CNN BUSINESS | Black tech entrepreneurs struggle to find funding in Britain. Now they’re looking abroad

London (CNN Business) – Black tech entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom say they have to rely on foreign investors to get their businesses off the ground.

More than a year after the Black Lives Matter protests prompted the UK government to investigate discrimination against Black business owners, British venture capital firms continue to neglect Black and ethnic minority founders despite a booming startup scene.

“It is clear that the UK is not the place to try and get funding for your startup,” says Rich Serunjogi, founder of Business Score, which matches e-commerce companies with working capital financing. “Only the very best [UK] VCs are interested. The second-tier funds tend to ignore Black founders and give excuses such as the business’ market size not being big enough or the idea being ‘too niche’.”  –read more–

HGTV | Interior Designers Forecast 2022 Design Trends

Some of the nation’s top interior designers share what they expect to be trending in 2022. Check out these ideas and see how you can incorporate them into your own home’s design.  –view gallery– 

CNN politics | US warns hundreds of millions of devices at risk from newly revealed software vulnerability

Washington (CNN) – Hundreds of millions of devices around the world could be exposed to a newly revealed software vulnerability, as a senior Biden administration cyber official warned executives from major US industries Monday that they need to take action to address “one of the most serious” flaws she has seen in her career.

As major tech firms struggle to contain the fallout from the incident, US officials held a call with industry executives warning that hackers are actively exploiting the vulnerability.  –read more–

F1 | Brilliant Verstappen claims maiden title after victory in Abu Dhabi season finale following late Safety Car drama

Max Verstappen secured his maiden World Championship with victory in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton finishing second as the race ended in a nail-biting one-lap sprint after a late Safety Car. The result, which saw Valtteri Bottas finish sixth and Sergio Perez retire, means Mercedes have clinched a record eighth consecutive constructors’ championship.

Medium-tyred Hamilton jumped soft-shod Verstappen at the start, while the Dutchman came back in Turn 6, nudging him wide and over the run-off, but the Mercedes driver continued in the lead. Stewards decided not to investigate. The pit window opened when Verstappen came in on Lap 13, Hamilton a lap later, leaving Sergio Perez in the lead with the mission to hold off Hamilton.  –read more– 

watch: Race Highlights | 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

CNN US | James Brown said the CIA spied on him. The CIA won’t say

(CNN) – James Brown did a lot of living in his 73 years. He threw knuckleballs from the pitcher’s mound and hard left jabs in the boxing ring. He survived beatings from an uncle and a near-electrocution by sadistic White men in the Jim Crow South. He was the Godfather of Soul, the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, a drug user and a domestic abuser whose death in 2006 remains mysterious today. And, according to Brown himself, he was spied on by the Central Intelligence Agency.  –read more– 

CNN BUSINESS  | A Black couple had a White friend show their home and its appraisal rose by nearly half a million dollars

(CNN) – Tenisha Tate-Austin and her husband became suspicious when the Northern California home they spent years renovating was valued by an appraiser far lower than they expected.

So when they asked for a second opinion last year, a White friend pretended to own their home and they removed all artwork and photos that could show that it actually belonged to a Black family.

The new appraisal for their home in Marin County was more than $1.4 million and nearly half a million dollars higher than the previous estimate, they said.  –read more– 

CNN US | Negro League baseball players earn spots in the National Baseball Hall of Fame

(CNN) – Negro League baseball players Buck O’Neil and Bud Fowler were elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.

They were two of seven Negro League and pre-Negro League players who were being considered Sunday for induction into the Hall of Fame. O’Neil and Fowler join four other candidates — Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Miñoso and Tony Oliva — as part of the Hall of Fame Class of 2022.

The six players will officially be inducted in Cooperstown, New York, on July 24, 2022, according to the Hall of Fame website.  –read more– 

CNN travel | The best bars in the world for 2021 have been revealed

(CNN) — We’re sorry, USA. Europe has completely trounced you at the cocktail game.

For much of its history, the annual World’s 50 Best Bars list has been a battle at the top between New York and London.

But for the 2021 edition, announced Tuesday night at an awards ceremony in the UK capital, London holds the top two spots while New York has just two bars in the whole of the top 30.

It’s also a notably more international affair than usual, with 17 countries represented in the top 50, and with 18 new entries spread across Australia, India, Mexico, Russia, Argentina, Sweden, Spain, China and the UAE.  –read more–  

CNN BUSINESS | Intel CEO: The best way to fix America’s chip shortage

For almost a year, US companies and consumers have had to navigate a global chip shortage. Even among Covid-19 disruptions, this shortage stands out as uniquely impactful — semiconductors are a critical part of every digital device, powering our phones, cars, hospitals and factory floors.

America’s ability to address the chip shortage is limited. Domestic chipmaking capacity has been declining for decades, as subsidies from other countries continue to drive production elsewhere. Our country’s economic security depends on reliable access to semiconductors — access that requires near-term investment in our capacity and capability to produce more chips.  –read more–  

F1 | Hamilton beats Verstappen in controversy-filled first ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as title rivals draw equal on points

Lewis Hamilton won a controversial debut Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from pole position ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas amid two red-flag stoppages. The result means the two championship protagonists go to the Abu Dhabi finale level on points.

Hamilton led Bottas and Verstappen – who shrugged off his qualifying crash – at the start but on Lap 10, Mick Schumacher spun and hit the Turn 23 barriers. The Safety Car soon turned into a red flag, crucially giving Verstappen a free stop in the pits, while the Mercedes had stopped under yellows.   —read more—  

watch: Race Highlights | 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix