WNBA stars Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi have both expressed their intentions to remain with the Phoenix Mercury next season and to play at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Mercury’s season ended on Sunday, as the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Phoenix finished last in the league standings at 9-31.

As she prepares to enter the upcoming offseason as a free agent, Griner, who turns 33 in October, said she intends to sign with the Mercury.

“Phoenix is home. It’s where I’ve been,” Griner told reporters. “Me and my wife literally just got a place (here). This is it.”

Regarding the Paris Olympics next year, the two-time gold medalist said: “If I get the invite, I’m going to show up, of course.

“There’s no greater honor than playing for the USA, playing for your country. I’ve got some really good memories with Team USA, so I would love the chance to continue that.”

Griner returned to play with the Mercury this season after she was freed in December from wrongful detention in Russia. Earlier this year, she said that she will “never go overseas again” to play basketball in light of what happened, unless it’s for the Olympics.

The nine-time All-Star added that she plans to use the upcoming offseason to get herself properly conditioned for the 2024 season.

“Just conditioning, getting my weight where I want it and not trying to do that in the middle of the season, pretty hard, pretty tough,” Griner said.

“Being able to take this first offseason that I have now I’ve never had before, where I could actually work on myself – my game, body, conditioning, everything, studying the game and not having to worry about what my team needs from me if I was overseas. Now, I can just worry about what I need to do for my team here this whole offseason.”

Griner got visibly emotional when asked about the death of Bill Richardson, the former Democratic governor of New Mexico who traveled to Russia to discuss Griner’s possible release with Kremlin officials.

“That was very tough,” Griner said. “Really good man. So much good. So much good. I owe a lot to him.”

Taurasi, meanwhile, will be 42 next season, and she is under contract for the Mercury in 2024. During the season, Taurasi became the first player in WNBA history to score 10,000 career points.

She told reporters that she’s excited about what the Mercury will do in free agency and with salary cap space.

“I’ve got another year on my contract and I’m definitely going to fulfill that,” Taurasi said.

Regarding the Olympics, she said that she’ll “be doing my best to hopefully be on that team.”

“If I’m lucky enough to be on that team, I’ll be ready to represent my country,” Taurasi added.

Hurricane Lee increased in size late Monday in the Atlantic and still is expected to grow significantly this week, forecasters say – growth that will help determine the extent of its impact on the US Northeast, Bermuda and Canada.

Lee, a Category 3 hurricane on Tuesday morning, was centered about 575 miles south of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

Though it could strengthen slightly Tuesday, it is then expected to weaken, grow in size and speed up after it makes its northward turn in the coming days.

Even if it’s weaker, a larger storm could impact a more widespread area. A larger Hurricane Lee, then, is more likely to affect the Eastern Seaboard – even if not through a direct landfall.

Tuesday morning, Lee’s hurricane-force winds extended 80 miles from its center – up 5 miles from evening. Tropical storm-force winds extended 185 miles from its core.

Those tropical storm-force winds could extend over 300 miles from Lee’s center later this week, National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said in a Monday storm briefing.

“It is still expected to significantly increase in size, and hazards will extend well away from the storm center by the end of the forecast period,” the hurricane center said Monday night.

Lee’s core is expected to turn north by midweek and pass near, but west, of Bermuda late Thursday and Friday, and could deliver strong winds, rain and high surf to the island territory, forecasters said.

It’s too soon to know the extent of the impacts Lee might have along the Northeast US and Atlantic Canada late this week and this weekend, the hurricane center said.

“However, because wind and rainfall hazards will likely extend well away from the center as Lee grows in size,” people in those areas should monitor the forecast for the next several days, the hurricane center said.

Regardless of its final track, the storm will send big waves to a growing area of the East Coast throughout the week as it tracks northward. This will cause coastal erosion, dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents at beaches.

Dangerous surf was already happening along the Florida coast and on many of the far eastern Caribbean islands as well as the British and US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispanola, the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and Bermuda.

Rip currents have already killed 71 people in the US this year, preliminary National Weather Service data shows. Three people in New Jersey died in rip currents kicked up in the wake of Hurricane Franklin last week.

Lee, which was a Category 1 storm Thursday, intensified with exceptional speed into rare Category 5 status as it moved west across the Atlantic, more than doubling its wind speeds to 165 mph in just a day.

