By JACK BROOK

A copy of the first Superman issue, unearthed by three brothers cleaning out their late mother’s attic, netted $9.12 million this month at a Texas auction house which says it is the most expensive comic book ever sold.

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The brothers discovered the comic book in a cardboard box beneath layers of brittle newspapers, dust and cobwebs in their deceased mother’s San Francisco home last year, alongside a handful of other rare comics that she and her sibling had collected on the cusp of World War II.

She had told her children she had a valuable comic book collection hidden away, but they had never seen it until they put her house up for sale and decided to comb through the basement for heirlooms, said Lon Allen, vice president of comics at Heritage Auctions. The brothers uncovered the box of comics and sent a message to the auction company, leading Allen to fly out to San Francisco earlier this year to inspect their copy of “Superman No. 1” and show it to other experts for appraisal.

“It was just in an attic, sitting in a box, could have easily been thrown away, could’ve easily been destroyed in a thousand different ways,” Allen said. “A lot of people got excited because it’s just every factor in collecting that you could possibly want all rolled into one.”

The “Superman No. 1” comic, released in 1939 by Detective Comics Inc., is one of a small number of copies known to be in existence and is in excellent condition. The Man of Steel was the first superhero to enter pop culture, helping boost the copy’s value among collectors, alongside its improbable backstory, Allen said.

The previous record for the world’s most expensive comic book had been set last year, when an “Action Comics No. 1” — which first introduced Superman to the world as part of an anthology — sold for $6 million. In 2022, another Superman No. 1 sold for $5.3 million.

A small, in-house advertisement in the comic book helped experts identify it as originating from the first edition of 500,000 Superman No. 1 copies ever printed. Allen estimates there are fewer than 500 in existence today.

The copy was not given any special protection, but the cool Northern California climate helped preserve it, leaving it with a firm spine, vibrant colors and crisp corners, according to a statement from Dallas-based Heritage Auctions. The copy was rated a 9.0 out of 10 by comics grading company CGC, meaning it had only the slightest signs of wear and aging.

The three brothers, in their 50s and 60s, did not wish to be identified due to the windfall involved nor did the buyer of the comic book, according to the auction house.

“This isn’t simply a story about old paper and ink,” one brother said in a statement released by the auction house. “This was never just about a collectible. This is a testament to memory, family and the unexpected ways the past finds its way back to us.”

Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

By SEUNG MIN KIM

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is circulating a proposal that would extend subsidies to help consumers pay for coverage under the Affordable Care Act for two more years, as millions of Americans face spiking health care costs when the current tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year.

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The draft plan suggests that President Donald Trump is open to extending a provision of Obamacare as his administration and congressional Republicans search for a broader policy solution to a fight that has long flummoxed the party. The White House stresses that no plan is final until Trump announces it.

The subsidies were at the heart of the Democrats’ demands in the government shutdown fight that ended earlier this month. Most Democratic lawmakers had insisted on a straight extension of the tax credits, which expire at the end of the year as a condition of keeping the government open.

Eligibility for the Obamacare subsidies, which were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic to help people afford health care coverage, would be capped at 700% of the federal poverty level, according to two people with knowledge of the proposal. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss a White House proposal that is in draft form.

The baseline tax credits that were originally part of the Affordable Care Act were capped at 400% of the federal poverty level, but that cut-off was suspended because of the temporary COVID-era credits that allowed middle- and higher-income people to benefit from subsidies too.

The White House would also require those on Obamacare, regardless of the type of coverage, to pay some sort of premium for their Obamacare plans. That would effectively end zero-premium plans for those with lower incomes, addressing a concern from Republicans that the program has enabled fraud. One option is a requirement that everyone pay 2% of their income, or at least $5 per month, for lower-tier plans.

Even as the White House’s proposal remains in flux, the notion of extending any part of President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement is likely to rankle conservatives who have sought to repeal and replace the law for well over a decade.

“Until President Trump makes an announcement himself, any reporting about the administration’s health care positions is mere speculation,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said Monday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday afternoon that Trump “is very much involved in these talks” and that he is “focused on unveiling a health care proposal that will fix the system and will bring down costs for consumers.”

But there are signs that parts of the nascent White House plan could get buy-in from Democrats. New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, one of eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus who voted to reopen the government earlier this month, said it “represents a starting point for serious negotiations.”

