My memories of Silverstone go back to 1995. When I first landed from Australia as an 18-year-old I wanted to go to there because it was the most famous race track in the world. I went straight from Heathrow to the gates to have a look at it. And the sheer scale of the venue – with all the racing teams set up around it – was awesome. I have lots of positive memories from racing there. I won at Silverstone in sportscars, in Formula Ford, in Formula Two – which was Formula 3000 back then – and I also managed a couple of victories in Formula One, too. I always enjoyed racing there. The atmosphere of the crowd is incredible and they are bloody knowledgeable. You really feel that as a driver. It is a phenomenal circuit and one that should never be taken off the calendar. It is the embodiment of what F1 is all about. Here are a handful of my Silverstone memories: Lewis Hamilton’s win in the torrential rain in 2008 Bloody hell. What Lewis did that day was just magical. He tore the field apart. I was on the front row, and spun on the first lap. Everyone made a mistake that day, but Lewis didn’t. With the sheer level of water – and because the cars were so light and nimble – you had to be on top of them to stay in charge. And Lewis’ skill and feel allowed him to take one of his biggest winning margins ever. He crossed the line 70 seconds clear of anyone else and lapped the field up to third. It was an exceptional display, and anyone that was there witnessed a bit of history. Fifteen years on, it remains one of his best performances. Winning my first British Grand Prix in 2010 This was one of the biggest memories of my life. There was a lot of tension going into that race because of the contradictions on the equipment I felt I was receiving compared to my Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel. I had a close start with Seb in Turn 1. He then made contact with Lewis, got a puncture – which I was heartbroken about – and after that I was racing Lewis to the flag. It was not a regulation victory – you always have to earn them and do the work – but I managed to have a clean day in front of a full house. I said to the team over the radio: “Not bad for a number two driver.” I just thought I would let them know I wasn’t a bad driver. Lewis Hamilton v Max Verstappen in 2021 The impact between Lewis and Max at Copse was big, and it was good that Max was alright. What we saw that day, was two gladiators marking their territories. It is what makes our sport so great – two legends taking each other to the wire in front of a full house at a daunting circuit. It was the first race back with a capacity crowd after Covid and the occasion was why that first lap was so feisty. There were 140,000 punters in, and Lewis was not going to back down. Lewis is probably one of, if not the cleanest drivers I ever raced against, alongside Fernando Alonso. They are both absolutely extraordinary in wheel-to-wheel combat. But it was a very optimistic move from Lewis. To this day, I don’t know how he did not retire with damage. Everything after that was a bonus and somehow the car stayed together and he got the job done and won. Zhou Guanyu’s horror crash Last year, Zhou had a lucky escape after he rolled on to his roof and was launched into the barrier at the first corner. For me, the Halo didn’t help. The upside-down car acted like a skateboard. It made Zhou go faster along the track. The cars are so much heavier than they used to be. They are now 850 kilograms – up from 600 kilograms – but still do the same speeds. That means a lot of the barriers are outdated and more exposed. On the back of the ticket it says motorsport is dangerous. Bad things have happened in the past, and unfortunately they will do in the future. The FIA must keep learning, and they know the weight of these cars is not something that’s good for the safety of the circuits. Mark Webber will appear as pundit for Channel 4 during their live coverage of the British Grand Prix on Sunday Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live 5 memorable races staged at Silverstone David Coulthard looks at the key issues surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s next deal It hurts – Lando Norris reflects on his ‘toughest season’ ahead of British GP

PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2023--

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Getting married wasn’t “on the books” for London couple Craig Pollard and Alex Herd for a long time. But that changed when Alex got diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2021, aged 30. “We decided to get married as a bit of a consequence of Alex’s diagnosis,” explains Pollard, 35. “It wasn’t something that was on the books for us before, especially as being gay, marriage wasn’t available to us when we were younger, so wasn’t necessarily something we’d aspired to. “But then thinking about the legacy we wanted and how much time we had together, we saw it as a good way of bringing our families together and celebrating something really positive in our life.” MND affects nerves in the brain and spinal cord which send signals to muscles. There is currently no cure, so as muscle loss gets worse over time – affecting movement, speech, swallowing and breathing – it eventually leads to death. It’s uncommon and mostly affects people in their 60s and 70s, although as Herd’s diagnosis shows, MND can occur in younger adults too. The charity Challenging MND, which helps people with MND, has the ‘opportunity to create amazing memories’, funded the couple’s big day last year – a fabulous festival-inspired party officiated by drag queen Just May from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 4. They had already been together for a decade, so the wedding was a “celebration of all the things we’ve enjoyed together over the last 10 years”, Pollard notes (plus “lots of glitter and sparkle – it was perfect”). It was also the last time Herd went a full day without using a wheelchair. “So it was the very last moment we possibly could have done that,” adds Herd, now 32. “And we can look back at that as a really special day.” He first started noticing symptoms in early 2021 – muscle twitching then weakness in his hands and arms, before his legs became increasingly affected. Herd used a manual wheelchair for a while but recently switched to an electric one. “That’s changed my life quite a lot,” says Herd. “While I was in the manual wheelchair and Craig was pushing around, I sort of felt like I didn’t really exist anymore, because everyone would interact with him, and I wasn’t responsible for where I was. But now I’m in control of my movement, I feel like I’m more interacting with people myself.” The diagnosis has been challenging on multiple levels, individually and as a couple. MND doesn’t present with exactly the same patterns for everyone – so there is no guidebook as such, and navigating support services relies on a lot of self-advocating. Things such as specialist physiotherapy and occupational therapy can be helpful, along with home adaptations. “Having MND, you have to get used to things changing,” says Herd. “I mean, I can’t necessarily relate at this point to someone who’s been in their wheelchair for their whole life, but because things keep changing, you can’t really get used to it properly. So it’s very difficult for me to kind of keep hold of my identity.” In a recent survey, Challenging MND found 63% of people living with the MND had felt marginalised or ‘othered’ because of their condition, while 51% felt others see MND as their identity. In addition, 80% said they felt isolated, and 69% worry about being a burden to their family. Feeling ‘othered’ is something Alex found himself thinking about while attending Pride London recently. “It’s almost more like something I’m doing, than something other people are doing – because I’m seeing people doing what I would’ve been doing a year ago, it’s still fairly fresh for me, so I’m still comparing the before and after,” he reflects. “At Pride, lots of people get to see themselves represented in the crowds, and that’s nice. But then I realised how much more of a minority people in wheelchairs are. It made us realise how different our situation is now, our priorities and expectations in general.” Music has been an important way for him to stay connected with his identity. “I’ve been making music for over 10 years, so it’s nice I’m still able to do that. I think as much as possible, people in a situation like this need to try and keep doing the things that made them happy before,” he says. While he can no longer play his guitar, Herd made voice recordings to use an instrument and creates tracks on his computer, using foot pedals as he can no longer click the mouse. Since his diagnosis, he’s actually been finishing a lot more songs. “I have less distractions now!” Herd quips. “But using music as a communication tool, that’s definitely become more important to me.” Challenging MND also supported the couple with a trip to Eurovision – “which was really touching and we made great memories”, says Pollard. They’re also grateful to support from the Motor Neurone Disease Association, who provides a local area liaison, and their local St Christopher’s Hospice has been “really helpful”. These things make a huge difference. “Something I’m very conscious of as an able-bodied person is watching Alex have to come to terms with first of all being disabled, then being visibly disabled, and then being disabled in public – there’s been a lot of different elements we’ve had to really tackle,” Pollard reflects, citing navigating public transport as one of the main everyday challenges. There’s an emotional toll too. “My energy levels are a lot lower than they used to be, and my capacity for stress. I feel like I already have this much higher baseline of anxiety about various things, so it feels much easier to become overwhelmed,” says Herd. “I think the only thing we can really do is just try and focus on the next thing, rather than worrying about everything.” As members of the LGBTQ+ community, there are sometimes other nuances to their experiences. They’ve noticed LGBTQ+ events are doing well with accessibility, but representation can be a more subtle matter. “There’s definitely an element of the community who are very mindful of others and very empathetic, which I think has been where I’ve learned a lot about different people’s experiences in my life,” says Pollard. “But when it comes to the overall society of the community, I think there’s still a large proportion of it based on image, based around being cool and trendy. So it’s quite easy for people with accessible requirements to be kind of ignored in that space.” As for their experiences in public, Craig says: “We have struggled to feel like we can take up space. First of all being LGBT, we often don’t feel that safe in certain spaces, public transport we’ve had trouble on once or twice in the past, so you’re always a bit uneasy. With moving into being more visibly disabled and needing more accessible requirements, that’s something we’ve to discuss and manage.” Thanks to Challenging MND, the couple are banking up the joyful times. “They offered to support our wedding, which was really special, and without them we probably wouldn’t have had it,” says Pollard. “That isn’t just a memory for us, it’s a memory for our families and friends too. It was really special.” Challenging MND aims to support and empower those living with MND to create lasting memories for themselves and their families. To date they’ve granted in excess of £1.1million and supported over 100 families.

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France is all set to ban Muslim abaya dress – a full-length, loose-fitting billowy robe worn by some Muslim women as a sign of piety – in state schools, the country’s education minister said ahead of the upcoming school season. French education minister Gabriel Attal said in an interview on Sunday that he would ban Muslim schoolgirls from wearing the abaya in classrooms. “I have decided that the abaya could no longer be worn in schools,” Mr Attal, 34, said in an interview with TV channel TF1. “When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to identify the pupils’ religion just by looking at them.” He said he will give “clear rules at the national level” to school heads just as they return to classes nationwide from 4 September, Le Monde reported. “Secularism means the freedom to emancipate oneself through school,” Mr Attal said and described the abaya as “a religious gesture, aimed at testing the resistance of the republic toward the secular sanctuary that school must constitute”. Mr Attal was appointed education minister by French president Emmanuel Macron just last month. France – known for implementing a strict prohibition on religious symbols within state schools and government buildings – has encountered challenges in modernising its directives to address the country’s expanding Muslim minority. Local media quoted Eric Ciotto, head of the opposition right-wing Republicans party as saying: “We called for the ban on abayas in our schools several times.” Clementine Autain of the left-wing opposition France Unbowed party criticised the “policing of clothing”. She said Mr Attal’s announcement was “unconstitutional” and against the founding principles of France’s secular values. She said the ban was symptomatic of the government’s “obsessive rejection of Muslims”. The French Council of Muslim Faith, which consists of several Muslim associations, has meanwhile said that clothing alone is not “a religious sign”. In French public schools, the wearing of sizable crosses, the Jewish kippah or Islamic headscarve is not allowed. In 2004, the nation implemented a prohibition on headscarves within schools, and in 2010, it enacted a ban on full-face veils, or niqab, in public spaces, causing frustration among a significant portion of its Muslim community, which comprises around five million people. In contrast to headscarves, abayas existed in a somewhat undefined space in the country and had not been subject to a complete ban until this point. Read More French minister Marlène Schiappa to appear on Playboy front cover Italian leader tones down divisive rhetoric but carries on with pursuit of far-right agenda It is thanks to the Conservatives’ incompetence that food prices are rising faster than any other G7 country More than one in 10 flats and terraces classed ‘overcrowded’ in parts of England Danish government to present draft law making it illegal to burn the Quran or other religious texts Shein and Forever 21 team up in hopes of expanding reach of both fast-fashion retailers