Dangerous flooding in the city of Leominster, Massachusetts, has trapped residents, submerged vehicles and sent water gushing through the streets as storms bring the threat of flooding across portions of the Northeast, officials say.

Leominster, a city in central Massachusetts about 40 miles northwest of Boston, is under a local state of emergency due to flooding “all over the city,” Mayor Dean Mazzarella said in a Facebook post on Monday.

Heavy rains that began Monday and are expected to continue across western portions of Massachusetts overnight have prompted flood or flash flood warnings in the area through Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. The region had seen between 6 to 9 inches of rain as of Monday night.

“Life-threatening” flash flooding was expected across the impacted parts of Massachusetts as well as portions northeastern Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island, the agency said, noting as many as 8 inches of rain had fallen around Providence by Monday night.

In Leominster, videos posted on social media show vehicles submerged by dark flood waters on a highway. Elsewhere, footage shows emergency vehicles and other drivers trying to navigate a street overtaken by rapidly-moving water as rain continues to fall. Another video shows water filling a gaping sinkhole in the middle of a street lined with houses.

Fire crews from the nearby town of Hubbardston responded to Leominster to assist with emergency response and reported that several people had been trapped in the area.

Schools in the area will be closed Tuesday due to the flooding, Leominster Public Schools announced.

The mayor urged residents to remain inside and avoid venturing out.

“Trust me when I tell you, if you do not have to go out – don’t,” Mazzarella said in a Facebook live stream Monday evening, “There are very few streets that aren’t flooded.”

National parks are really into big things, especially super-large landmarks.

Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal safeguards the southern slopes of Mt Everest, the world’s highest peak at 8,849 meters (29,032 feet).

Venezuela’s Canaima National Park is home to Angel Falls, the world’s tallest waterfall at 979 meters (3,212 feet).

Sprawling across 400 square kilometers (154 square miles), Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia boasts the globe’s largest religious monument and largest ancient ruined metropolis.

But the largest thing about national parks may be their colossal size.

Larger than Delaware and roughly the same size as Wales, Yellowstone was considered huge when it became the world’s first national park in 1872.

However, an explosion of new protected areas in the late 20th and early 21st centuries put the older generation of national parks to shame when it comes to size. Some of the newbies are more than 50 times bigger than Yellowstone.

Here’s a look at the largest parks on each continent.

North America

Sprawling across nearly half of the world’s largest island, Northeast Greenland National Park is currently the globe’s single largest national park and biggest land-based protected area.

It’s hard to wrap your brain around its sheer size – 972,000 square kilometers (375,000 square miles) – which makes it larger than all but 29 of the United Nations’ member states.

The vast Greenland Ice Sheet comprises most of the park, but there’s also a long, rugged coastline that’s home to musk oxen, polar bears and many other Arctic creatures.

The best way to reach the park from Ittoqqortoormiit, the nearest town, “is by boat during the summer, in the winter by dogsled with our local hunters,” says Mette Pike Barselajsen of Nanu Travel, which offers guided trips to East Greenland.

South America

South America’s largest parks are found in the continent’s least-populated regions – the Amazon and Patagonia.

The reigning champ is Chiribiquete National Park in southeast Colombia (43,000 square kilometers/17,000 square miles). Protecting a massive tract of Amazon rainforest, tepui flat-topped mountains and wild rivers, the park looks like something out of “Jurassic Park” rather than a modern landscape.

There may not be dinosaurs, but the place is inhabited by other apex predators.

Called the “Maloca (Longhouse) of the Jaguar” by the local indigenous people, Chiribiquete flaunts a wide range of flora and fauna, as well as more than 75,000 ancient rock paintings, some of them rendered more than 24,000 years ago.

Colombia Oculta offers flightseeing trips over Chiribiquete’s truly “lost world.”

Australia

Australia’s largest nature reserve is also brand new. Covering 36,000 square kilometers/13,900 miles, the Munga-Thirri-Simpson Desert National Park was declared in 2021 to protect the starkly beautiful desert landscapes of far northern South Australia.

It includes one of the world’s largest dune fields, acacia woodlands, spinifex grasslands, gypsum outcrops and playa (dry) lake chains. As well as more than 150 bird species, the park provides an arid habitat for small marsupials (many of them nocturnal), dingoes, feral camels and the perentie (Australia’s largest lizard).

