PHOTO GALLERY

Oman, the Arab sheikhdom on the south eastern corner of the Arabian peninsula is on the beautifying spree. The oil rich kingdom of Qaboos has some of the world class parks. The Al Sahwa park is a major attraction on the road that leads from Airport in Muscat to the city. Its glades, meadows, gazebos and fountains make it the major attraction for the tourists and citizens of the Muscat.

FIFA which invited Iranian women's football team to take part in the Singapore Summer Olympics decided to forbid wearing hijab in the games. President of Iran Football Federation Ali Kafashian has requested it to reconsider the decision. He pointed out that Iranian women team will participate in the competitions only if they are allowed to observe the Hijab. Altogether 3,500 athletes from 170 countries are expected to participate in the 2010 Youth Summer Olympics.

Istanbul's Grand Bazaar (Kapalı Çarşı, or Covered Market) is Turkey's largest covered market offering excellent shopping: beautiful Turkish carpets, glazed tiles and pottery, copper and brassware, apparel made of leather, cotton and wool, meerschaum pipes, alabaster bookends and ashtrays, and all sorts of other things.

Most guidebooks claim that it has 4000 shops. Because of consolidation and replacement of shops by restaurants and other services the number is certainly lower, but one gets the idea: it has lots of shops. Not all of them, by the way, are for tourists; locals shop here as well, lending a welcome dose of authenticity.

In the above picture, a shop selling Turkish lamps displays its luminous ware and offers a visual feast: photo by A.Kilroy.

Dubai recently unveiled the world's longest and largest ambulance. Launched by the Dubai Ambulance Center (DAC), the 59 feet (18-metre) long vehicle can hold up to 44 patients.

According to Khalifa bin Darri, head of the Dubai Ambulance Center (DAC), " The ambulance will be a mobile hospital that immediately goes to the accident scene and rescues a large number of the injured who will get treatment inside till they are transferred to the hospital.

The ambulance features a helicopter landing pad on its roof as well as internet and satellite facilities for the doctors. With state-of-the-art operating rooms, an intensive care unit, a radiography room and an integrated pharmacy, the ambulance is more like a mobile hospital.

Darrisaid a number of serious accidents involving large number of victims urged the Center to launch the largest ambulance. Last year, 200 cars were involved in a single accident.