New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, in his weekly interview with “The Pat McAfee Show,” described his season-ending injury that quickly ended what he thought would be an exciting debut with the team.

Rodgers, who tore his Achilles tendon Monday night in his first game with his new team after 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, said he ran the “gamut of emotions.”

“Monday was an amazing day to start,” Rodgers said on Friday. “Amazing night, running on the field with the flag, electric… And then it turned into one of the toughest 24-hour stretches that I’ve had in my life, for sure. Lot of sadness, lot of tears, lot of dark frustration and anger, all the gamut of emotions. But then the sun rose the next day.”

Rodgers told McAfee he knew the extent of his injury before the results of his MRI, but said he will be fueled during his recovery by his doubters.

“Before even an MRI, I knew what happened. I knew I had torn my Achilles,” Rodgers said.

“I think what I’d like to say is ‘Give me the doubts.’ Give me the doubts, give me the timetables, give me all the things you think can, should or will happen, because all I need is that one little extra percent of inspiration. That’s all I need. So give me your timetables, give me your doubts, give me your prognostications, and then watch what I do.”

The 39-year-old was sacked by Buffalo Bills edge rusher Leonard Floyd and suffered a complete tear of his left Achilles tendon – much to NFL fans’ disappointment.

Rodgers, who underwent surgery, was not asked Friday about the MetLife Stadium artificial turf and whether it played a role in his injury.

Data from the past eight years shows there is no difference in the rate of Achilles injuries on natural grass and synthetic surfaces, Jeff Miller, NFL executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy, and health and safety, said during a virtual news conference Tuesday.

Rodgers’ backup, Zach Wilson, came in to fill the quarterback void and led the team to a 22-16 overtime victory over the Bills after undrafted rookie wide receiver Xavier Gipson returned a punt 65 yards for a walk-off touchdown.

The reaction to Rodgers’ injury on social media was filled with emotion, with many Jets fans mourning the loss of the player they thought might be a final piece in a Super Bowl-winning team. ESPN host and Jets fan Mike Greenberg said on Tuesday the emotional roller coaster of the last six months makes this such a painful moment.

“I want more than anyone to be furious today, but the reality is, sometimes things just happen. There really isn’t anybody to be mad at,” Greenberg said on ‘Get Up.’ “Football is inherently a violent and dangerous game, injuries are going to take place 100% of the time and you just have to hope that yours is not the team, if you are a fan, whose season is destroyed by an injury.”

Before being traded in the offseason, Rodgers had spent the first 18 seasons of his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers, where he led the team to a 31-25 victory in Super Bowl XLV in 2011.

Rodgers won MVP awards in 2011, 2014, 2020 and 2021, while setting numerous records for his accuracy and deadliness over the years.

Hurricane Lee, an enormous Category 1 storm whipping strong winds across hundreds of miles, is inching closer to New England and expected to impact the region Friday evening into Saturday.

Lee is so huge that its tropical-storm-force winds (between 39 and 74 mph) extend more than 300 miles from the center – well outside the National Hurricane Center’s forecast cone, which indicates where the center could track.

Though Lee is not expected to make landfall in New England, the storm’s heavy rain could trigger isolated inland flooding, high surf could cause coastal flooding, and powerful wind gusts could knock out electricity.

“We’re going to start to see those direct impacts start to move into portions of southeastern New England as early as later this afternoon, this evening, and then spread northward up into Maine overnight tonight and into Saturday,” National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said Friday.

“The big story with Lee is just that it’s a large hurricane.”

Shadow from Lee cirrus cloud shield is clearly visible at sunrise this morning. #mewx #nhwx pic.twitter.com/0pwhbu7Btl

— NWS Gray (@NWSGray) September 15, 2023

As of 2 p.m. ET Friday, Hurricane Lee was centered about 340 miles south-southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, the National Hurricane Center said. It was traveling north-northeast at 18 mph, whipping maximum sustained winds of 80 mph.

“So even though the center is expected to stay offshore of the coast of southeastern New England,” Brennan said, “those tropical-storm-force winds are going to move into places (in Massachusetts) like Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket as we get later into today and tonight, and then spread northward along the coast of New England and up into Atlantic Canada overnight tonight and early Saturday.”

Lee’s winds could cause power outages and isolated flooding – especially in areas where the ground is already saturated from recent rain.

“There’s leaves still on the trees in New England. There is wet soil. So there’s going to be the potential for tree damage, power outages,” Brennan said.

