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  • Trump says he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the US controlling Greenland

    Trump says he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the US controlling Greenland

    COPENHAGEN, Denmark — U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S. controlling Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan Congressional delegation sought to lower tensions in the Danish capital.

    Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable.”

    During an unrelated event at the White House about rural healthcare, he recounted Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

    “I may do that for Greenland too,” Trump said. “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” he said.

    He had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue.

    Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

    That encounter didn’t resolve the deep differences, but did produce an agreement to set up a working group — on whose purpose Denmark and the White House then offered sharply diverging public views.

    European leaders have insisted that it is only for Denmark and Greenland to decide on matters concerning the territory, and Denmark said this week that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies.

    A relationship ‘we need to nurture’

    In Copenhagen, a group of senators and members of the House of Representatives met Friday with Danish and Greenlandic lawmakers, and with leaders including Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

    Delegation leader Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, thanked the group’s hosts for “225 years of being a good and trusted ally and partner” and said that “we had a strong and robust dialogue about how we extend that into the future.”

    Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said after meeting lawmakers that the visit reflected a strong relationship over decades and “it is one that we need to nurture.” She told reporters that “Greenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset, and I think that’s what you’re hearing with this delegation.”

    The tone contrasted with that emanating from the White House. Trump has sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals. The White House hasn’t ruled out taking the territory by force.

    “We have heard so many lies, to be honest, and so much exaggeration on the threats towards Greenland,” said Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic politician and member of the Danish parliament who took part in Friday’s meetings. “And mostly, I would say the threats that we’re seeing right now is from the U.S. side.”

    Murkowski emphasized the role of Congress in spending and in conveying messages from constituents.

    “I think it is important to underscore that when you ask the American people whether or not they think it is a good idea for the United States to acquire Greenland, the vast majority, some 75%, will say, we do not think that that is a good idea,” she said.

    Along with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, Murkowski has introduced bipartisan legislation that would prohibit the use of U.S. Defense or State department funds to annex or take control of Greenland or the sovereign territory of any NATO member state without that ally’s consent or authorization from the North Atlantic Council.

    Inuit council criticizes White House statements

    The dispute is looming large in the lives of Greenlanders. Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said on Tuesday that “if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.”

    In Nuuk, the chairperson of the Greenland-based Inuit Circumpolar Council, which represents around 180,000 Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia’s Chukotka region on international issues, said persistent statements from the White House that the U.S. must own Greenland offer “a clear picture of how the U.S. administration views the people of Greenland, how the U.S. administration views Indigenous peoples, and peoples that are few in numbers.”

    Sara Olsvig told the Associated Press in Nuuk that the issue is “how one of the biggest powers in the world views other peoples that are less powerful than them. And that really is concerning.”

    Indigenous Inuit in Greenland do not want to be colonized again, she said.

  • One person was killed in a 3-car crash on Lincoln Drive

    One person was killed in a 3-car crash on Lincoln Drive

    One person is dead following a three-car collision Thursday night on the 3300 block of Lincoln Drive in East Falls. Police on Friday identified that driver as 65-year-old Eric Sullivan from the East Germantown area.

    Shortly before 9:20 p.m., Sullivan was driving north in a white 1997 Toyota 4Runner and crossed into the southbound lane, hitting a black 2026 Mercedes-Benz C-300 head on before smashing into a third vehicle, a black 2025 Nissan Rogue.

    Sullivan’s car flipped over multiple times and the driver was ejected onto the road. Medics pronounced Sullivan dead about five minutes later, according to police.

    The 45-year-old man driving the second car and the two passengers, a 36-year-old woman and an 8-year-old girl, were all taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center. They’re all in stable condition. As was the driver of the third car who was taken to Lankenau Hospital, said police spokesperson Jasmine Colón-Reilly.

    Police are investigating the cause of the crash.

    Lincoln Drive is listed on the city’s High Injury Network, the 12% of roads where 80% of Philadelphia’s most dangerous and deadly crashes occur. Area residents have long advocated for a safer street design to reduce the number of crashes and bring down speeds.

    In 2023, PennDot and the city announced plans to install four speed tables — structures similar to speed bumps but designed to be less noisy — at both ends of Lincoln Drive’s most dangerous stretch, which is directly northeast of where the crash occurred. Residents argued that and other proposed safety additions to the road wouldn’t be enough to combat the danger of the hairpins turns and other hazards along that street.

  • Trump thanks Iran for canceling executions as senior cleric issues threats

    Trump thanks Iran for canceling executions as senior cleric issues threats

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump took the unusual step on Friday of thanking the Iranian government for not following through on executions of what he said was meant to be hundreds of political prisoners.

    “Iran canceled the hanging of over 800 people,” Trump told reporters while leaving the White House to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. He added, “and I greatly respect the fact that they canceled.”

    The Republican president also suggested on his social media site that more than 800 people had been set to be executed, but he said they now won’t be.

    “Thank you!” he posted.

    Those sentiments come after Trump spent days suggesting that the U.S. might strike Iran militarily if its government triggered mass killings during widespread protests that have swept that country.

