Blind football represents hope and belonging for Egypt's one million visually impaired. [...] Globally, blind football's star is rising rapidly. Since the 1980s, when the first five-a-side national championships took place in Brazil and Spain, the sport has spread to dozens of countries. In 1997, Europe and North America held the first continental championships, followed by the first blind football world championship a year later. In 2004, it became a summer Paralympic sport.

Generations of Indian diplomats have been using mango for years to win both friends and foes. [...] Foreigners didn’t know how to tackle the fruit, a fact happily taken advantage of by one Indian diplomat living in Geneva. He once met Dag Hammarskjold, the UN secretary-general, who told him he kept getting mangoes from Indians which he didn’t know how to eat. [...] It was reported in 1955 that as Chou ate his mango “his beetling brow relaxed, his lips rippled into a smile… Thereafter, he ate out of Mr. Nehru’s hand and signed the famous joint declaration.”

The UN General Assembly elected Kuwait, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Peru and Poland to the UN Security Council on Friday for a two-year term beginning next year, ASharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Saturday.Kuwait, which will replace Egypt in the seat representing the Arab world, received 188 votes out of the 193-member General Assembly. During the membership campaign that it launched in 2016, Kuwait pledged to adopt balanced policies in dealing with the issues on the agenda of the Security Council.

Canadian Minister of Immigration Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed Hussein, has arrived in Egypt to advance education exchange opportunities between Egypt and Canada. During his visit, Hussein attended the Canadian International College in Cairo where he met with the President of the college and Canadian Ambassador to Egypt Troy Lulashnyk. There are plans to establish the University of Canada in Egypt which will provide accredited degrees from Canadian universities.

It is a confusing question: Who is responsible for Egypt’s image? The investment conference in Sharm El-Sheikh created an “attractive atmosphere”, however the Egyptian government did not complete it. The same thing happened with Lionel Messi when he came to Cairo to promote the treatment of Hepatitis C in Egypt. Finally, Pope Francis’ visit to Egypt shed light on Egypt’s efforts in religious tolerance. After the visit, we were very happy and exchanged congratulations, but we did not realize, as usual, that the difficult part would be in the next day.

“This visit comes where Egyptians are wounded because of what happens, wounded in their hearts and when a Pope comes is to consolidate and give his solidarity to all the people,” said Rafik Grish, Coptic Catholic church spokesman. [...] Pope Francis will visit Cairo’s largest Coptic cathedral to pray for the 28 people killed in a Christmas season blast last year.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said that the upcoming Forum of Ancient Civilizations conference, hosted by Greece, will bring together countries with some of the world's oldest cultures to find ways of exercising soft power across the world.[...] The two-day conference is due to take place in the Greek capital of Athens on Sunday and will feature representatives from China, India, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia as well as Greece.

Egypt's soft power is important not only for the country's identity, but also to encourage a serious discussion among Arabs on religious discourse. It can support a culture that discourages hate speech and promotes the co-existence of all peoples. While this effort must be led by our political leaders, scholars, entertainers and cultural influencers can contribute to this dialogue.