TOKYO

Lady Gaga says that if you want to help Japan recover from its tsunami disaster, come visit.

The flamboyant pop star, in Tokyo this week for a benefit concert for tsunami victims, said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press that she’s making a point to get out and enjoy the city and its food, and that her fans should do the same thing.

“I can’t say enough to people all over the world that the majority of Japan right now, Japan in general, is very safe,” she said. “It’s fine to come here. It’s beautiful.”

Many performers and athletes have canceled appearances in Japan after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that caused widespread destruction and set off a crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant about 140 miles (220 kilometers) north of Tokyo.

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Based on the huge volume of vacation bookings we’re seeing, 2011 is shaping up to be a great year for travel. One of the most common questions our expert vacation planners are being asked is what we are recommending this year as great vacation destinations. So we went directly to our experts for their recommendations and we’re sharing them with you.

1. Australia – This destination is both exotic and cosmopolitan, offering something for everyone including adventure, lots of attractions, good food, friendly people and fun! From the vineyards of Western Australia, to the vast Outback or the iconic Great Barrier Reef, there is no destination quite like Australia. Follo

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I feel very good about the recent chance discovery of a remarkable resource for finding university dorms around the world offering cut-rate housing for visitors: University Rooms .

This site acts as a broker for many colleges and universities looking to pad out their endowments by renting unused dorm space to passing tourists in the summer.

The savings are phenomenal: from a $32 single in London to a $78 double room by Lake Como in Italy to a $315 two-bedroom apartment in Barcelona that includes Wi-Fi and breakfast. Rates start as low as $30 to $50 for a single room, or $50 to $120 for a twin or double room .

Many include breakfast in the rates; some throw in dinner as well. Read more…

MEXICO CITY Assailants early Monday burst into the home of the deputy editor of a newspaper in the major port of Veracruz, gunning down the 55-year-old journalist, his wife and his son.

The executions were the latest in a particularly grim month for Mexican journalists, bolstering Mexico’s status as the most murderous place in the hemisphere to work in the media.

The Notiver newspaper in Veracruz where Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco worked as deputy editor, columnist and crime reporter said the gunmen smashed through the front door of the Lopez home with a heavy object around 5:30 a.m., then entered the bedrooms to execute the occupants.

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As teachers, weve all walked into a classroom with a scheduled reading assignment and had the entire class groan at another boring reading lesson at some point in our careers.

It’s easy to see why kids get bored so easily with reading assignments. Oftentimes, the assignments are boring, too difficult or simply aren’t age and level appropriate. Motivating ESL students to read is a tough business, and many teachers are often stumped as to how to make their reading assignments entertaining. It

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