that the lyrics were "rapey". The song, which Williams recorded with singer-songwriter Robin Thicke and rapper T.I., was banned from a list of universities after its lyrics were panned for promoting a culture of date-rape and its sexually explicit video. Williams, 46, whose songs also include "Happy", defended the song in earlier interviews despite coming under attack for lyrics such as "I know you want it". Community grieves for girl who fell from festival ride, died A New Jersey community left flowers and balloons and flew flags at half-staff in memory of a 10-year-old girl who died after plunging from a ride at a festival over the weekend. Hailey McMullen, of Deerfield Township, was ejected from a Wisdom Super Sizzler "Extreme" ride Saturday night that was part of the annual Harvest Festival staged in the small Cumberland County town. UPDATE 1-Tourists stranded as Barcelona airport cancels more flights after protests Hundreds of travellers were stranded at Barcelona's El Prat airport on Tuesday when 45 flights were cancelled in addition to more than a hundred grounded on Monday due to protests by Catalan independence supporters, the airport authority said. Barcelona's airport, Spain's second largest, was the focal point of the protests, with thousands of people gathering there following the jailing of nine separatist Catalan leaders by the Spanish Supreme Court. Jordi Munoz, a spokesman for Spanish airport operator Aena told Reuters no delays or cancellations were planned for Wednesday, and Tuesday had been largely calm. REFILE-Notre-Dame restoration yet to start six months after the blaze Six months after the massive fire that almost razed Paris' Notre-Dame, the restoration work at the iconic cathedral has not started in earnest and the official reopening date is yet to be determined, officials said on Tuesday. "We're still in the first phase, the phase of securing (the monument's structure) which is lasting longer than initially planned," said Monsignor Patrick Chauvet, the top administrative cleric of Notre-Dame. "Then there will be the second phase, dedicated to assessing the situation, we will work out how much the restoration will cost. FACTBOX-Brexit to budgets: the key themes at this week's EU summit EU national leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss some of the biggest issues facing the bloc, including the prospect of a member state leaving for the first time and two countries looking to join. While cliffhanger negotiations for Britain's Brexit deal should dominate the summit, the crisis in Turkey and Syria and the EU's next seven-year-budget will also take up much of the leaders' time. This is the last summit scheduled before Britain's current date of exit from the union of Oct. 31. Mozambique votes in a crucial test of recent peace deal Mozambique turned to vote-counting on Tuesday in an election that tests a wary peace in the southern African nation of nearly 30 million people, while scattered incidents of ballot-stuffing were reported and observers in several provinces were restricted from doing their work. Acceptance of the presidential, parliamentary and provincial election results is a key test of the ceasefire signed in August between the government and opposition Renamo rebels after years of skirmishes following a 15-year civil war that killed an estimated 1 million people. The ruling Frelimo party, which has governed since Mozambique's independence from Portugal in 1975, is expected to be returned to power. Disney unveils new official trailer for live-action 'Lady and the Tramp' Disney just released the second official trailer for its exclusive reimagining of "Lady and the Tramp," and it's giving us all the feels! Featuring the vocal talents of Tessa Thompson, Justin Theroux, Janelle Monáe and Sam Elliot, the movie is a modern remake of the 1955 animated classic and we're getting a glimpse of more of the new, live version of the timeless tale. Lady soon finds herself alone on the streets in an unwelcoming part of town. The Latest: Arrest warrant released in Fort Worth shooting Fort Worth's police chief reiterated that a white officer's fatal shooting of a black woman in her home was inexcusable, as an arrest warrant was released quoting the victim's 8-year-old nephew saying she pointed a gun at a window when they heard suspicious noises outside. Without directly addressing the child's account, interim Police Chief Ed Kraus said Tuesday that the victim, Atatiana Jefferson, behaved as any Texas homeowner would do if he or she heard a prowler. Aaron Dean was arrested on a murder charge late Monday in the shooting early Saturday morning. Correction: Alabama Kidnapping story In a story Oct. 14 about a 3-year-old girl's abduction in Alabama, The Associated Press reported erroneously that she was taken from her birthday party. A police spokesman has confirmed that it was not the girl's birthday party. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Authorities in Alabama have taken a person of interest into custody in the kidnapping of a 3-year-old girl, who remains missing.

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