“The fact that President Trump is putting forward any offer at all to extend the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits shows that there is a broad understanding that inaction in this regard will cause serious harm to the American people,” Hassan said.

In 2017, Trump fell short in a push to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, an embarrassing defeat for Republicans who had just seized control of all levers of power in Washington. The GOP has failed to coalesce around a unified health care proposal since, and the expiration of the pandemic-era subsidies gives Trump and his party an opportunity to put their own stamp on the issue.

As the White House worked quietly on its plan, led by the Domestic Policy Council, key lawmakers on Capitol Hill have drafted their own proposals. For instance, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy and others have proposed various ideas for redirecting the program’s spending on federal subsidies into health savings accounts that enrollees could use to shop for plans or defray out-of-pocket costs.

The draft of the White House plan would allow those in lower-tier plans, such as the bronze-level or catastrophic plans, to put money into health savings accounts.

It would also codify the “program integrity rule” to further help root out fraud, waste and abuse.

Americans shopping for Obamacare coverage have already faced the sticker shock of price hikes, because the window for selecting next year’s coverage began Nov. 1. Without congressional action, the average subsidized enrollee will face more than double their current cost in premiums next year, according to an analysis by the health care research nonprofit KFF.

Recent national polls have shown Americans are concerned about health care costs, along with broader affordability issues. Those concerns played out in elections earlier this month, which swept to power Democrats whose political messaging focused on the rising cost of living.

Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein in Washington and Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.

“The real issue is that there are too few systems and spaces intentionally created for them to engage, learn, and grow. The crisis is not boys. The crisis is belonging.”

Basketball in Brooklyn Bridge Park on August 20, 2018. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Headlines about “teen takeovers” keep surfacing in New York and cities across the U.S. In the first day of classes this year in Brooklyn, large crowds of teens rushed the Barclays Center and the Atlantic Terminal Mall, prompting many city and community leaders to call for more after-school programs. Last spring in Chicago, the city was forced to renew curfews and warnings as large youth gatherings were organized online. 

Commentators cite falling test scores, rising loneliness, and these kinds of viral clips of crowding downtown streets as proof that teens—and especially boys and young men—are angry, detached, and in decline.

But that framing misses the mark. Boys are not inherently in crisis, they are responding to one. The real issue is that there are too few systems and spaces intentionally created for them to engage, learn, and grow. The crisis is not boys. The crisis is belonging.

When institutions fail to offer developmentally attuned “third spaces” with caring adults, boys don’t simply retreat into apathy. They go looking for community on their own. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg described “third places” as the informal, low-barrier environments outside home and school where people form connection and identity.

Those spaces have largely vanished, replaced by screens, commercial venues, or programs that prioritize structure over self-expression. Cities need accessible, teen-affirming environments that don’t require spending money, scoring points, or earning entry.

Research confirms that connection is a protective factor, one of the strongest predictors of lifelong health and well-being. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, school connectedness has lasting effects on physical and mental health. Youth who feel connected at school are less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, misuse substances, experience violence, or struggle with mental health challenges in adulthood. In other words, belonging isn’t sentimental; it’s essential.

The CDC also notes that structured opportunities for interaction, like physical education, recess, and group activities, teach conflict resolution, empathy, and cooperation. These “practice grounds” give boys space to develop respect, resilience, and self-control. When we eliminate or underfund them, we remove the very conditions that help young people become emotionally literate adults.

Yet instead of investing in connection, we often double down on control; curfews, surveillance, and punitive systems that treat boys as threats rather than individuals seeking affirmation. That approach may suppress symptoms in the short term, but it does nothing to address the root cause: isolation.

This is where mentoring and intentional design can transform outcomes. Research from the American Journal of Community Psychology shows that youth mentoring programs produce measurable improvements when they focus on relationships over rules. Participants in Big Brothers Big Sisters, for example, were less likely to initiate substance use, skipped fewer days of school, and showed fewer violent incidents. The lesson is clear: when boys experience trust and continuity, their choices change.

In my more than three decades working with boys and young men, I’ve seen this play out every day. The most effective mentorship doesn’t come from rigid programs, it emerges organically in spaces built for belonging. It’s a brotherhood developed over time. Relationships that are reliable and endure before, during and after life’s celebrations, hardships, and milestones. Unforced connection that turns into powerful bonds we witness every day, like when a young alumnus in college visits his clubhouse just because he “misses his brothers.” True mentorship isn’t hierarchical; it’s interwoven. Peers, near-peers, and adults all reinforce the same message: you matter here.

