???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

(all times CLT)

As We See It follows three young autistic adults in their 20s: The new Amazon Prime series centers on roommates Jack, Harrison, and Violet. The three characters — and the actors who portray them — are all on the autism spectrum. With the support of family, friends, aides, and each other, the trio strives to establish independent lives, get jobs, make friends and fall in love. Show creator Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood) makes sure the series is thoughtful and deeply empathetic, giving a truthful portrayal of life with autism, inspired by his own son who falls on the spectrum, writes First Post. He avoids defining the three roommates by their condition alone, instead focusing on their likes and dislikes, fears, challenges, workplaces, and aspirations — giving them all depth and ensuring that viewers feel a connection with each character.

⚽ AFCON- It’s the Pharaohs’ turn to fight for a place in the quarter-finals of Afcon 2021 tonight. Egypt and Côte d’Ivoire will meet for the first time in 14 years tonight in the penultimate last-16 game of the round. Having only scored two goals in their three group games, Egypt are going to need to find their shooting boots if they’re going to get past the Ivorians, who scored six in an arguably tougher group.

Kick off: 6:00pm CLT.

Who will Egypt / Côte d’Ivoire face in the quarters? Beating Côte d’Ivoire would set Egypt up for a quarter-final tie with Morocco, who beat Malawi 2-1 last night to secure their place in the last eight.

The last two seats in the round of 8 will also be determined today with a match between Mali and Equatorial Guinea at 9pm. The victor will compete against Senegal who yesterday beat Cape Verde 2-0.

The round of 8 of the Afcon begins on Saturday with two matches: Gambia will compete against Cameroon at 6pm, then Burkina Faso will play against Tunisia at 9pm.

Tomorrow in the Egyptian League Cup: El Gouna will host the National Bank and Al Mokawaloon will face Ismaily, both tomorrow at 2:30pm. Smouha will meet Al Ahly at 5pm. The cup matches will continue on Friday, as Enppi plays against Al Gaish and Ghazl El Mahalla with Pharco at 2:30pm, while Ceramica Cleopatra plays El Zamalek at 5 pm.

Brazil will go out to face Ecuador at 11pm tomorrow in the South American qualifiers for the World Cup. Meanwhile Chile hosts Argentina at 2:15am on Friday morning.

What’s been going on in the transfer market this week? Manchester City has signed Julián Álvarez in a EUR 18.5 mn transaction with the player’s former club River Plate, according to football market guru Fabrizio Romano. Álvarez will stay with River on loan until July before heading to Man City under a five-year contract. Sevilla has signed Manchester United Anthony Martial forward on loan until the end of the season, according to Sky Sports. Juventus and Barcelona had both eyed the player as well, but Martial opted for Sevilla in search of more game time. Martial has a market value of EUR 32 mn. Also in La Liga, Jeremie Bogahas joined Atalanta, leaving behind Sassuolo in a EUR 18 mn transaction, reports Football Italia.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

(all times CLT)

Easykash Managing Director Mourad Al Ashry is giving a talk at Consoleya today at 6:30pm as part of the Startup Series. The talk is titled “Tech For Non-Techies,” which targets business founders without a tech background to teach them to build their own digital tools and communicate with techies.

Contemporary dance performance Ambororo is on at Startup Haus Cairo on Saturday at 8pm. The dance aims to depict seeing life from a broader perspective.

Ubuntu Gallery is opening an exhibition of oriental carpets called The Weaver's Palette II. The exhibit will run until 8 February.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Customers are in charge in the new “metail” economy: Joel Bines argues that digitally empowered consumers have altered the traditional power dynamics of retail in his new book The Metail Economy. These consumers demand a voice and sometimes even a hand in creating new products, making it necessary for firms to immerse their customers in the brand and allowing them to shape it. Companies need to recognize consumers’ “me-centric” aspect and build on it, in order to survive in the new economy. Bines suggests the six “Cs” are how to best serve highly-informed and empowered consumers: Curation, Customization, Category Expertise, Cost, Convenience, Community — all of which should be used to various degrees to ensure business success during the “woke” revolution.