Names and faces
■ The Nobel Peace Prize medal auctioned off by Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov to help displaced Ukrainian children sold for $103.5 million Monday night, breaking a record. The proceeds will go to UNICEF’s child refugee fund. The previous record was set at $4.76 million in 2014, when James Watson auctioned his 1962 award for co-discovering the double helix structure of DNA. Muratov, editor of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, said the auction results exceeded his expectations. “The most important message today is for people to understand that there is a war going on and we need to help people who are suffering the most,” he said. Muratov won the prize for promoting independent reporting in the face of growing authoritarianism. “Russia Is Bombing Ukraine” ran in big letters on the front page of his paper’s first issue after Moscow launched its invasion, with articles printed side by side in Russian and Ukrainian. A little over a month later, the newspaper announced it would suspend operations until the end of the conflict after getting another warning from Russia’s communications regulator. In April, after Muratov was doused with red paint and acetone on a train in Russia, the U.S. government said it concluded that Russian intelligence was behind the attack. His newspaper’s staff has endured assassinations and threats since the paper’s founding in 1993, although this is the first time it has suspended publication. Muratov, who has called for an antiwar movement, said he hoped the bid on his Nobel medal at an auction in New York would encourage others to donate. The event, organized by Heritage Auctions, coincided with World Refugee Day. “It has to become the beginning of a flash mob or as an example to follow, so people auction their valuable possessions to help Ukrainian refugees,” Muratov said.
■ A settlement agreement was reached on the eve of a second trial pitting the Kardashian family against former reality TV star Blac Chyna. Jury selection had been set to begin Monday in the trial over Chyna’s allegations that former fiance Rob Kardashian maliciously posted nude photos of her in 2017 after their tumultuous breakup, but according to court documents the parties informed the judge that they’d agreed to a settlement. The trial was to be a sequel of sorts to a defamation trial earlier this year in which Chyna, whose legal name is Angela White, alleged that Kardashian’s mother and sisters — Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner — had defamed her as violent and unstable, and persuaded producers and executives to cancel her reality show, “Rob & Chyna.” The Kardashians won a clear-cut victory in that trial last month.