    The death toll from those protests continues to rise, activists say. Still, Trump seemed to hint that the prospects for U.S. military action were fading since Iran had held off on the executions.

    The president’s rosy assessment did not match the more complicated situation on the ground in Iran but appeared to be Trump backing away from his early pronouncements that suggested a U.S. attack on that country might be imminent.

    Trump had previously posted of Iran and the protesters there, “Help is on the way.” But asked if that was still the case on Friday, he replied: “Well, we’re going to see.”

    Questioned about who convinced him to back down on seeming suggestions that he would strike Iran, Trump said, “Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself.”

    “You had yesterday scheduled over 800 hangings. They didn’t hang anyone,” Trump said. “They canceled the hangings. That had a big impact.”

    Cleric warns of ‘hard revenge’ on Trump, Netanyahu

    As Iran returned to uneasy calm, a senior hard-line cleric called Friday for the death penalty for detained demonstrators and directly threatened Trump — evidence of the rage gripping authorities in the Islamic Republic.

    Harsh repression that has left several thousand people dead appears to have succeeded in stifling demonstrations that began Dec. 28 over Iran’s ailing economy and morphed into protests directly challenging the country’s theocracy.

    There have been no signs of protests for days in Tehran, where shopping and street life have returned to outward normality, though a week-old internet blackout continued. Authorities have not reported any unrest elsewhere in the country.

    The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Friday put the death toll, at 2,797. The number continues to rise.

    Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi urged the U.S. to make good on its pledge to intervene, calling Trump “a man of his word.”

    Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami’s sermon, carried by Iranian state radio, sparked chants from those gathered for prayers, including: “Armed hypocrites should be put to death!” Executions, as well as the killing of peaceful protesters, are two of the red lines laid down by Trump for possible military action against Iran.

    Khatami, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts and Guardian Council long known for his hard-line views, described the protesters as the “butlers” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “Trump’s soldiers.” He insisted their plans “imagined disintegrating the country.”

    “They should wait for hard revenge from the system,” Khatami said of Netanyahu and Trump. “Americans and Zionists should not expect peace.”

    His fiery speech came as allies of Iran and the United States alike sought to defuse tensions. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Friday to both Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Israel’s Netanyahu, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

    Peskov said “the situation in the region is quite tense, and the president is continuing his efforts to help de-escalate it.”

    Russia had previously kept largely quiet about the protests. Moscow has watched several key allies suffer blows as its resources and focus are consumed by its 4-year-old war against Ukraine, including the downfall of Syria’s former President Bashar Assad in 2024, last year’s U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, and the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro this month.

    Exiled Iranian royal calls for fight to continue

    Days after Trump pledged “help is on its way” for the protesters, both the demonstrations and the prospect of imminent U.S. retaliation appeared to have receded. One diplomat told the Associated Press that top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar had raised concerns with Trump that a U.S. military intervention would shake the global economy and destabilize an already volatile region.

    Yet the Trump administration has warned it will act if Iran executes detained protesters. Pahlavi, whose father was overthrown by Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, said he still believes the president’s promise of assistance.

    “I believe the president is a man of his word,” Pahlavi told reporters in Washington. He added that ”regardless of whether action is taken or not, we as Iranians have no choice to carry on the fight.“

    Despite support by diehard monarchists in the diaspora, Pahlavi has struggled to gain wider appeal within Iran. But that has not stopped him from presenting himself as the transitional leader of Iran if the regime were to fall.

    Iran and the U.S. traded angry accusations Thursday at a session of the United Nations Security Council, with U.S. ambassador Mike Waltz saying that Trump “has made it clear that all options are on the table to stop the slaughter.”

    Gholam Hossein Darzi, the deputy Iranian ambassador to the U.N., blasted the U.S. for what he said was American “direct involvement in steering unrest in Iran to violence.”

    Iran authorities list protest damage

    Khatami, the hard-line cleric, also provided the first overall statistics on damage from the protests, claiming 350 mosques, 126 prayer halls, and 20 other holy places had sustained damage. Another 80 homes of Friday prayer leaders — an important position within Iran’s theocracy — were also damaged, likely underlining the anger demonstrators felt toward symbols of the government.

    He said 400 hospitals, 106 ambulance, 71 fire department vehicles, and another 50 emergency vehicles also sustained damage.

    Even as protests appeared to have been smothered inside Iran, thousands of exiled Iranians and their supporters have taken to the streets in cities across Europe to shout out their rage at the government of the Islamic Republic.

    Amid the continuing internet shutdown, some Iranians crossed borders to communicate with the outside world. At a border crossing in Turkey’s eastern province of Van, a trickle of Iranians crossing Friday said they were traveling to get around the communications blackout.

    “I will go back to Iran after they open the internet,” said a traveler who gave only his first name, Mehdi, out of security concerns.

    Also crossing the border were some Turkish citizens escaping the unrest in Iran.

    Mehmet Önder, 47, was in Tehran for his textiles business when the protests erupted. He said laid low in his hotel until it was shut for security reasons, then stayed with one of his customers until he was able to return to Turkey.

    Although he did not venture into the streets, Önder said he heard heavy gunfire.

    “I understand guns, because I served in the military in the southeast of Turkey,” he said. “The guns they were firing were not simple weapons. They were machine guns.”

    In a sign of the conflict’s potential to spill over borders, a Kurdish separatist group in Iraq said it has launched attacks on Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in recent days in retaliation for Tehran’s crackdown on protests.

    A representative of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, said its members have “played a role in the protests through both financial support and armed operations to defend protesters when needed.” The group said the attacks were launched by members of its military wing based inside Iran.

    The death toll of at least 2,797, provided by the Human Rights Activists News Agency, exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution.

    The agency has been accurate throughout years of demonstrations, relying on a network of activists inside Iran that confirms all reported fatalities. The AP has been unable to independently confirm the toll. Iran’s government has not provided casualty figures.

  • Source: Phillies bring back J.T. Realmuto with a three-year deal after Mets add Bo Bichette

    Source: Phillies bring back J.T. Realmuto with a three-year deal after Mets add Bo Bichette

    Less than 24 hours after losing out to the Dodgers in the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes, the Mets pivoted to Bo Bichette.

    After New York swooped in with a three-year, $126 million deal for the infielder, the Phillies immediately made a pivot of their own. They agreed to terms with catcher J.T. Realmuto on a three-year, $45 million contract, a source confirmed to The Inquirer. The contract was first reported by The Athletic. The deal includes incentives worth up to $5 million more per year in awards bonuses, for a potential total of $60 million. The awards bonus package is a record for a free agent, a source said.

    The contract will take Realmuto, who will be 35 in March, through his age-37 season.

    He is coming off a down year offensively, slashing .257/.315/.384 with 12 homers, but has remained one of the top defensive catchers in baseball with a game-planning and pitch-calling ability that is highly touted by many Phillies pitchers.

    How can Don Mattingly help Bryce Harper? It starts with his star power.

    “I’ve had a lot of great catchers I’ve been around. [Jorge] Posada. [Iván] Rodríguez for a short period of time. It goes on and on and on,” manager Rob Thomson said in October. “This guy, to me, is the most prepared guy I’ve ever been around as a catcher.”

    Re-signing Realmuto, who has backstopped the Phillies since 2019, had been a main focus of the club throughout the offseason. But while the parties were apart on a deal, the Phillies began to show interest in adding Bichette as a lineup upgrade.

    They met with Bichette virtually earlier this week, but instead of landing the two-time All-Star, they will now have to contend with him in the National League East.

    A shortstop with the Blue Jays, Bo Bichette is expected to move to third base with the Mets.

    Bichette spent the first seven years of his career with the Blue Jays as a shortstop. A right-handed contact hitter, Bichette posted a .311 batting average in 2025, second in the American League behind Aaron Judge. He injured his knee in September but returned to Toronto’s lineup in the World Series, playing second base for the first time in his major league career.

    The Mets have an established shortstop in Francisco Lindor and traded for second baseman Marcus Semien earlier this offseason. Per multiple reports, Bichette is expected to play third base for the Mets, a position he has not played before.

  • Here’s where 22 painted replica Liberty Bells will be installed around Philly in 2026

    Here’s where 22 painted replica Liberty Bells will be installed around Philly in 2026

    The bells are coming.

    On Friday, the city revealed the 22 large replica Liberty Bells that will decorate Philly neighborhoods this year for the celebrations of America’s 250th anniversary. Officials also released a list of locations where the painted bells will soon be installed. The program announced two special replica bells for the Independence Visitor Center and the Convention Center.

    Designed by 16 local artists selected through Mural Arts Philadelphia — and planned for commercial corridors and public parks everywhere from Chinatown and South Philly to West Philly and Wynnefield — the bells depict the histories, heroes, cultures, and traditions of Philly neighborhoods.

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    “Philadelphia has always been a city of neighborhoods, each with its own story to tell,” said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker during an unveiling of the bells in Olney. “That’s why our communities and these talented artists came together to tell these stories.”

    As part of the state nonprofit America250PA’s “Bells Across PA” program, more than 100 painted bells will be installed across Pennsylvania throughout the national milestone, also known as the Semiquincentennial.

    For weeks, artists had toiled on their bells inside a makeshift studio behind the Widener Memorial School, each telling a different story of neighborhood pride.

    Ana Thorne, of Center City, 37, is next to their bell they made during the Bells Across PA event in celebration of America’s 250th Birthday in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.

    An Italian Market bell depicts scenes of the bustling produce stands, flickering fire barrels, and smiling old- and new-school merchants. An El Centro de Oro bell is painted with images of the neighborhood’s historic Stetson Hats factory, the iconic Latin Music store Centro Musical, and popular iron palm tree sculptures. A Glen Foerd bell is decorated with paints mixed with water from the Delaware River.

    “Our goal is to create a Semiquincentennial celebration that meets every Philadelphian where they are,” said Kathryn Ott Lovell, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center Corp. and Philadelphia250.

