Hard times haven't deterred auction-goers from putting up their hands to buy art, reports Lesley Springall

Madonna appears to take a cheeky swipe at Lady Gaga during rehearsals for her upcoming world tour.

The grandparents of NZ triplets killed in a fire at a daycare centre in a Doha mall are travelling to Qatar to support their grief-stricken mother and father.

Masada is worth the while it takes to get there, and the stamina you need to stay there, says Simon Calder.

In Oman, Jim Eagles finds the picturesque fishing village of Quriyat refreshingly different.

This unusual avian hospital is the biggest of its kinds in the world. Wealthy Arabs from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar bring their prized hunting birds here to have their broken wings fixed... or simply to be fussed over.

Maybe it's the larrikin in me but I never tire of careering over desert sands in four-wheel-drives.

Unlike some desert landscapes, Oman's interior is extremely mountainous - sand and gravel deserts are broken up by rugged, striated, folded mountains in which nestle oases or wadis (river beds).

Invaders hoping to capture Oman's Nizwa fort in centuries past would have had some medieval defence methods to deal with.

The inland Omani town of Nizwa is separated from the Gulf of Oman and the city of Muscat by the Jebel Akhdar mountains. It is home to the largest fort on the Arabian Peninsula and is still a great place to buy traditional Omani wares.

Thank God it's Friday takes on a different meaning in Israel, says Damien Grant.