Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter

Stories from Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter

Presidential candidates turn to slogans in hopes of winning votes
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Presidential campaigning kicked off on May 1 paving the way for a flurry of slogans, party promises and propaganda designed to convince the electorate whom to vote for on May 23 and 24.

Among the tens of thousands of posters, banners and fliers throughout Egypt one finds "We'll Make a Dream Come True", "Up for the Challenge", "Project of a Nation", or "One of Us" in addition to other slogans.

"One of Us" was perhaps the first to emerge as the slogan of leftist candidate, Hamdeen Sabbahy.

Saudi Ambassador returns to Cairo amid controversy
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Tamer Kamal El Din - Reporter
Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Saudi Arabia's ambassador returned to Cairo last week signalling an end to a political crisis that was sparked when an Egyptian lawyer was arrested at Jeddah Airport three weeks ago.

Ambassador Ahmed Kattan was recalled a week earlier after protesters converged on the Saudi embassy in Giza and demanded the release of Ahmed El Gizawy.

Some of the protesters carried banners and shouted disparaging remarks against the Saudi King. Egyptian and Saudi media traded barbs for a few days while the Kingdom closed its Cairo embassy, and Alexandria and Suez consulates.

Cinema pundits fear more restrictive regulations
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Sunday, May 6th, 2012

As presidential hopefuls launch their campaigns against the backdrop of the recent violence in Abbasiya, a number of Egyptian cinema insiders have expressed their fears of possible more stringent restrictions and censorship rules.

There are also fears that the Islamist-dominated committee to rewrite the constitution might introduce codes which restrict the freedom of artists.

Tensions, violence erupt following Parliament suspension
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Sunday, May 6th, 2012

Saad El Katatny, speaker of the Egyptian People's Assembly, announced on April 29, the suspension of the assembly's activities for a period of one week as a protest against the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) resistance to allow the parliament to appoint a new cabinet.

The decision represents an escalation of the tension between the Islamist-dominated parliament and the SCAF, only weeks before Egypt's presidential elections.

Constitution debates worry Artists
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

As inter-parliamentary parties battle it out to dominate the process of selecting a 100-person committee responsible for re-authoring Egypt's constitution, the Egyptian cinema industry has expressed its unrest.

This comes as the Islamist-dominated People's Assembly represent 50% of the committee, a method of choice that Egyptian intellectuals harshly condemned.

"I'm not only worried as a film director, I'm more worried as an Egyptian," director Khaled Youssef told The Caravan.

Egypt bans porn sites for ‘destroying religious belief’
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

The Egyptian Administrative High Court has declared a ban on pornographic websites after Salafist Member of Parliament (MP), Younis Makhyoun filed a request for the ban. Makhyoun had called for the block of all pornographic websites in February and proposed that the request be put in front of the People's Assembly.

As the court has officially declared the ban, the Ministry of Communication will be forced to block all such websites.

Job evaluation outrages AUC security staff
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

AUC's Office of Human Resources (HR) recently hired an external solutions company, Jobmaster, to evaluate the security officers' average salaries, a decision which created controversy among staff.

Specialized in human capital solutions since 1996, the company presented its evaluation results to the AUC community twice last month.

However, the meetings haven't been publicly announced.

Some security officers said that they were compared to security staff from 15 other companies in Egypt, regardless of the differences in industries.

Time out: Egyptian Premier League Suspended
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Saturday, March 17th, 2012

In a country where football is king, scrapping the premiere league is a decision that creates more dissent than consensus.

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has cancelled this year's Egyptian Premier League in lieu of the Port Said football massacre last month, which left 74 fans dead and hundreds injured.

While many applaud the decision as one of the few things the EFA has done correctly, others view it as no less than a "disaster."

Japan
Japan: One year after 2011 Tohuku earthquake and tsunami
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Saturday, March 17th, 2012

 

It has been a year since the natural disaster Japan's emperor called "the worst tragedy since World War II" struck northeast of the country.

The 9.1 magnitude earthquake triggered 40-meter tsunami waves; both killed 15,854, injured 9,677, left 3,155 missing and more than 20,000 homeless.

Understanding religious discourse after the Egyptian revolution
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

In an attempt to understand the religious dimension of January 25 uprisings, Ibrahim Negm, senior advisor to the Egyptian Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa addressed claims about religion being a motivating factor behind the uprising, the future of the religious scene in Egypt, and the difference between Islamic values and their political interpretation during his last visit to AUC on February 22.

Parliamentary immunity drives illegal acts, say experts
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

Two incidents in the Egyptian Parliament last week put the term "immunity" under the spotlight raising unanswered questions of whether or not members of parliament (MPs) are "above the law." This has led some to call for canceling it all together.

The first incident was MP Musatafa Bakry's request to refer MP Ziad El-Elaimy to the ethics committee after the latter had allegedly insulted Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and Salafi Sheikh Mohamed Hassan in a rally in Port Said, calling them a "donkey" and a "radish vendor" respectively.

Few Egyptians turn out to vote in Shura Council elections
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

Low turnout marked the first and second rounds of the Shura Council elections, with a participation of 15 percent and 12 percent respectively.

Results announced so far appear to mimic those represented in the Parliament, with the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) taking the lead and the Salafist Noor party in the second place.

"People got exhausted after participating in the parliamentary elections," Ali Abdel Fattah, Muslim Brotherhood leader and spokesman, told The Caravan.

Salafyo Costa
Of caffeine and Salafis: Challenging stereotypes
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Monday, February 27th, 2012

 

"Wow, do Salafis go to Costa?"

It was only a comment made by a staff worker to her Salafi colleague after suggesting meeting for coffee, but it soon led to an innovative idea.

Grant promises to focus on students' needs
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Marina Barsoum - Reporter
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

Associate Director of the Core Curriculum and newly appointed Associate Dean Hoda Grant is promising to make students the center of attention and introduce new systems of advising and registration.

"Dr. Hoda's dedication, hard work and commitment to service are exemplary - as has been fittingly recognized by her recent selection as recipient of AUC's prestigious Academic Service Award, to be presented at next month's Convocation," Robert Switzer, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Director of the Core Curriculum said in his email to the AUC community.
Surviving earthquakes and tsunamis, Japan focuses on reconstruction
Dina Salah ElDin - Reporter
Sunday, May 15th, 2011

I’m sitting on the Tokyo subway, my sweat glands are hyperactive and my inner ear is undergoing a highly unpleasant experience with the train scratching the railroad tracks. The train stops again to carry Tokyo salarymen from their offices to their homes.

They used to sleep or nod off during the ride. But now that Japan’s biggest subway and train operators decided to reduce number of trains running, cut air conditioning and keep the windows open to conserve power after the March 11 earthquake crippled the Fukushima power plants, comfort zones in Tokyo are becoming scarce.