    Local artist Cindy Lozito works on her South Philadelphia bell, one of 20 painted replicas of the Liberty Bells representing different neighborhoods Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. The bells will decorate parks and public spaces in every corner of the city during America’s 250th birthday.

    Planners said they expect the bells to draw interest and curiosity similar to the painted donkeys that dotted Philly neighborhoods during the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Those painted decorations became the focus of scavenger hunts and countless selfies.

    Organizers expect to install the bells sometime in March, once the weather warms.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and Pennsylvania Deputy Secretary of Tourism Anne Ryan, reveals one of the bells called “Philly Workforce: Celebrating Our Past, Building the Future” made by artist Akira Gordon during the Bells Across PA event in celebration of America’s 250th Birthday in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.

    “I am asking all Philadelphians and everyone who visits our city in 2026 to see the bells,” Parker said.

    Below is a full list of Philadelphia’s Bells Across PA installations, artists, and locations:

    Neighborhood: Chinatown

    Artist: Chenlin Cai, Xingzi Liang

    Bell Title: “It Takes a Village”

    Bell Location: 10th Street Plaza (10th and Vine Streets)

    Neighborhood: City Hall/Center City

    Artist: Akira Gordon

    Bell Title: “Philly Workforce: Celebrating Our Past, Building the Future”

    Bell Location: Municipal Services Building, 1401 John F. Kennedy Blvd.

    Neighborhood: El Centro de Oro

    Artist: Symone Salib

    Bell Title: “El Centro de Oro”

    Bell Location: 2739 N. Fifth St.

    Neighborhood: Fox Chase

    Artist: Sean Martorana

    Bell Title: “Heartbeat of the Fox”

    Bell Location: Lions Park, 7959 Oxford Ave.

    Neighborhood: Germantown

    Artist: Emily Busch

    Bell Title: “Who’s Your North Star?”

    Bell Location: Joseph E. Coleman Northwest Regional Library, 68 W. Chelten Ave.

    Neighborhood: Hunting Park

    Artist: Andrew Daniels

    Bell Title: “United Hunting Park”

    Bell Location: Hunting Park

    Neighborhood: Logan Square

    Artist: Cindy Lozito

    Bell Title: “Connection Between the Stars”

    Bell Location: Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St.

    Neighborhood: Mayfair

    Artists: Alana Bogard, Madeleine Smith

    Bell Title: “Celebrate Mayfair”

    Bell Location: 7343 Frankford Ave.

    Neighborhood: Mount Airy

    Artist: Parris Stancell

    Bell Title: “A Tapestry of Hidden History”

    Bell Location: United Lutheran Seminary, 7301 Germantown Ave.

    Neighborhood: Ogontz

    Artist: Tykira Octaviah Mitchell

    Bell Title: “Keeping It In the Family”

    Bell Location: 7182 Ogontz Ave.

    Neighborhood: Olney

    Artist: Joanne Gallery

    Bell Title: “Where Global is Local”

    Bell Location: Greater Olney Library, 5501 N. Fifth St.

    Neighborhood: Parkside

    Artist: Parris Stancell

    Bell Title: “Fun Facts and Historical Treasures of Fairmount Park”

    Bell Location: Memorial Hall, 4231 Avenue of the Republic

    Neighborhood: Point Breeze

    Artist: Symone Salib

    Bell Title: “The Promise of What’s to Come”

    Bell Location: 1336 S. 21st St.

    Neighborhood: Roxborough

    Artist: Meghan Turbitt

    Bell Title: “19128: A Place With Roots”

    Bell Location: Roxborough Pocket Park, 6170 Ridge Ave.

    Neighborhood: South Philadelphia

    Artist: Cindy Lozito

    Bell Title: “Open Everyday”

    Bell Location: Piazza DiBruno, 914 S. Ninth St.

    Neighborhood: Southwest

    Artist: Michele Scott

    Bell Title: “A Diagram of Value”

    Bell Location: Bartram’s Garden, 5400 Lindbergh Blvd.

    Neighborhood: Torresdale

    Artist: Bob Dix

    Bell Title: “Nature to Industry to Nature Again”

    Bell Location: Glen Foerd, 5001 Grant Ave.

    Neighborhood: University City

    Artist: Sean Martorana

    Bell Title: “The Ringing Railroad”

    Bell Location: William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, 2955 Market St.

    Neighborhood: West Philadelphia

    Artist: Akira Gordon

    Bell Title: “Lancaster Living Legacy”

    Bell Location: 3952-54 Lancaster Ave.

    Neighborhood: Wynnefield

    Artist: Abigail Reeth

    Bell Title: “Stories Tolled”

    Bell Location: 5320 City Ave.

    In addition to the bells listed above, there will be additional Liberty Bell replicas in Philadelphia as part of America250PA’s Bells Across PA program. These bells are in partnership with Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Visit Philadelphia.

    Neighborhood: Center City

    Artist: Tara Jacoby

    Bell Title: “We The People”

    Bell Location: Independence Visitor Center

    Bell Sponsors: Visit Philadelphia, Philadelphia Visitor Center Corp.

