We are grateful to KAUST for giving our chairman Dr. Ghazi Binzagr the opportunity to participate in their annual Winter Enrichment Programme. It was a pleasure meeting the students and faculty, exchanging life treks and challenges encountered along the way, and gaining insight into the truly unique and innovative social and intellectual frontier that is KAUST. The theme of the lecture was ‘The Merchant Teacher,’ in which Dr. Ghazi shared an overview of his heritage with the

The media is rife with stories of sadness and violence; conflict, contagions, and crimes; disputes and political strife. For many, the last year was noted as being particularly brutal. Though we find ourselves increasingly immersed in depressing clouds of media, statistics paint a positive trajectory for humankind. Acts of violence inflicted by nature are more combatable than ever, and violent crimes are supposedly lower than ever. A recent encounter I had in Seoul sparked a

Women’s clothing is an especially nuanced sector particularly when taking into account the local customs and complexities of Gulf culture. Fashion is a world where designers like Tom Ford write and direct Oscar-bait thrillers, and particular articles of clothing can function as uniforms, social chains, and personal statements… simultaneously. Wisaal recently had the pleasure of working with a women’s fashion start-up. The project, under the wing of a prominent local benefacto