Our top book picks this week: the end of capitalism and more



Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future by Paul Mason

The financial crisis that hit from 2007 was the most severe since the Great Depression of the 1930s. But with IT transforming the global economy, the author argues that we are at the brink of creating a new, socially just economic order. (Allen Lane, August 27)

The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby by Tony Collins

Rugby has been transformed from a medieval village game to a phenomenon played in more than 100 countries. Published to coincide with the Rugby World Cup, it also looks at how American Football and Aussie Rules have emerged from the sport. (Bloomsbury, August 27)

Xerxes: A Persian Life by Richard Stoneman

The king of Persia is forever associated with the defiance of the Spartans against his army at Thermopylae. But here, Stoneman puts his reign from 486BC to 465BC in context, including the architectural glory of Persepolis and the multiculturalism of his empire. (Yale, August 15)

The Illogic of Kassel by Enrique Vila-Matas

A writer receives an invitation to participate in a legendary art exhibition in Kassel, Germany. His mission: to become a living art installation, by writing in public, in a Chinese restaurant every morning. This is the story of a solitary man and a sly look at the world of contemporary art fairs. (Harvill Secker, August 13)

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal

Eva was just 11 when she was ­cultivating chilli peppers in her wardrobe. We ­follow her journey to ­becoming the greatest chef in the world – but first, Eva must navigate the competitive ­chilli-eating contests and church bake-offs of the American ­Midwest. (Quercus, August 6)

A Woman Loved by Andreï Makine

In the final days of the Soviet empire, a young filmmaker is dropped from the film he scripted about Catherine the Great. However, a second chance (or so it seems) beckons when a friend, enriched by the capitalist new dawn, wants him to refashion his work for TV. But the market exerts its own censorship. (MacLehose Press August 6)

The%20specs
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The specs

Engine: 3.8-litre V6

Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm

Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km

Price: Dh179,999-plus

On sale: now 

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

The Comeback: Elvis And The Story Of The 68 Special
Simon Goddard
Omnibus  Press

Know your cyber adversaries

Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.

Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.

Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.

Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.

Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.

Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.

Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.

Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.

Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.

Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

Profile of Bitex UAE

Date of launch: November 2018

Founder: Monark Modi

Based: Business Bay, Dubai

Sector: Financial services

Size: Eight employees

Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

Company Profile 

Founder: Omar Onsi

Launched: 2018

Employees: 35

Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)

Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

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The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 325bhp

Torque: 450Nm

Price: Dh359,000

On sale: now 

Super Saturday race card

4pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 | US$350,000 | (Dirt) | 1,200m
4.35pm: Al Bastakiya Listed | $300,000 | (D) | 1,900m
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 | $350,000 | (Turf) | 1,200m
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 | $350,000 | (D) | 1,600m
6.20pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 | $300,000 | (T) | 2,410m
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Group 1 | $600,000 | (D) | 2,000m
7.30pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 | $400,000 | (T) | 1,800m

BABYLON
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Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:

1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition

RESULT

West Brom 2 Liverpool 2
West Brom: Livermore (79'), Rondón (88' ) 
Liverpool: Ings (4'), Salah (72') 

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
Company profile

Company: Eighty6 

Date started: October 2021 

Founders: Abdul Kader Saadi and Anwar Nusseibeh 

Based: Dubai, UAE 

Sector: Hospitality 

Size: 25 employees 

Funding stage: Pre-series A 

Investment: $1 million 

Investors: Seed funding, angel investors  

the pledge

I pledge to uphold the duty of tolerance

I pledge to take a first stand against hate and injustice

I pledge to respect and accept people whose abilities, beliefs and culture are different from my own

I pledge to wish for others what I wish for myself

I pledge to live in harmony with my community

I pledge to always be open to dialogue and forgiveness

I pledge to do my part to create peace for all

I pledge to exercise benevolence and choose kindness in all my dealings with my community

I pledge to always stand up for these values: Zayed's values for tolerance and human fraternity

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million