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.

This dramatic fortress, perched high above Israel's Negev Desert, was built by King Herod on the site of a former Bronze Age camp.

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.

Jim Eagles visits a falcon hospital in Abu Dhabi for an insight into this most majestic of birds.

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.