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In the news today: A White House plan to extend Obamacare subsidies; deadly Russian attacks on Ukraine during peace talks; and new revelations about Kash Patel’s gun gifts. Also, a rare comic book sells for more than $9 million.

President Donald Trump waves to the media from the South Lawn upon his arrival at the White House, Saturday, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

POLITICS

White House circulates a plan to extend Obamacare subsidies as Trump pledges health care fix

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. Read more.

What to know:

• 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.
  
  

• Even as the 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.
  
  

• 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.

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• Trump administration plan to reduce access to some student loans angers nurses, health care groups
  
  
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WORLD NEWS

Russian attacks kill at least 7 in Ukraine while peace talks are underway

Russia launched a wave of attacks on Kyiv overnight, with at least seven people killed in strikes that hit city buildings and energy infrastructure. A Ukrainian attack on southern Russia killed three people and damaged homes, authorities said. Read more.

What to know:

• The large-scale attacks come during a renewed U.S. push to end the war that has raged for nearly four years and talks about a U.S.-brokered peace plan. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll met with Russian officials for several hours in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, a U.S. official confirmed to The Associated Press.
  
  

• The latest attacks followed peace-plan talks in Switzerland between U.S. and Ukraine representatives. Oleksandr Bevz, a delegate from the Ukrainian side, told the AP that the talks had been “very constructive” and the two sides were able to discuss most points.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Zelenskyy faces growing pressures in a crucial week
  
  
• Photos show aftermath of Russian deadly attacks on Kyiv

US NEWS

3D-printed guns FBI Director Kash Patel gave to New Zealand officials were inspired by Nerf guns

Inoperable pistols gifted by FBI Director Kash Patel to senior New Zealand security officials, who had to relinquish them for destruction because they were illegal to possess, were revolvers inspired by toy Nerf guns and popular among amateur 3D-printed weapons hobbyists, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Read more.

What to know:

• Pistols are tightly restricted under New Zealand law, requiring a permit beyond a standard gun license. Law enforcement agencies didn’t say whether the officials who met with Patel held such permits, but without them they couldn’t have legally kept the gifts.
  
  

• The AP first reported that Patel gifted plastic 3D-printed replica revolvers as part of display stands given to New Zealand’s police and spy chiefs, along with two cabinet ministers in July. Patel was in Wellington to open the FBI’s first standalone office in the country. A spokesperson for him didn’t respond to a request for comment on Monday.

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Eyewitness: