By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Apple TV+‘s highly anticipated release of the Brad Pitt-led F1 film The official trailer comes just in time to kick off the first race of the season in Australia this weekend Created by the filmmakers behind Top Gun: Maverick Pitt plays a former F1 driver named Sonny Hayes who is dubbed “the greatest that never was.” Hayes who was considered the most promising phenom of the 1990s in Formula 1 suffered a major accident that caused him to end his career the nomadic racer-for-hire is approached approached by his former teammate Ruben Cervantes the owner of a struggling F1 team on the verge of collapse Ruben is able to convince Sonny to come back as he drives alongside the young hotshot Joshua Pearce Sonny goes on a road to redemption and races to the finish line one last time WEYMOUTH - Ralph Talbot has no shortage of memorials in his hometown The World War I pilot’s name graces a primary school and the amphitheater next to town hall and his portrait hangs in the town council chambers Now nearly a century after his death he’s getting some new recognition from the residents of a small town in Belgium for the airborne heroics in the skies above their homes that earned him the Medal of Honor the town of Pittem put up a plaque on a church honoring Talbot and his gunner Robert Guy Robinson Residents there only recently learned of the two flyers’ connection to their home “I think the (plaque) is an important statement for local historians that now they can refer to what I found and place it in the right daylight,” Pittem resident Paul Callens “Talbot and Robinson are no longer forgotten.” Talbot and Robinson were among the first Americans to fight alongside Royal Air Force squadrons over Belgium the two shot down one of nine enemy scouts that attacked them on a mission Six days later they became separated from their squadron over Pittem and were attacked by 12 enemy planes Robinson was shot more than a dozen times and the plane’s motor failed but they managed to shoot down one of the enemy planes Talbot then flew a gravely wounded Robinson to a hospital Robinson survived his injuries and died at home in Michigan in 1974 Talbot was posthumously awarded the nation’s highest military honor He is one of five Weymouth men to earn the distinction for valor said he first heard about Talbot and Robinson a few years ago during a Memorial Day celebration He tried to research them but came up empty “We realized that this event was completely forgotten in our local history,” Callens said Later he figured out the stumbling block – a change in the spelling of the town’s name the town’s name was typically written “Pitthem,” which was anglicized to “Pittham” in many documents detailing the two American flyers’ actions Callens contacted the New England Historic Genealogical Society a member of the Weymouth Historical Society who has done research on Talbot often obscure books and periodicals and helped him reach Talbot’s family members She also provided him with details about Talbot’s life as a Yale graduate gifted orator and aspiring poet who was popular in his hometown Dumont said she’ll continue to work with Callens on his research for an exhibit he hopes to put together next year but by remembering they live forever,” Dumont said “This is almost 100 years ago that he passed away and to have him remembered is just a beautiful thing.” Reach Christian Schiavone at cschiavone@ledger.com or follow him on Twitter @CSchiavo_Ledger Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors Since I started lifeguarding, I've never known a day I didn't want to go to work. First aid flows through the veins of Thomas Ver Eecke, lifeguard, a 30-year-old native of Pittem. If today he leads his dream life, the rescuer was initially headed in a completely different direction. He spent his childhood on a farm, with his parents who were farmers. He owes his determination, his independence and his working strength to them. I had a lot of freedom, but my parents worked a lot, so if I wanted to do something, I had to do it on my own. What's next? The rescuer sees it in the short term. His visa for Australia - where he lives now - will expire in 2022 and will certainly force him to return to his native Belgium. I'm getting more and more worried about what I'll do, off-season once I get back. He reflects, with only one certainty: I will continue to pass on and instill the values of the profession. And save lives. Since 2003, AXA has taken great pride in being a partner of the 1,400 Belgian rescuers who are true ambassadors of risk prevention. Thanks to the bracelets distributed to children on the beach, AXA and IKWV together ensure that children do not get lost. In 2020, rescuers saved no less than 594 people and 1,079 children/parents were able to find their parents/children. Universal heartthrob Brad Pitt has a new friend — and it's someone who works thousands of miles from Hollywood Neri Oxman is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a pioneer in her field ("material ecology" — heard of it?) Page Six which called Oxman a "rockstar MIT professor," reported that nothing romantic has developed between the two though a source also told Page Six that Oxman is dating billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman Ackman's team declined to comment to Page Six some of the highlights of Oxman's life and impressive career Source: MIT Media Lab Source: New York Post Source: Harpers Bazaar Source: TED Source: Surface Across the country people went to the polls yesterday to elect new local and provincial councils