At the coast, flooding of 1 to 3 feet above ground level is possible if Lee’s storm surge coincides with high tide from the Long Island Sound north through Maine, Brennan said.

9/15 11am AST: Coastal flooding accompanied by large & destructive waves from Hurricane #Lee is possible along the southern New England coast beginning this afternoon, spreading northward along the coast through Saturday. Please check https://t.co/0BMJEzOTx0 for updates! pic.twitter.com/S0VsJELTru

— NHC Storm Surge (@NHC_Surge) September 15, 2023

Lee will “approach the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada today and Saturday,” the hurricane center said. “Lee is then expected to turn toward the north-northeast and northeast and move across Atlantic Canada Saturday night and Sunday.”

Along the way, Lee could deluge some communities with a combination of rain, storm surge and high tide.

“A dangerous storm surge will produce coastal flooding within the wind warning areas in Atlantic Canada in areas of onshore winds,” the National Hurricane Center said. “Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves.”

On Saturday, hurricane-strength winds (at least 74 mph) are possible from the northern coast of Maine into portions of the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. But tropical storm-force wind gusts are possible across a much larger area of New England and Atlantic Canada.

In Canada, Provincial and wildlife parks in Nova Scotia are closed Friday as Lee inches closer to the area.

“Safety is our priority as we prepare for storm conditions forecast for the weekend,” said Tory Rushton, provincial minister of natural resources and renewables. “We are closing our parks for the storm and will reopen when it is safe.”

Lee is expected to dump its heaviest rain – up to 6 inches – over far northern Maine on Saturday. Neighboring New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island could also see several inches.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency Friday as coastal parts of the state prepared for strong wind, heavy rain and flooding.

And Maine Gov. Janet Mills declared a state of emergency Thursday, requesting federal aid in preparation for the storm’s arrival.

The Italian city of Venice and its lagoon were not listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage in Danger list during a meeting of the UN agency in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, according to Italy’s culture ministry.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee had warned earlier in July that Italy was not doing enough to protect the city from the threat of overtourism, development and climate change. It recommended that it be added to its heritage danger list.

The Italian culture ministry welcomed the outcome of the UNESCO vote in Saudi Arabia, describing the attempt to register the city on the list as “purely political.”

“Great Victory at UNESCO … Venice is not at risk,” tweeted Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro on Thursday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Struggles in Venice

The city of Venice has made international headlines in recent years, including when a green blob discolored the Grand Canal and when a number of tourists were arrested for bad behavior.

As part of its strategy to control tourism, the city of Venice recently adopted an entrance fee of €5 (about $5.35 US) for day-trippers starting next spring. The fee will apply to those who are not in rental properties or hotels and will start as a 30-day experiment.

After the decision not to list the city on its “in danger” list, the World Heritage Committee noted that the site still faces major challenges and asked Italy to continue to protect the site.

The World Heritage Committee is expected to start discussions on Saturday about which sites to add to its renowned World Heritage List. Venice was added to that list in 1987.

A rescue operation has been launched to save American caver Mark Dickey, who is stranded hundreds of meters underground in southern Turkey.

The operation began at 3.28 p.m. local time (8.28 a.m. ET) on Saturday, according to Turkey’s Caving Federation – a week after Dickey first became ill during an exploration mission.

“Mark’s transport in a stretcher has started at 15:28 local time (GMT+3),” Turkey’s Caving Federation wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Dickey fell ill at the weekend with suspected gastrointestinal bleeding during a mission of the 1,276 meters-deep (4,186 feet) Morca Sinkhole in Morca Valley, near Anamur, southern Turkey, according to the Turkish Caving Federation.

The European Cave Rescue Association (ECRA) received a call on September 2 saying that Dickey was suffering from severe gastric pain, and the next day it was reported that help from outside was needed because of his “rising destabilization.” His condition has since stabilized, according to the Turkish Caving Federation.

Nearly 200 rescuers are on site working to get Dickey out, said Recep Salci of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), including dozens of people who are working inside the cave.

“Some parts of the cave are very narrow, so this will be a tough operation,” Salci said, adding that a stretcher will be used to assist Dickey out of the cave.

Doctors had been working on improving Dickey’s health so that the “difficult” ascent to the surface can begin “without further complications,” the ECRA said Friday, noting that “rescue teams are preparing the way out to the entrance by installing additional ropes and fixings.”