Currently, the park has no visitor facilities and no paved roads; anyone who ventures into the Simpson Desert on their own should be well-versed in wilderness survival. Outback Spirit Adventures offers 14-day guided tours in Mercedes Benz G Wagons. Due to extreme heat, the park is closed during the antipodean summer.

Asia

Despite being the largest continent, Asia has fallen behind in the race for the world’s largest national parks.

Established in 2021, China’s Sanjiangyuan National Park is now the largest (123,100 square kilometers/47,529 square miles), a colossal chunk of the Tibetan Plateau that nurtures the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lantsang rivers.

Rugged and remote, the highlands harbor a range of rare, endangered or vulnerable animal species, from snow leopards and Himalayan wolves to the wild yak and Alpine musk deer. The park also includes cultural sites.

Elevated Trips offers guided journeys through Qinghai Province that include forays into the Sanjiangyuan region.

Europe

Given its small size compared to many other continents, many of Europe’s largest parks seem puny compared to the others. But that doesn’t mean they’re actually small.

Far and away the largest is Iceland’s Vatnajökull National Park (14,141 square kilometers/5,460 square miles). The reserve personifies the island’s “fire and ice” ethos, a wonderland of volcanoes and hot springs, fjords and glaciers that’s easy to explore on your own (camping, hiking and birdwatching) or via guided trips.

Africa

Some of the world’s highest and biggest sand dunes are the centerpiece of western Namibia’s Namib Naukluft National Park, Africa’s largest at 49,768 square kilometers (19,216 square miles).

The dunes – some of them more than 200 meters (656 feet) high – were created by millennia of waves and onshore winds depositing sand on the world’s oldest desert.

Easy to explore with your own vehicle, the main park road leads to the vibrant Sossusvlei dunes and photogenic Dead Vlei with its ghostly forest. Hot-air balloon flights offer a bird’s-eye-view of the awesome desertscape.

In addition to its legendary dunes, Namib Naukluft is renowned for its desert canyons, shipwrecked spangled seacoast, as well as flora and fauna that have adapted to one of the Earth’s most arid places.

Although it’s not a national park per se, Africa’s largest protected zone is the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (520,000 square kilometers/200,000 square miles) formed in 2012 to safeguard adjoining parts of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola and Namibia.

Antarctica

The bottom end of the planet doesn’t boast any national parks yet, but the Antarctic’s only official nature reserve is the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area.

Created in 2016, the reserve spans 1.55 million square kilometers (600,000 square miles) and is home to millions of polar animals including penguins, whales, seals and seabirds.

Yet, at some point in the future, the entire continent could become the Antarctic World Park. At 14.2 million sq km (5.5 million square miles), that would make it around 10 times larger than any other reserve.

“During the 1980s, NGOs (nongovernment organizations) promoted the idea that Antarctica should be designated a world park,” says Claire Christian, executive director of the Antarctic & Southern Ocean Coalition. “But this didn’t occur.”

Instead, the Antarctic Treaty nations signed a new international agreement called the Protocol on Environmental Protection that prohibits mining and established rules to minimize the environmental impact of tourism and scientific research activities in Antarctica.

Japan’s flag carrier has started a year-long trial of a service that allows travelers to book a set of clothes — covering different sartorial styles and seasons — and receive it at their hotel upon arrival. At the end of the stay the clothes are returned, to be washed and cycled back into the system.

Called Any Wear, Anywhere, the service runs through the end of August 2024 and Japan Airlines says it could cut carbon emissions by reducing the weight carried by its airplanes.

Any Wear, Anywhere estimates that about 22 pounds (10 kilograms) saved in luggage equals about 16.5 pounds (7.5 kilograms) saved in emissions — the equivalent of running a hair dryer 10 minutes a day for 78 days.

“I love traveling and I’ve been to many foreign countries, but I’ve always dreaded dragging around luggage or doing laundry abroad,” says Miho Moriya, who came up with the idea and manages Any Wear, Anywhere for Sumitomo, the Japanese company that handles reservations, deliveries and laundering of the clothes.

“When traveling, the three most important things for me are accommodation, food and clothing,” she adds. “When we travel abroad, there are hotels and restaurants that provide lodging and food on site, but not clothing. Why do we have to bring our clothes from home?”

Apparel for all seasons

Moriya submitted the idea for the service through an internal entrepreneurial challenge within her company, and she says that once it was approved, after a delay due to the pandemic, it took “many tries” to find an airline that was willing to support it.

