Travel

WASHINGTON - Safety officials say deaths of bicyclists and occupants of large trucks rose sharply last year even as total traffic fatalities dropped to their lowest level since 1949.

BILLINGS, Mont. - The shooting of collared grey wolves from Yellowstone National Park is prompting Montana wildlife commissioners to consider new restrictions against killing the predators in areas near the park.

ORURUO, Bolivia - The colonial-era house of worship known in Bolivia as the "Sistine Chapel of the Andes" was filled with flowers over the weekend for those celebrating two weddings and seven baptisms on the windswept mountain plateau.

LONDON - Police believe he was from Africa, probably from Angola, but they don't know his identity.

TORONTO - A massive duck-billed dinosaur looms over the dance floor at one of Toronto's newest hot spots, overlooking the DJ churning out throbbing house music. On the other side, a hulking Buddha sits cross-legged, its hands clasped in prayer.

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. - Coastal communities pummeled by Superstorm Sandy are rushing to rebuild their boardwalks in time for next summer. They're in a race to finish by the end of May to retain tourist money they will need next year more than ever.

Charles Dickens' London home has gone from "Bleak House" to "Great Expectations.

Distillers muse over what makes Irish whiskey special. They'll tell you it's the best

With this month's release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, New Zealand hopes to reclaim some of the Middle-earth magic that helped boost tourism after the success of the previous movie trilogy The Lord of the Rings.

Oscar Wilde once said, "We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language" - and it's still true. On your first trip to Britain, you'll find plenty of linguistic surprises.