These were the first elections in Flanders without any mandatory attendance at polling stations: people were not obliged to turn out and vote and that has certainly had an impact on the result Flanders now also has its first far-right mayor since the war Elsewhere many voters shied away from the extremes and mainstream parties were successful These are the five takeaways from Sunday’s poll The most striking trend of the 2024 municipal poll was clear from early in the day: low turnout in Flanders About 64 per cent of Flemings bothered to cast a vote there was no compulsory attendance of polling places in Flanders but few had predicted that the percentage would be so low 4 in 10 inhabitants did not bother to vote The turnout figure fluctuates between 60 and 70 per cent in Mesen (West Flanders) the figure was over 80 per cent First Vlaams Belang mayor but no massive scores for radical parties In recent weeks major success had been predicted for radical parties like Communist PVDA and far-right Vlaams Belang in certain locations says political scientist Carl Devos (Ghent University) ‘We had expected very high scores for Vlaams Belang and PVDA  You see Vlaams Belang increasing its support Four months ago Vlaams Belang was the largest party in as many as 143 Flemish municipalities Today that is the case in 2 municipalities the same number as in the previous local elections ‘The party faced the challenge of making Vlaams Belang a party of (local) government Entering government did not succeed in June It would be a very big failure for the party We will have to wait for the municipal council formation process to see how things pan out.’ There is one big exception to this: Ninove In the first municipality where Vlaams Belang (Forza Ninove) won an absolute majority Local leader Guy D'Haeseleer will become mayor Also in Denderleeuw (East Flanders) Vlaams Belang polled well Communist PVDA did not make a quantum leap forward either Surely the litmus test was the party's score in Antwerp where Jos D'Haese battled against mayor Bart De Wever And there PVDA advances more than 11 per cent but still cannot really threaten Bart De Wever’s Flemish nationalist N-VA Many Flemings appeared satisfied with governance in their city or municipality Many sitting mayors and coalitions scored well In Bruges and Roeselare (West Flanders) incumbent mayors kept a firm grip on the right of initiative In Genk Flemish minister Zuhal Demir of N-VA posed no threat to outgoing mayor Wim Dries (Christian democrat) ‘The figures you see now show that local elections are really about cities and municipalities and that a lot of voters don't care what those people in Brussels say and do,’ Devos argues ‘The fact that Christian democrat CD&V is doing well indicates that people are satisfied with how they govern locally.’ The same goes for Flemish nationalist N-VA mayors in Antwerp (Bart De Wever) Sint-Niklaas (Lieven Dehandschutter) and Hasselt (Steven Vandeput) as well as those of liberal Open VLD in Mechelen (Bart Somers) Kortrijk (Ruth Vandenberge) and Ghent (Mathias De Clercq) heads the largest group in Brakel council (East Flanders) The three parties that recently formed the new Flemish government had a good election night Socialist Vooruit fared well in many cities Leader Conner Rousseau spoke of ‘a red wave’ last night with a score of over 30 per cent (and a gain of 16.6 percent) where John Crombez made a similar leap forward but the party has made further substantial progress on the liberal mayor’s list the party takes more seats than its liberal ally Open VLD Less good news for Vooruit comes from Vilvoorde (Flemish Brabant) where the ‘Open VLD CD&V’ list can now take the initiative Outgoing mayor Hans Bonte may have to hand over his mayoral sash to somebody else after 11 years in the job A good night for Christian democrat CD&V CD&V holds firm in rural West Flanders and Limburg The success of Vlaams Belang in June suggested that Christian Democrats would have to relinquish their leading position in rural municipalities The party says it is now the largest in more places even gaining more absolute majorities than in previous local elections the party also remains in power in cities like Genk The CD&V also won the most votes in the provincial council elections in West Flanders and Limburg N-VA remains by far the largest party in Antwerp But it also retains the sash in other cities and municipalities Lubbeek and Aalst will be governed by the Flemish nationalists in coming years The provincial council elections confirmed June's result Trend of the 9 June elections continues: ecologist Groen and liberal Open VLD lick their wounds “The local elections came very shortly after the national ones and time was too short to reverse the trend,” concluded Groen co-leader Nadia Naji The party lost many votes in cities like Leuven and Antwerp The party can take heart from a good performance in Ghent and the fact that the party is again the largest in Mortsel (Antwerp Province) Ms De Sutter obtained an absolute majority in her home municipality of Horebeke (East Flanders) For Open VLD the result isn’t as devastating as in June the party loses an important city and no longer has any elected members on Antwerp city council the Liberals were only able to convince 2.3 percent of voters Mechelen and Mr De Croo's bulwark Brakel It lost many votes in the latter two towns and the party no longer has an absolute majority Taking the provincial council elections as an indicator it is clear that the trend of the national elections continues: Open VLD was able to convince only 8.9 percent of Flemings