    Artist: Ana Thorne

    Bell Title: “Colorful Independence”

    Bell Location: Convention Center

    Bell Sponsors: Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, Convention Center

  • Who is Shane Hennen, the high-stakes Philly gambler at the center of the latest sports-betting indictment?

    Who is Shane Hennen, the high-stakes Philly gambler at the center of the latest sports-betting indictment?

    For Shane Hennen, the house of cards keeps folding.

    A federal indictment unsealed Thursday accuses the Philadelphia-based professional gambler of acting as a ringleader in a sweeping sports-betting conspiracy now involving the NCAA and the Chinese Basketball Association. Hennen was first arrested last January in connection with a gambling case involving a former Toronto Raptor, and was also charged separately in an October indictment in New York focused on the NBA.

    The latest charges against Hennen, known as “Sugar Shane,” brought an international angle to the existing portrait of a high-stakes gambler who prosecutors allege was willing to bribe athletes to throw games, provide devices to fix backroom card games tied to the New York mafia, and use insider betting information to place fraudulent wagers.

    In all, federal prosecutors have accused Hennen of conspiring to place fraudulent bets on ex-Raptors forward Jontay Porter and NBA guard Terry Rozier, bribing the top-scoring player in the CBA to throw games, and recruiting college basketball trainers to help rig dozens of NCAA games — much of it orchestrated from Hennen’s favorite Philly casino, Rivers. On top of it all, he is also alleged to have participated in the rigging of mob-linked poker games in New York City.

    And while the list of implicated players and conspirators continues to grow by the dozens, Hennen has remained a central figure to the bet-fixing scandals that have rocked the sports world over the past year.

    Rise of a “betfluencer”

    On social media, Hennen has cast himself as rising from a hard-luck Pennsylvania town to a self-styled “betfluencer,” flying on private jets from Las Vegas to Monte Carlo and gambling up to $1 million a week on sports and card games.

    But Hennen’s earlier record for criminality came into clearer view as result of the federal investigations. While growing up in the Pittsburgh area, he did time for drug and gambling related charges that now serve as a kind of prelude to his role in the bet-fixing scandals.

    In 2006, the Washington, Pa., native received probation in Allegheny County for charges linked to a gambling scheme. According to court records, Hennen and an accomplice rented adjacent rooms in a Pittsburgh area hotel to hold underground dice games. While gambling in one room, a partner in the next room employed a magnetic device to flip loaded dice to preferred numbers.

    Then, early one morning in 2009, a former Duquesne University basketball player was found bleeding from a stab wound in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood, a popular nightlife area. The man survived and later told police that Hennen had stabbed him in the neck after the athlete confronted him about cheating in a card game. Hennen was also picked up on a DUI less than two weeks later, but was released.

    Not long afterward, Hennen was charged with two more felonies after he was caught in a parking lot with 500 grams of cocaine down the street from the Meadows Casino, near Pittsburgh.

    In subsequent court filings, Hennen revealed that he had been working with a local drug dealer for more than a year. Facing well over a decade of jail time between the drug and assault charges linked to the stabbing, Hennen agreed to testify against his dealer and participated in a federal drug sting involving a different narcotics supplier based in Detroit, court records show.

    He served just less than two-and-a-half years in prison, plus four years of supervised release.

    According to court transcripts published by Sports Illustrated in October, Hennen admitted five times under oath that he cheated other people out of money.

    During a cross-examination, Lee Rothman, an attorney for his associate drug dealer he was testifying against, stated bluntly that Hennen made “a living out of cheating people out of things.”

    “That’s correct,” Hennen said.

    After his release in 2013, Hennen traveled to Pensacola, Fla., purportedly to work as a sales rep for a seafood wholesaler. Court records show he almost immediately went back to gambling, even violating his probation to travel out of state to participate in the 2014 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

    When Hennen landed in Philadelphia in 2015, it was seemingly to start over. He leased an apartment near the Rivers Casino in Fishtown.

    The small casino would become Hennen’s unlikely staging ground for a new, more lucrative gambling scheme that would come to span the globe.

    From Philly to China

    Local gamblers said Hennen worked the poker and baccarat tables at Rivers, using the action to build a reputation with the house and pave the way for six-figure sports bets, the kind only gamblers with money and a track record at the casino are allowed to make.

    By 2022, Hennen had launched an online betting consultancy via an Instagram page called “Sugar Shane Wins.” On social media, Hennen posted his sportsbook picks along with glamorous photos jetting around to Vegas or Dubai, or sitting courtside at Sixers games.

    Although he marketed bets on teams familiar to U.S. gamblers, his focus — and income — was overseas, according to federal prosecutors.

    He posted courtside photos of himself at Sixers games with a Mississippi-based sports handicapper named Marves Fairley, who prosecutors say connected the gambler with Antonio Blakeney, a former Louisiana State University shooting guard who had done a brief stint on the Chicago Bulls.