Users of the service log onto the website and choose from a few options — women or men’s clothing; which season they’re for; smart or casual styling; the number of tops and bottoms; and dates for pickup and return. Their selections will be waiting for them at the hotel, for prices that range between $34 and $48 for the whole rental period.

All garments are either pre-owned or sourced from company overstock, although users can’t see this information about their selection. The service has been running since the start of July, and Moriya says that the response has been overwhelmingly positive. “We have requests from all over the world and over 115 countries in total, even though we’re not doing any kind of promotion,” she says, adding that the United States and Australia are the countries with the largest number of users.

The true impact of the trial will only be revealed at the end, once Japan Airlines tallies the weight savings and calculates the exact reduction in emissions. “We have to see the final results before we can say if this service is sustainable or not,” says Moriya, adding that the calculations will factor in the emissions produced by the deliveries of the clothes and the laundering.

Cutting weight, cutting emissions?

Weight reduction is a proven way to save fuel and reduce emissions, and it’s been factored in by aircraft manufacturers and airlines for a long time, for example by designing lighter passenger seats or replacing heavy paper manuals with tablets. Even small changes can have a large impact: when Qantas redesigned its tableware for first and business class to be just 11% lighter, the company says it started saving 1.1 million pounds (535 metric tons) of fuel per year.

However, Japan Airlines must be able to see a statistically significant reduction in baggage weight, says Gary Crichlow, an aviation analyst at consulting firm AviationValues. “Should they determine whether passengers are indeed traveling with less baggage,” he adds, “they must next determine whether there is a causal link to the initiative.”

Once that’s proven, the challenge would be to ensure that the lower weight actually translates into reduced fuel consumption. “What matters from an emissions standpoint is how much fuel is burnt hoisting the total weight over the aircraft into the air and keeping it there until it lands in Japan,” he says.

“It doesn’t matter whether the weight comes from passengers, bags, cargo, crew, or catering. As aircraft real estate is highly valuable, there will always be an economic incentive to offset the reduced passenger baggage weight with additional revenue-generating belly cargo. That may not necessarily be a bad thing from a holistic point of view, if it results in the most efficient use of the aircraft’s cargo capacity. But it would appear to run contrary to the stated aim of the initiative. Therefore, transparency as to the real weight saved per flight (if any), and fuel consumption reduced as a result, will be key.”

Nina Gbor, a sustainable fashion expert and educator, thinks the project is a positive step. “Often people buy new clothes just for their holiday and business trips, so this service will reduce this unnecessary clothing waste and the virgin resources used in making new clothing. It’s also making use of excess stock and pre-owned apparel that might have typically gone to landfill or incinerated.

“Extending the life of clothes by just nine extra months of active use reduces carbon, water and waste footprints by around 20-30% each.”

Gbor believes that the initiative should be embraced by more airlines. “With global flights projected to reach 32.4 million passengers in 2023, the clothing rental model should be replicated by other airlines around the world if they are serious about supporting the circular economy and achieving sustainability goals,” she says.

Moriya shares this ambition and hopes to expand the partnership with Japan Airlines to other members of the OneWorld Alliance, which includes American Airlines, British Airways and Quantas – and then to other alliances. “Our ultimate goal is to expand the service to all over the world,” she says.

It turns out that luxury London hotels are like buses. You wait ages for one to open, and then two, or in this case several, come at once.

After being beset by delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 1 Hotel Mayfair, the first London location for the 1 Hotels brand opened its doors in July, the new Mandarin Oriental Mayfair is scheduled to open later this year, while Raffles Hotels and Resorts is launching Raffles London at The OWO in the coming weeks.

And this month, the UK capital is welcoming another of Asia’s most renowned hotel groups this month, as The Peninsula finally arrives in the city, over 30 years after beginning its search for a London location.

Grand opening

On September 12, the red blindfolds covering the eyes of the Chinese stone lions at the main entrance of the Peninsula London, which overlooks popular landmark Wellington Arch, were due to be removed in a special ceremony.

And the hotel’s uniformed pages, another iconic characteristic of the Peninsula brand, will be on hand to welcome its first guests.

With 190 rooms and suites, 25 luxury residences, a rooftop restaurant, and a spa with a 25-meter indoor swimming pool, The Peninsula London is undoubtedly one of the most highly-anticipated properties in the UK capital, with rates per night beginning at £1,300 (around $1,621).

