Latest international news

British novelist wins literature Nobel
Trinidad-born British writer V S Naipaul is the winner of this year's Nobel Prize for Literature. The citation says that it was awarded "for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories" 

US economists scoop Nobel
Three United States academics have been awarded the Nobel prize for economics for their research into the influence of information on markets. George Akerlof of the University of California at Berkeley, Michael Spence of Stanford University, and Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University will share the $943,000 award.

Student accused of document theft
A University of Wisconsin-Madison student has been accused of the theft of signatures of early American figures including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson while he was working at a Yale University library during the summer.

SA University appoints controversial v-c
The University of South Africa is standing by its decision to appoint human rights commission head Barney Pityana as vice-chancellor, despite opposition from education minister Kader Asmal.