    Blakeney had subsequently bounced around different international teams, including Hapoel Tel Aviv, in Israel, and the Nanjing Monkey Kings and Jiangsu Dragons, both in China. According to a federal indictment, while playing for the Dragons, Hennen and Fairley bribed Blakeney to underperform in Chinese basketball games in order to fix high-stakes bets against the team and recruit others to do the same.

    Suddenly, the slots parlor on the Delaware was seeing six-figure bets placed on multiple Chinese basketball games through its sportsbook, BetRivers, sometimes for upward of $200,000. Representatives for the casino declined to comment Thursday on the latest federal indictment.

    The gambit proved reliably lucrative. In a 2023 text message obtained by federal authorities, Hennen reassured an accomplice who had placed big bets against Blakeney’s team.

    “Nothing gu[a]rantee[d] in this world,” Hennen wrote, ”but death taxes and Chinese basketball.”

    The model would also serve as a template for a similar racket the duo would orchestrate within the NCAA.

    By 2024, the duo had recruited basketball trainers Jalen Smith and Roderick Winkler to help convince dozens of college basketball players to rig matches on their behalf.

    Ultimately, 39 players on more than 17 Division 1 NCAA teams would participate, with bettors wagering millions on at least 29 rigged games.

    Hennen took a behind-the-scenes role, authorities alleged, texting a network of straw bettors who placed big wagers on games featuring star players bribed by the trainers, and sometimes moving bribe money or splitting up winnings back in Philly.

    His rising profile started to draw unwanted attention.

    Shortly after Hennen relocated to Las Vegas in 2023, he was accused of rigging poker matches by Wesley “Wes Side” Fei, another professional gambler who claimed in social media posts that Hennen had scammed him out of millions.

    The next year, gambling industry watchdog Integrity Compliance 360 began flagging bets placed on six Temple University basketball games. One, against Alabama-Birmingham in March 2024, saw the Borgata, in Atlantic City, cancel bets for the game due to suspicious betting activity. Before the end of 2024, the National Collegiate Athletic Association had launched an investigation into the games, as rumors swirled that federal authorities were questioning Temple player Hysier Miller as part of an alleged point-shaving scheme.

    Then Porter, the Raptors center, was banned for life from the NBA, after it emerged that the league was investigating yet another bet-rigging scheme. A few months later, Porter pleaded guilty to gambling charges — the first hint at the true scope of a sprawling federal investigation that went on to consume the NCAA and NBA.

    Beginning of the end

    In January 2025, Hennen’s luck ran out.

    Authorities stopped him in Las Vegas as he was boarding a one-way flight to Panama, en route to Colombia. He had $10,000 in his pocket and claimed he was headed to South America for dental treatment.

    But investigators had already zeroed in on Hennen as the main orchestrator of the prop betting scheme involving Rozier, the former Miami Heat guard. In October, federal prosecutors in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York unsealed an indictment, accusing Hennen of working with Fairley to have Rozier throw games for a profit, sometimes using Philadelphia as a meeting point to dole out the proceeds to other bettors.

    Court records show that since then, Hennen has entered plea negotiations with federal prosecutors and relocated to a residence in South Philadelphia. (His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.)

    During the Thursday news conference unveiling the latest indictment, Wayne Jacobs, a special agent in charge of the FBI Philadelphia field office, said that Hennen and his conspirators’ actions had undermined faith in professional sports writ large.

    “We expect athletes to embody the very best of hard work, skill, and discipline, not to sell out to those seeking to corrupt the games for their own personal benefit,” he said. “The money that’s used as a tool to influence outcomes does not just taint a single game, it tears up the trust and the results that we cherish.”

  • Heavy fire temporarily closes North Philadelphia restaurant Bella Vista

    Heavy fire temporarily closes North Philadelphia restaurant Bella Vista

    North Philadelphia restaurant Bella Vista is temporarily closed after a fire caused severe damage to the building on Friday morning.

    The Philadelphia Fire Department responded to a report of a “heavy fire” at the surf and turf restaurant, located on Whitaker Avenue, just before 4 a.m.

    “Thankfully, there are no reported injuries,” said PFD spokesperson Rachel Cunningham. “Philadelphia Fire Department members are still on scene making sure all hot spots are extinguished.”

    A Philadelphia firefighter salts the roadway at a fire at Bella Vista Restaurant on Whitaker Avenue at Hunting Park Avenue, in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.

    The fire’s size required the responding crew, Battalion 10, to place all hands in service. They also called for three more engine companies and another ladder company, according to a PFD spokesperson. A total of 80 firefighters and support staff placed the fire under control at 6:26 a.m.

    Large sections of the restaurant’s roof were caved in and blackened from the fire, and the building’s “Bella Vista Restaurant” sign was charred. Bella Vista’s owners could not be reached for comment.

    Philadelphia firefighters work at Bella Vista Restaurant, Whitaker Avenue near Hunting Park Avenue, Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.

    PGW and PECO were also contacted to ensure that no electricity or gas-related issues occurred. The Fire Marshall’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.

    A rooftop fire next to the award-winning Fishtown restaurant, Suraya, forced the Lebanese restaurant to temporarily close two weeks ago. It reopened the following day.