While it may be one of many hotels opening in London this year, the launch of a purpose-built five-star hotel in the city is almost unheard of these days, with many other brands opting to convert existing buildings instead.

“We’re proud to be coming to London, to work alongside our illustrious neighbors. It’s a very exciting time for the capital.”

Picturesque location

Situated close to Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park Corner, the hotel has been designed to “gracefully harmonize with the heritage buildings of Belgravia,” which is known for its Georgian and Regency architecture.

The huge building holds an internal courtyard where those arriving by car can enter discreetly. Designed by landscape architect Enzo Enea, the cobblestone courtyard features wisteria vines and two 120-year-old Japanese maples.

As is typical with Peninsula hotels, the London offshoot will provide guests with a luxury fleet of cars, including a vintage Rolls-Royce Sedanca de Ville from 1935, a Rolls-Royce Phantom II, a Bentley Bentayga and an electrified Austin Healy taxi.

However, it’s also among the few Peninsula properties without one of the helipads the brand has become synonymous with, apparently due to its proximity to Buckingham Palace.

Luxurious rooms

The hotel’s rooms and suites, which range from 51 to 59 square meters to 549 to 635 square feet in size, all feature original artwork with a Royal gardens theme, luxurious bathrooms and dressing rooms with built-in wardrobes, raised luggage racks, and a nail dryer.

Each has a special valet box near the door, where guests can leave laundry, or anything they want removed from their room, and staff can fill with newspapers or room service items without disturbing them.

Some of the rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows, showcasing impressive views of Wellington Arch and Hyde Park, while others look out onto the courtyard.

PenChat, a 24-hour private e-concierge service, is also available to guests. The bespoke staff uniforms are the work of British designer Jenny Packham.

The hotel has been designed to “service both visitors and local residents,” with a coffee shop, apparently one of the requirements negotiated during the sale, and a retail arcade, located on the premises.

“We believe that the investment we have made into this project, the dedication of our people and the project teams we have worked with, and the quality and the attention to detail that we have strived for, will make this a unique hotel that we believe will stand out not only in London but globally, and will be one of the most important hotels in our group for generations to come,” Clement Kwok, managing director and CEO of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited, owner and operator of The Peninsula, said in a statement.

Dining destination

Inspired by British aviation and motorsport, the hotel’s rooftop restaurant Brooklands get its name from the Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, and is among its stand out additions.

Led by renowned chef Claude Bosi, Brooklands, which opens in late September, features an automotive-themed bar, airplane style doors, and an overhead model of the Concorde.

Ground-floor establishment Canton Blue is themed on the story of the Keying, a Chinese trading junk ship which sailed between China and Britain during the 1800s, and honors the “spice-trade union of Asian and British cultures.”

The intimate restaurant has an upper deck area, along with a downstairs cocktail bar that serves up sophisticated cocktails and artisanal teas.

Meanwhile, afternoon tea is served, alongside live music, in the stunning lobby restaurant, The Lobby, which features high ceilings, hand painted murals and crystal chandeliers.

“At The Peninsula London we wanted to create a new dining destination for Londoners and locals,” adds Vodusek, before explaining that both establishments have “their own unique design concepts, their own chefs, their own bars and completely different menu and atmosphere.”

The hotel’s spa, which offers various treatments, workshops and exercise classes, and holds a 25-meter indoor swimming pool will open later this year, along with a huge ballroom with capacity for up to 450 people and two elevators large enough to hold motorcars.

The Peninsula London is open for bookings from September 12.

The Philippines has accused Chinese vessels of carrying out “dangerous maneuvers” in a disputed area of the South China Sea in the latest maritime flare-up between the two neighbors.

The Philippine coast guard said in a statement Friday it had been carrying out a routine rotation and resupply mission near Ayungin Shoal, known in China as Ren’ai Reef, when its vessels were approached by eight Chinese boats.

It claimed the Chinese boats “jeopardized” the safety of the crew members aboard the Philippine vessels, but did not detail how. It claimed the incident had involved four Chinese coast guard vessels and four Chinese “maritime militia” boats.

The incident comes just weeks after the Philippines accused Chinese coast guard ships of firing water cannons at its vessels as they tried to resupply troops stationed on the same shoal in the Spratly Islands chain, known in China as the Nansha Islands.

