Harvard student's novel goes from hot to not even for sale

NEW YORK -- Rarely has an author succeeded, then failed, soquickly as Kaavya Viswanathan, the Harvard University sophomore whoacknowledged lifting material for her debut novel, How Opal Mehta GotKissed, Got Wild and Got a Life.

Just weeks after her book was released with a first printing of100,000 and a wave of favorable attention, publisher Little, Brownand Co. announced Thursday it would be pulled from store shelves andthat retailers had been asked to return unsold copies.

Viswanathan, 19, has apologized repeatedly to author MeganMcCafferty, saying she had read McCafferty's books voraciously inhigh school and unintentionally mimicked them.

But …

LINGO YARNS

I allocated a little "me" time this weekend and went fishing over on the Owyhee River. My friends accompanying me are all expert fishermen and I felt inferior, but attempted to put up a good front like I knew what I was doing anyway. My "old school" fly rod and reel generated taunts from my fellow flyrodders, as if I had pulled out a musket rifle to go deer hunting.

Most of the fish were caught and dealt with easily by the long-distance-release method except for one forearm-length brown trout. I didn't get a single bite but one of our fishing crew said he's sure you get far more nibbles than you actually realize when fishing nymphs along the bottom. I'd like to believe that. I did …

Deutsche Post ready to cut jobs, costs in US

Deutsche Post AG is poised to announce thousands of job cuts at its DHL Express operations in the United States, possibly as early as Monday, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

The person said on condition of anonymity Sunday that the Bonn-based express mail and logistics company was poised to announce that the cutbacks at its DHL operations in the United States would affect between 12,000 and 13,000 jobs. The person was not authorized to speak to the media.

The cuts are part of a wider plan to curtail operations in the U.S., including ground deliveries, and would likely affect drivers, shipping clerks and warehouse workers. The …

Author sees crash in '89 fueled by collapse of oil

Imagine that the recent crash in oil prices (from $26 a barrelin January to around $11.40) is followed by a second, deadlier crash.This one sends crude prices skidding to below $5 a barrel.

The ominous result: a catastrophic period in which PresidentReagan is faced with a major financial crisis. He is forced todecide whether to close the banks just before he leaves office orrisk having the Federal Reserve Board go on a money-printing binge,putting hundreds of billions of new dollars into the sytem andsending inflation rocketing to at least 50 percent and probably a lothigher.

Sounds crazy, right?

Not to Paul Erdman, 53, the ex-banker and ex-con whose …

Late Payments Rise for Home Equity Loans

WASHINGTON - Late payments on home equity loans climbed to a 1 1/2-year high in the opening quarter of this year, while delinquencies on credit card bills fell, painting a mixed picture of how people are managing their debt.

The American Bankers Association, in its quarterly survey of consumer loans, reported Tuesday that late payments on home equity loans rose to 2.15 percent in the January-to-March quarter. That was up sharply from 1.92 percent in the final quarter of last year and was the highest since the late summer of 2005.

"There are still signs of consumer financial distress, which will continue throughout most of this year as the worst of the housing problem …

EUROPE NEWS AT 1815 GMT

STORIES PLANNED FOR WEDNESDAY, OCT. 26

EUROPE-FINANCIAL CRISIS

BRUSSELS — EU and eurozone leaders are due to meet and discuss a grand plan to resolve Europe's escalating debt crisis. But whether they could reach a deal was once again in doubt after officials said key parts of the package may not be ready in time.

GERMANY-FINANCIAL CRISIS

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses the German parliament on eurozone rescue efforts before a vote by lawmakers on plans to increase the firepower of the 17-nation bloc's rescue fund. Merkel then travels to Brussels for an EU summit. Speech due to start at 1000 GMT.

HUNGARY-POLITICS

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Former …

Thursday, December 29

Today is Thursday, Dec. 29, the 363rd day of 2011. There are 2 days left in the year.

Highlights in history on this date:

1170 - Archbishop Thomas Becket is slain at the altar in Cathedral of Canterbury, England.

1721 - French occupy Mauritius and rename it Ile de France.

1789 - Tippoo of Mysore attacks Rajah of Travancore, India.

1797 - French capture Mayence, France, from Holy Roman Empire forces.

1857 - British and French forces take Canton in China.

1890 - U.S. troops massacre 200 Sioux men, women, and children at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

1895 - L. Starr Jameson stages raid into Transvaal from Bechuanaland in South Africa.

1901 …