  • Reports: Phillies lose out on Bo Bichette, who agrees to three-year, $126 million deal with the Mets

    Reports: Phillies lose out on Bo Bichette, who agrees to three-year, $126 million deal with the Mets

    The Phillies met with Bo Bichette virtually earlier this week, but instead of landing the two-time All-Star, they will now have to contend with him in the National League East.

    Less than 24 hours after losing out to the Dodgers on the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes, the Mets made a quick pivot and agreed to terms with Bichette, per multiple reports. The deal is for three years and $126 million, first reported by The Athletic. It contains no deferrals and opt-outs after the first and second years.

    The Phillies immediately made a pivot of their own, and agreed to terms with catcher J.T. Realmuto on a three-year, $45 million contract according to multiple reports. The deal includes incentives that could reach as high as $60 million.

    The contract will take Realmuto through his age-37 season.

    He is coming off a down year offensively, slashing .257/.315/.384 with 12 homers, but has remained one of the top defensive catchers in baseball with a game-planning and pitch-calling ability that is highly touted by many Phillies pitchers.

    “I’ve had a lot of great catchers I’ve been around. [Jorge] Posada. [Iván] Rodríguez for a short period of time. It goes on and on and on,” manager Rob Thomson said in October. “This guy, to me, is the most prepared guy I’ve ever been around as a catcher.”

    Re-signing Realmuto, who has backstopped the Phillies since 2019, had been a main focus of the club throughout the offseason. But while both parties were apart on a deal, the Phillies began to show interest in adding Bichette as a lineup upgrade.

    Bichette spent the first six years of his career with the Blue Jays as a shortstop. A right-handed contact hitter, Bichette posted a .311 batting average in 2025, second in the American League behind Aaron Judge. He injured his knee in September but returned for Toronto’s lineup in the World Series, playing second base for the first time in his major league career.

    The Mets have an established shortstop in Francisco Lindor and traded for second baseman Marcus Semien earlier this offseason. Per multiple reports, Bichette is expected to play third base for the Mets, a position he has not played before.

    The Phillies’ interest in Bichette had increased over the last few weeks with catcher J.T. Realmuto still unsigned. Bichette also has a close relationship with former Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly, who the Phillies hired in January.

  • Top-ranked UConn routed Villanova, but there were still plenty of lessons to learn

    Top-ranked UConn routed Villanova, but there were still plenty of lessons to learn

    No. 1 UConn continued to storm through the Big East — and women’s college basketball in general — with a 99-50 rout of Villanova on Thursday night in Storrs, Conn.

    UConn brought the intensity on defense that has helped the defending national champions hold opponents to 51.7 points per game and maintain a 38.7 scoring margin. The Huskies (18-0, 9-0 Big East) took control early and repeatedly stifled Villanova possessions.

    What’s it like to face one of Geno Auriemma’s UConn teams? Ask Villanova’s Denise Dillon.

    UConn limited Villanova to more than 20 points below its per-game average of 73.8 points and just 27.7% shooting from the field, including 25% from three.

    Villanova (14-4, 7-2 Big East) remains in second in the conference. Freshman guard Kennedy Henry led the Wildcats in scoring with 12 points and four rebounds.

    Here’s what we learned from Villanova’s showdown with the nation’s top team:

    UConn defense looks unbreakable

    The Huskies were spearheaded by sophomore forward Sarah Strong, who recorded 24 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks.

    The versatile Strong proved difficult to stop from the beginning and scored 15 of her points in the first half. Junior guard KK Arnold (13 points) facilitated UConn’s offense with a team-high seven assists.

    Villanova guard Kennedy Henry (22), who’s being guarded by UConn star Azzi Fudd, was the team’s leading scorer on Thursday.

    Villanova made just three baskets in the first quarter, as UConn raced out to a 26-8 lead. The Huskies defense didn’t let up, forcing 26 turnovers, which they parlayed into 36 points.

    UConn also benefited from a significant size advantage and won the rebound battle, 46-34. That advantage also paid off in the paint, where the Huskies scored 58 of their 99 points.

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    Henry, McCurry lead the way

    UConn swarmed sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe, who’s Villanova’s scoring leader this season and the third-leading scorer in the Big East. Instead, Henry and junior forward Brynn McCurry (11 points, five rebounds, and three blocks) led the Wildcats in scoring.

    The Huskies forced the Wildcats outside and allowed just one made basket in the paint in the first half and 12 points in the paint overall.

    Instead, Villanova found looks from beyond the arc to create offensive momentum late in the second quarter. The Wildcats put together a 10-0 run over 1 minute, 26 seconds that was sparked by a three-pointer by senior guard Ryanne Allen to close the deficit to 38-23 with 2:58 left in the first half.

    But that was the closest that Villanova would get. Bascoe was fouled with three seconds until halftime and left the court after making both foul shots. She played just five minutes in the second half and finished with eight points.

    Villanova struggled to get around UConn’s press and shot just 2-for-16 from the field in the fourth quarter. By the final three minutes, UConn held a 40-point lead.