The operation plans to divide the cave into seven parts and assign responsibility to the rescue teams of different countries at various depths, the ECRA said. Turkish, Hungarian, Polish, Italian, Croatian and Bulgarian teams are all involved in the rescue.

Dickey became ill and was placed under observation at the cave base camp, the federation said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

A doctor is with Dickey in the cave, and the rescue team is receiving instant messages from them through an established communications line.

‘I’m going to need a lot of help to get out of here’

In a video shared by Turkey’s directorate of communications on Wednesday, Dickey said that although he was “very close to the edge,” a quick response by Turkish authorities likely saved his life.

“As you can see I’m up, I’m alert, I’m talking. But I’m not healed on the inside yet so I’m going to need a lot of help to get out of here,” he said, praising the caving community.

“This is often in the caving world, a great opportunity to show just how well the international world can work together. So I’m hoping to see many people from many countries all coming together. We take care of our own. And it’s really special to be taken care of.”

A rescue mission at this depth is “very rare, extremely difficult” and needs “many very experienced cave rescuers,” according to the ECRA, which is involved in the operation.

Gretchen Baker, from National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC), who has known and worked with Dickey for several years and has been in communication with the rescue team, expressed cautious optimism about Dickey’s safe passage out of the cave.

“The more he can help, the faster the rescue can go,” she said.

Despite Dickey’s improving medical situation, Baker said even with him helping, the rescue operation still has some way to go.

“We’re anticipating that it will take days to get him out of the cave,” she said.

Residents and travelers to California can already visit cannabis dispensaries to buy legal weed. They can even consume their purchases on-site, but usually in an environment more akin to a pharmacy than a relaxing hangout.

But an Amsterdam-style café experience – complete with coffee and snacks served alongside legal weed – could be in the offing throughout the state.

Assembly Bill 374 is waiting on Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature to become law. It passed the California Senate in a 33-to-3 vote and the Assembly in a final vote of 66 to 9 on Monday.

Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), who authored the bill, framed the issue around tax revenues.

“Lots of people want to enjoy legal cannabis in the company of others,” Haney said in a news release this week. “And many people want to do that while sipping coffee, eating a scone, or listening to music. There’s absolutely no good reason from an economic, health, or safety standpoint that the state should make that illegal.”

What the cannabis bill allows – and what it doesn’t

If a host of state regulations and requirements are met, the bill permits the following:

• Preparation or sale of noncannabis food or beverage products (such as pastries and coffee) at licensed dispensaries.
• Live musical or other performances on the premises.

However, there are restrictions the state has put in place in the bill. They include:

• Access to the area where cannabis consumption is allowed would be restricted to people 21 or older.
• The pot consumption can’t be within view of a public area.
• Sales of alcohol or tobacco won’t be permitted on the premises.
• Coffee shops will not be allowed to sell cannabis.

If Newsom signs the bill, it would go into effect in January 2024. Local jurisdictions would still have the authority to regulate the businesses.

The Los Angeles Times newspaper reported that the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network opposes the bill and is urging Newsom to use his veto power.

“Allowing marijuana smoking in public places and expanding where smoking is allowed undermines the effectiveness of California’s smoke-free law and compromises its enforcement,” the group’s legislative director, Autumn Ogden-Smith, said in a statement reported in the paper.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin – the Russian mercenary leader whose plane crashed weeks after he led a mutiny against Moscow’s military leadership – shows what happens when people make deals with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

“When you want to have a compromise or a dialogue with somebody, you cannot do it with a liar,” Volodymyr Zelensky said.

He said when Putin understood that a big part of society supported Prigozhin, “he killed him. But before he killed, he gave him promises, the territory of Belorussia (Belarus), gave him new locations, the Africa issues and businesses, a lot of different things.”

The Wagner leader’s dramatic death, which followed a short-lived rebellion that threatened the authority of the Russian president, was a warning to be heeded, Zelensky suggested.

While the United States and other key Ukrainian allies continue to supply weapons to Kyiv, and stress that conditions to pursue a “just and durable” peace are not yet in place, a handful of world leaders, such as Brazil’s Lula Da Silva, have put the onus on Ukraine to end the war.

As evidence for his position, Zelensky cited other countries which have been attacked by Russian soldiers and continue to be partially occupied by them.

“Did you see any compromise from Putin on other issues? With Georgia? With Moldova?” Zelensky asked rhetorically.

