DHAKA: The 2018 Nobel Prize for Literature is being postponed in the wake of a sexual and financial scandal that has engulfed the Swedish Academy, reports CNN.

The academy, one of Sweden's most highly respected institutions, made the announcement Friday morning (May 4) following a meeting of its remaining 10 active members Thursday evening (May 3).

"We find it necessary to commit time to recovering public confidence in the academy before the next laureate can be announced," Anders Olsson, the academy's permanent secretary, said in a statement. 

He said the academy was acting "out of respect for previous and future literature laureates, the Nobel Foundation and the general public."

The crisis centers on Jean-Claude Arnault, a leading cultural figure in Sweden and husband of Katarina Frostenson, one of the six academy members to step down.

Arnault, who has attended many Swedish Academy events, is facing multiple allegations of sexual assault and harassment, first reported in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter late last year.

The last time the literature prize was postponed was in 1943 at the height of World War II.

BDST: 1419 HRS, MAY 4, 2018
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