Belonging is not something we can impose; it’s something we strategically design for. Boys rarely show up asking for guidance. They come for what excites them: basketball, robotics, music, etc., and stay because they find friendship, trust, and a sense of being known. When we fund and replicate spaces that make that possible, we replace alienation with purpose.

After years of watching boys grow into men, I’ve learned this: boys don’t need saving—they need seeing. If we respond to their need for belonging with empathy instead of alarm, connection instead of control, we can shift the story entirely.

The next time we see headlines about teens filling city streets, we might not see chaos—we might see a generation asking us, in the only language they have, to make room for them.

Stephen Tosh is the CEO and executive director of The Boys’ Club of New York.

The post Opinion: Rethinking the ‘Boys’ Crisis’ appeared first on City Limits.

BY SAMY MAGDY

CAIRO (AP) — Sudan’s top general rejected a ceasefire proposal provided by U.S.-led mediators in a blow to efforts to stop a devastating war that has gripped the African country for over 30 months.

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In video comments released by the military late Sunday, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan said the proposal was unacceptable and “the worst yet,” accusing the mediators of being “biased” in their efforts to end the war.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

The devastating war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to U.N. figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher. It created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes, fueled disease outbreaks and pushed parts of the country into famine.

The mediators, known as the Quad, have been trying for over two years to bring an end to the fighting and reestablish a path to democratic transition which was hampered by a military coup in 2021. They are comprised of the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

This month, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he plans to put greater attention on helping find an end to Sudan’s war after being urged to take action by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit to the White House.

On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire and for both the military and the RSF to negotiate a settlement.

Writing on social platform X, he also called for a “safe & unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid,” as well as an end to arms and fighters transfer to Sudan.

“We need peace in Sudan,” Guterres said.

Massad Boulos, a U.S. adviser for African affairs, told The Associated Press earlier this month that the latest proposal calls for a three-month humanitarian truce followed by a nine-month political process.

Sudanese families displaced from El-Fasher reach out as aid workers distribute food supplies at the newly established El-Afadh camp in Al Dabbah, in Sudan’s Northern State, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)

The RSF said it has agreed to the truce, following global outrage over the paramilitaries’ atrocities in the Darfur city of el-Fasher. In a video speech late Monday, the paramilitary commander Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo reiterated the group’s commitment to a three-month humanitarian truce and called for mediators to pressure the military to accept the proposal.

Burhan, Sudan’s top general, said however that the proposal “is considered the worst document yet,” since it “eliminates the Armed Forces, dissolves security agencies and keeps the militia where they are” — referring to the RSF.

“If the mediation continues in this direction, we will consider it to be biased mediation,” he said.

He lashed out at the U.S. adviser and accused him of attempting to “impose some conditions on us.”

“We fear that Massad Boulos will be an obstacle to the peace that all the people of Sudan seek,” Burhan said, without given further details about the plan.

In his comments, Burhan also took aim at the UAE. He said that since the Quad includes the Gulf country as a member, the mediation group was “not innocent of responsibility, especially since the entire world has witnessed the UAE’s support for the rebels against the Sudanese State.”

In a statement Monday, the UAE’s Foreign Ministry said Burhan, through his rejection of the ceasefire proposal, showed “obstructive behavior,” which it said “must be called out.”

Sudanese women displaced from El-Fasher cook meals at a community kitchen inside the newly established El-Afadh camp in Al Dabbah, in Sudan’s Northern State, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)

The UAE is widely accused by rights groups of arming the paramilitaries. The AP reported earlier this month that U.S. intelligence assessments for many months have found that the Emirates, a close U.S. ally, has been sending weapons to the RSF, according to a U.S. official familiar with the classified reports who spoke on condition of anonymity to share details.

The UAE denies backing the paramilitaries.

Burhan denied that the military is controlled by Islamists or that it used chemical weapons in its fighting against the RSF — an accusation leveled by the Trump administration in May.

Burhan said the military will only agree to a truce when the RSF completely withdraws from civilian areas to allow the return of displaced people to their homes, before embarking on talks for a political settlement to the conflict.

“We’re not warmongers, and we don’t reject peace,” he said, “but no one can threaten us or dictate terms to us.”

Lee Keath in Cairo contributed to this report.