Ukraine has made incremental gains in the south amid fierce fighting with Russian troops, accounts from the front lines suggest.

Geolocated videos on Friday showed a wasteland of shell holes, abandoned trenches and wrecked military hardware in the area between Robotyne, Verbove and Novoprokopivka — a triangle of villages that hold the key for Ukrainians to getting closer to Tokmak, an important hub for Russian defenses.

“The result we need, we have to get our land,” said Zelensky. “And it’s also not about the land, it’s about the people because the frozen war is not the peace.”

“Putin – he wants to take all our country, to destroy all our families, houses. Because if— he understands — why he destroy? He understands that Ukraine will never go back, go away from our land. We’ll never do it. That’s why he has to kill us,” he added.

He added that his children are in Ukraine and that they are “very Ukrainian” and he is “happy” they are there, before going on to suggest he looks at the future of Ukraine optimistically.

Zelensky contrasted the youthful energy of his wife and children with his own aging: “This generation will make Ukraine, I think, great because they — they are very strong with all their positions, with all their values, with all — you know, they’re very free. And I’m so happy. Then I — look, like I said, I’m looking into the mirror. I see another person, older,” he said.

“My wife… She’s nice. She’s so strong. She’s — day by day, she is stronger and nicer and younger. She has a lot of energy,” he added.

A NASA astronaut on her inaugural spaceflight and two cosmonauts launched aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft toward the International Space Station Friday, marking the first time Russia has launched astronauts to the orbiting outpost in nearly a year.

The Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:44 a.m. ET and began a quick, three-hour trajectory to rendezvous with the space station.

The crew on board includes NASA’s Loral O’Hara, a former research engineer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts who was selected to the NASA astronaut corps in 2017. Flying alongside her are two Russian colleagues, Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.

Once at the space station, the group will prepare to take over operations from a trio of crew members that have been on the space station for nearly a year after launching aboard the Soyuz MS-22 vehicle.

That spacecraft sprang a coolant leak in December 2022, which officials from NASA and Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, later said was caused by an external impact — likely a piece of space debris striking the vehicle’s exterior as it was docked with the ISS.

Roscosmos determined that the MS-22 was not safe enough to carry a crew home and launched a replacement spacecraft in February. That left the MS-22 crew stuck on the orbiting laboratory while Roscosmos prepared another vehicle to resume regular crew rotations.

The MS-22 crew includes NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, whose unexpected extended stay in space broke the US record for the most consecutive days in orbit earlier this month.

After O’Hara, Kononenko and Chub arrive and take over operations, Rubio and his crewmates are expected to make their long-awaited return to Earth as soon as September 27. That would give Rubio a total of 371 days in space, besting the previous record by more than two weeks. (The late Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who logged 437 continuous days in orbit, still holds the global record for the longest mission in space.)

Rubio will also become the first American astronaut to spend a full calendar year in space.

Rubio — and now O’Hara — traveled aboard Russian Soyuz vehicles as part of crew-swapping agreement between NASA and Roscosmos that was hashed out in the summer of 2022. In exchange, NASA’s ISS transportation partner, SpaceX, has included Russian cosmonauts on its flights to the ISS.

Despite geopolitical tensions between the United States and Russia as the war in Ukraine has escalated, NASA has repeatedly said its partnership with Roscosmos is vital to continuing the space station’s operations and the valuable scientific research carried out on board.

The most recent SpaceX flight arrived at the space station in August, carrying astronauts from NASA, Roscosmos, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the European Space Agency.

Carla Vall, lawyer for Spanish soccer star Jennifer Hermoso, reiterated that the kiss by ex-Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales to her client after the Women’s World Cup final was non-consensual.

Rubiales was in court on Friday to testify after being summoned by the presiding judge to aid in the court’s investigation into potential charges of sexual assault and coercion against him.

The Spanish Prosecutor’s office said Rubiales answered questions from the judge and all parties and denied the charges.

Later on Friday, the judge gave Rubiales a restraining order to not go within 200 meters of Hermoso, nor communicate with her during the court’s investigation.

“The whole world could see it was not consensual. That’s what we’ll show,” Vall said after leaving the National Court in the capital of Madrid.

“it’s just the beginning of the investigation at court,” Vall added.

Rubiales entered the court on Friday morning with his lawyer, Olga Tubau, and made no comment to the media.