    Up next

    Villanova has a few days to recover from its battle at UConn, next hosting Butler on Sunday (2 p.m., ESPN+) at Finneran Pavilion. The Bulldogs (8-10, 2-6 Big East) are 10th in the 12-team conference.

  • Diane Richardson says Temple’s recent play is ‘unacceptable’ as the Owls ride two-game skid

    Diane Richardson says Temple’s recent play is ‘unacceptable’ as the Owls ride two-game skid

    Temple had high expectations entering the 2025-26 season after back-to-back 20-win campaigns.

    The Owls were picked to finish fourth in the American Conference preseason poll and head coach Diane Richardson believed her team had the talent to win the conference.

    After the Owls’ 71-58 loss to Tulane on Tuesday, they look far from the conference contenders they were expected to be. Temple is just 1-3 in the American and sitting in 10th place. In Richardson’s eyes, her team has not been playing “Temple basketball,” and it was especially evident against the Green Wave.

    “That was a piss-poor performance,” Richardson said after the loss. “It was terrible and not Temple basketball at all. It’s got to be fixed.”

    Richardson’s passionate words came after the Owls shot 32.1% from the field, including 5-for-23 in three-pointers, and were out-rebounded, 39-31. Temple was outscored, 21-12, in the final quarter, and its late-game execution ultimately cost the Owls a chance at a victory.

    Temple trailed 65-58 with 22 seconds remaining. Tulane guard Shiloh Kimpson was at the free-throw line for two shots. The next 22 seconds saw Temple fail to get out of its own way.

    Temple women got their offense in gear, but defense sputtered during a 1-1 road trip’

    Kimpson missed both free throws, but the Green Wave got the offensive rebound and made their next two attempts. Then, guard Tristen Taylor got a five-second call on an inbounds pass, Temple surrendered another offensive rebound from a missed free throw and then missed two free throws of its own.

    The performance caused Richardson’s frustrations to fully boil over, after previous poor showings.

    “No pride. No pride in going after the ball,” Richardson said. “They wanted it more than we did and the 50/50 balls killed us. They went after them and we did not. We can’t sit back and let any team come into the Liacouras Center and do what they did to us. It is unacceptable.”

    Before the season, Richardson envisioned her team playing fast, getting to the basket in transition, and most importantly, playing as a team. However, that version has been absent.

    The Owls have struggled with starting slow on offense, and while that wasn’t the case against Tulane, it was a major issue against Drexel in the Big 5 Classic and UTSA. Temple scored just 52 points in a seven-point loss to Drexel on Dec. 7, and Richardson mentioned her team’s lack of urgency.

    Temple’s Brianna Mead during a game against UTSA at the Liacouras Center on Jan. 3.

    Less than a month later, the same issue occurred against the Roadrunners on Jan. 3, and Richardson expressed more concern about the type of basketball her team was playing. Temple lost 50-47 and was largely uncompetitive until the fourth quarter.

    “I don’t think we played hard enough,” Richardson said following Temple’s loss to UTSA. “I think we waited until the fourth quarter to play Temple basketball. We can not go through the conference like that, and that’s going to be a reality. It’s got to change.”

    Over three games since Temple’s loss to UTSA, little has changed.

    The Owls split road games with a win against Wichita State and a loss to Tulsa before returning home to face a similarly struggling Tulane team. Instead of bouncing back, Temple hit a new low.

    Temple briefly took the lead in the third quarter before they collapsed in the final 10 minutes. The lack of urgency was clear. The Owls took their foot off the gas, while the Green Wave scored the last five points of the quarter to regain control.

    Temple attempted to turn to the three-point line to recover in the fourth, which Richardson did not want to see happen. The Owls went 1-for-9 in three-pointers in the final frame.

    A late fourth-quarter push isn’t enough as Temple falls in conference opener to UTSA

    “I thought we took quick shots in threes and we kept saying get to the rim,” Richardson said. “But again, that selfishness came back and they just wanted to shoot threes. You can’t expect the ball to go in when you’re shooting 21% and just keep trying.”

    Richardson also called out her team for a lack of accountability, as she saw them attempt to shift blame after a mistake.

    “We have to play harder and each person has to step up and do what their job is and not look around for somebody else to do it,” Richardson said. “Today, we kind of sat back and looked around to see who else was going to do something, or it wasn’t my fault because she didn’t do this. That is not playing together, and we have to play together in this conference.”

    Temple’s Kaylah Turner has been the Owls’ leading scorer this season, averaging 17.1 points.

    The Owls’ 1-3 American record is their worst four-game start in conference play since the 2018-19 season. The road ahead is no easy task to get back on track.

    Three of Temple’s next four games will be against the top three teams in the American: East Carolina, South Florida, and Rice. Richardson has not seen her team play its brand of basketball, but she said, it has to change to remain competitive.

    “Again, we have to play Temple basketball: the confidence, the grit, and the resilience. The ‘I’m going to throw my body on the line to get these 50/50 balls. I’m going to box out and get rebounds,’” she added. “We need them to take that on personally and not look to someone else to do it.”