Western marine security experts believe Beijing controls a maritime militia hundreds of vessels strong that acts as an unofficial – and officially deniable – force to push its territorial claims both in the South China Sea and beyond.

The Philippines claims the militia has been involved in both of the most recent incidents at Ayungin Shoal, which is also known as Second Thomas Shoal.

China has never acknowledged that such a militia exists.

Following the most recent incident the Philippine coast guard said it had reached out to its Chinese counterpart and urged them to “immediately cease any illegal activities within the maritime zones of the Philippines.”

Beijing claims “indisputable sovereignty” over almost all of the 1.3 million square mile South China Sea, as well as most of the islands within it. That includes the Spratlys, an archipelago consisting of 100 small islands and reefs also claimed in full or part by the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

Manila however calls part of the area the West Philippine Sea. In 1999 it intentionally grounded a navy transport ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, on Second Thomas Shoal, manned by Filipino marines, to enforce the country’s claim to the area.

In response to the latest confrontation, the Chinese coast guard issued a statement on Friday, accusing the Philippines of unauthorized entry into the area.

“Two Philippine supply ships and two (Philippine) coast guard ships entered the waters adjacent to Ren’ai Reef in China’s Nansha Islands without permission from the Chinese government,” the statement read.

“China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands, including Ren’ai Reef, and its adjacent waters, and firmly opposes the Philippines’ illegal transportation of illegal building materials to warships stationed on the beach illegally.”

Manila’s territorial claims are backed by the international Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, which ruled in 2016 that China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea.

Beijing has ignored the ruling and insists that the Philippines had promised to remove the vessel. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has said his government has never promised such a move.

Tom Brady made an emotional return to New England on Sunday as he declared himself a “Patriot for life.”

Brady retired from professional football earlier this year after spending three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the three-time NFL MVP will always be remembered for his time in New England with the Patriots.

While playing for the Patriots, Brady was able to bring six Super Bowl titles to New England and turned the franchise into a footballing powerhouse.

“When Tom Brady announced his retirement after 23 NFL seasons, there was only one place I wanted him to be on opening day – right here at Gillette Stadium with 65,000 fans,” said Patriots owner Robert Kraft as he introduced Brady to the packed-out venue for a special half-time ceremony during the match against the Philadelphia Eagles to honor the quarterback.

“In the 103-year history of the NFL, nearly 27,000 players have appeared in games, and we know the greatest one ever to play in that time is right here in Tom Brady.”

Once the applause and cheers had finally died down, Brady was able to address those in attendance.

“That run out was a little longer today than it used to be – I’m not quite in game shape but it’s impossible for me to be in this stadium, full of you amazing fans, with some of the best teammates, with my family and all my friends, and not run out like I did for 20 years,” Brady told the New England crowd as he received an effusive reception from the crowd.

“I was so fortunate to be drafted here two decades ago – 23 years to be exact – not even knowing where New England was on the map and not that we put it on the map, but I think a lot more people in the US know where the New England Patriots play.”

Brady set nearly every imaginable franchise passing record with the Patriots, leading the team to 17 division titles and 219 regular-season wins.

“All our lives take us on different journeys, they take us to different places, they bring different people into our lives but one thing I am sure of and that will never change is that I am a Patriot for life,” said Brady.

Kraft also announced that he will be waiving the four-year wait period to be inducted into the Patriots’ Hall of Fame and Brady will be inducted in a first of its kind ceremony at Gillette Stadium next year.

“I love you guys so much, and I’ll see you next summer,” Brady concluded.

Eagles onslaught

The Patriots haven’t won a Super Bowl since Brady departed and the team’s opening NFL game of the 2023/2024 season ended in defeat as the Philadelphia Eagles departed the Gillette Stadium with a 25-20 victory.

The Eagles got off to a flying start when Darius Slay intercepted Mac Jones’ attempted pass. Philadelphia’s cornerback charged down the field to score a touchdown off the 70-yard interception.

DeVonta Smith added a touchdown late on in the first quarter from a Jalen Hurts pass as Philadelphia took a 16-0 lead after the opening 15 minutes.

The Patriots rallied with a 14-point second quarter. Touchdowns from Hunter Henry and Kendrick Bourne, both from Jones passes, brought the Patriots within two points of the Eagles and a potential turnaround.

However, following the break, Eagles kicker Jake Elliott piled on another nine points to the Eagles’ tally to make it 25-14 and put Philadelphia in complete control.