Earlier this week, the National Court announced it had admitted a complaint made against Rubiales by Spanish prosecutors for sexual assault and coercion.

The hearing lasted just under an hour and was closed to the media, but local and international crews had been waiting outside the court.

Rubiales resigned from his position on Sunday following weeks of pressure from all spheres of Spanish society.

How we got here

It all began when video from the World Cup medal ceremony on August 20 showed Rubiales embracing Hermoso, then putting both hands on her head before forcibly kissing her. He then patted her on the back as she walked away.

Later, Hermoso said of the kiss, “Hey, I didn’t like it, eh,” as she apparently answered questions about the incident in an Instagram live video from a celebratory locker room.

It would be several days, on August 25, before Hermoso spoke out again on social media after Rubiales defiantly refused to step down as RFEF president, saying, “I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out of place act without any consent on my part … Simply put, I was not respected.”

More than 80 Spanish soccer players then put their name on a statement supporting Hermoso and saying they would not return to the national team “if the current leaders continue” in their posts.

Interim RFEF president Pedro Rocha then began to make moves as part of his “regeneration” of the federation, firing controversial coach Jorge Vilda and appointing his deputy, Montse Tomé. Rocha then vowed in a meeting with the president of the High Council of Sport, Víctor Francos, to make more “structural changes” in RFEF.

The vast majority of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad says it will refuse to be called up for the country’s two upcoming Women’s Nations League matches as it continues to push for “real structural changes” in Spanish soccer, following the fallout from ex-soccer boss Luis Rubiales’ unwanted kiss on La Roja star Jennifer Hermoso.

For nearly a month, Spain has been rocked by the incident between ex-Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Rubiales and Hermoso, which has overshadowed the team’s historic victory.

Spain was due to announce a squad for its next two matches on Friday but has now postponed the decision after 39 players, including 21 of the 23-woman World Cup squad, signed a joint letter condemning RFEF.

“As of today, as we have communicated to RFEF, the changes which have been made are not enough so that the players feel in a safe place, where women are respected, women’s football is supported and where we can give our all,” the letter said, which was posted by two-time Ballon d’Or Féminin winner Alexia Putellas on X, formerly Twitter.

“We wish to end this statement expressing that the players of the Spanish women’s national team are professional players, and what most fills us with pride is putting on the shirt of the national team and always taking our country to the highest places.

“Because of that, we believe it is the moment to fight to show that these situations and practices have no place in our football or in our society, that the current structure needs change and we are doing this so that the next generations can have a much more equal football and one at the level which we all deserve.”

More change needed

The latest development comes after more than 80 Spanish soccer players – including all of Spain’s 2023 World Cup squad – had put their name on a letter supporting Hermoso on August 25, originally saying they would not return to the national team “if the current leaders continue” in their posts and if there wasn’t “real structural changes” to the federation.

As a result, interim RFEF president Pedro Rocha began to make moves as part of his “regeneration” of the federation, firing controversial coach Jorge Vilda despite Spain’s unprecedented World Cup win and appointing his deputy, Montse Tomé – the first woman to take over the role. Rocha then vowed in a meeting with the president of the High Council of Sport, Víctor Francos, to make more “structural changes” in RFEF.

The announcement from the players is bound to leave Tomé struggling to field a competitive team against Sweden and Switzerland on September 22 and 26.

The development comes after Rubiales testified in Spain’s National Court in Madrid on Friday morning after being summoned by the presiding judge to aid in the court’s investigation into potential charges of sexual assault and coercion against him.

Rubiales resigned from his position on Sunday following weeks of pressure from all spheres of Spanish society and has now been handed a restraining order and told not to go within 200 meters of Hermoso.

A United Airlines flight bound for Rome returned to New Jersey just after midnight Thursday “to address a possible loss of cabin pressure,” according to a statement from the airline.

Data from the tracking site FlightAware show the plane rapidly descended over about 8 minutes from 37,000 feet at 10:07 p.m. to just below 9,000 feet at 10:15 p.m. Pilots will often quickly descend to lower altitudes when there is a concern about the plane’s pressurization.

United Airlines Flight 510 returned safely to Newark Liberty International Airport around 12:25 a.m. ET on Thursday after the crew reported a “pressurization issue,” according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Boeing 777 flight, with 270 passengers and 14 crew members, landed safely and never lost cabin pressure, United Airlines said.

Customers were taken to their destination on another aircraft, United added.