The Patriots weren’t completely done and Bourne added a second touchdown from another Jones pass but it wasn’t to be enough as the Eagles held on to a precious opening game win.

Damar Hamlin will not play in the Buffalo Bills’ opening game of the NFL season in a Monday Night Football contest against the New York Jets after being placed on the inactive list.

Hamlin was fully cleared to resume football activities in April after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field against the Cincinnati Bengals in January.

By August, the 25-year-old was a full participant in preseason games and performed well – making three tackles in limited playing time, including a fourth-down tackle to force a turnover on downs, in the team’s first preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts.

But the Bills safety was named as a healthy scratch on the inactive list for Monday night’s game against Aaron Rodgers’ Jets. As a backup safety and special teams player, it’s not a surprise that he will not play in New Jersey.

Hamlin collapsed in January after making a tackle and taking a shot to the head and chest area. Medical professionals performed CPR on Hamlin when he lost his pulse and he needed to be revived through resuscitation and defibrillation. He was on a ventilator for days and spent more than a week in a Cincinnati hospital.

It was later determined that Hamlin’s cardiac arrest was caused by commotio cordis, which can occur when severe trauma to the chest disrupts the heart’s electrical charge and causes dangerous fibrillations (or abnormal heartbeats).

“I died on national TV in front of the whole world,” Hamlin said in April in his first session with reporters since the incident.

He has since reached several milestones on his return to the NFL, including participating in full practice in June before donning pads again in July.

Major Hurricane Lee will continue to grow in size after a crucial northward turn midweek which will determine the extent and severity of its impact on the Northeast, New England, Bermuda and Canada.

Lee was a Category 3 hurricane on Monday, located well north of the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico in the Atlantic Ocean with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, according to the 5 p.m. ET update from the National Hurricane Center. It is expected to weaken, grow in size and speed up after it makes its northward turn in the coming days.

Although it may be weaker, a larger storm has the potential to impact a more widespread area, increasing the likelihood that Lee will affect the Eastern Seaboard – even it’s not in the form of a direct landfall.

“Even as the peak winds come down, the wind field of Lee is going to continue to grow in size,” National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said in a Monday storm briefing. “We could see the tropical storm-force winds expand by 50 to 60 to 70%.”

As of Monday, hurricane-force winds extended 75 miles from Lee’s center, up from 45 miles on Sunday. Tropical storm-force winds extended 185 miles from its core. Those tropical storm-force winds could extend over 300 miles from Lee’s center later this week, Brennan said.

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty as to the exact track of how close it will get to the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada over the next several days,” Brennan said, “but certainly the chance for significant impacts with a growing storm.”

Lee’s exact track, even if it stays off the coast of the US, will be crucial. The storm’s the large wind field means that oscillations east or west will affect the storm’s severity on land. Even if Lee stays a couple hundred miles off the coast, it could still lash the coast with strong winds, rain and coastal flooding.

The final track of the storm after it passes by Bermuda on Thursday or Friday remains highly uncertain because its current slowdown is also delaying key forecast details. Exactly when, where and how fast Lee makes its northward turn will determine how close it tracks to the East Coast on its nearest approach over the weekend – details that could come more into focus as soon as Wednesday.

If Lee tracks farther to the west before its northward turn, areas north of the Carolinas – particularly eastern New England and Atlantic Canada – could be more at risk of rain, wind and coastal flooding. If the storm turns more abruptly, it would track more to the east and lessen the risk to the entire Eastern Seaboard.

Bermuda could be spared a direct hit, but may still experience strong winds and heavy rain as Lee tracks just to its west. Brennan said watches could be issued for the island as soon as Tuesday.

Regardless of its final track, the storm will send big waves to a growing area of the East Coast throughout the week as it tracks northward off the coast. This will cause coastal erosion, dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents at beaches.

Dangerous surf was already happening along the Florida coast and on many of the far eastern Caribbean islands as well as the British and US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispanola, the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and Bermuda.

Rip currents have already killed 71 people in the US this year, preliminary National Weather Service data shows. Three people in New Jersey died in rip currents kicked up in the wake of Hurricane Franklin last week.

Lee, which was a Category 1 storm Thursday, intensified with exceptional speed into rare Category 5 status as it moved west across the Atlantic, more than doubling its wind speeds to 165 mph in just a day.