ISTANBUL (AP) — Ole Gunnar Solskjær was hired as Beşiktaş coach on Saturday in his first managerial position since being fired by Manchester United more than three years ago.
The Turkish club said Solskjær has been given an 18-month contract, taking the Norwegian through to the end of next season, with the option for a further year.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wears a Besiktas scarf after being appointed head coach of the Turkish soccer team, outside the Besiktas Sports Club headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Saycan Sayim/DIA Photo via AP)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wears a Besiktas scarf after being appointed head coach of the Turkish soccer team, outside the Besiktas Sports Club headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Saycan Sayim/DIA Photo via AP)
FILE - Manchester United's manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reacts after the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Manchester United at King Power stadium in Leicester, England, Oct. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, file)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer holds a Besiktas scarf after being appointed head coach of the Turkish soccer team, outside the Besiktas Sports Club headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Saycan Sayim/DIA Photo via AP)
“We believe Ole Gunnar Solskjær will make significant contributions to our club, and we warmly welcome him to the Beşiktaş family, wishing him great success,” Beşiktaş said in a statement.
Beşiktaş, which was playing third-place Samsunspor later on Saturday, is sixth in the Turkish league standings and has been without a coach since Dutchman Giovanni van Bronckhorst was fired in late November.
Solskjær hasn’t coached since 2021, when he was let go by United.
He won six Premier League titles in a glittering career as player for United, memorably scoring the dramatic late winner in the 1999 Champions League final.
The 51-year-old Solskjær also managed Cardiff briefly in 2014 and Norwegian club Molde on two occasions.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wears a Besiktas scarf after being appointed head coach of the Turkish soccer team, outside the Besiktas Sports Club headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Saycan Sayim/DIA Photo via AP)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wears a Besiktas scarf after being appointed head coach of the Turkish soccer team, outside the Besiktas Sports Club headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Saycan Sayim/DIA Photo via AP)
FILE - Manchester United's manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reacts after the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Manchester United at King Power stadium in Leicester, England, Oct. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, file)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer holds a Besiktas scarf after being appointed head coach of the Turkish soccer team, outside the Besiktas Sports Club headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Saycan Sayim/DIA Photo via AP)
Iran eased some restrictions on its people and for the first time in days allowed them to make phone calls abroad via their mobile phones on Tuesday. It did not ease restrictions on the internet or allow texting services to be restored as the toll from days of bloody protests against the state rose to at least 646 people killed.
Although Iranians were able to call abroad, people outside the country could not call them, several people in the capital told The Associated Press.
The witnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said SMS text messaging still was down and internet users inside Iran could not access anything abroad, although there were local connections to government-approved websites.
It was unclear if restrictions would ease further after authorities cut off all communications inside the country and to the outside world late Thursday.
Here is the latest.
The French Foreign Ministry said it has “reconfigured” its embassy in Tehran after reports that the facility's nonessential staff left Iran earlier this week.
The embassy's nonessential staff left the country Sunday and Monday, French news agency Agence France-Presse reported.
The ambassador remained on site and the embassy continued to function, the ministry said late Monday night.
Angela Charlton contributed from Paris.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he believes the Iranian government is in its “final days and weeks,” as he renewed a call for Iranian authorities to end violence against demonstrators immediately.
“If a regime can only keep itself in power by force, then it’s effectively at the end,” Merz said Tuesday during a visit to Bengaluru, India. “I believe we are now seeing the final days and weeks of this regime. In any case, it has no legitimacy through elections in the population. The population is now rising up against this regime.”
Merz said he hoped there is “a possibility to end this conflict peacefully," adding that Germany is in close contact with the U.S. and European governments.
The Israeli military said it continues to be “on alert for surprise scenarios” due to the ongoing protests in Iran, but has not made any changes to guidelines for civilians, as it does prior to a concrete threat.
“The protests in Iran are an internal matter,” Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin wrote on X.
Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear program over the summer, resulting in a 12-day war that killed nearly 1,200 Iranians and almost 30 Israelis. Over the past week, Iran has threatened to attack Israel if Israel or the U.S. attacks.
Mobile phones in Iran were able to call abroad Tuesday after a crackdown on nationwide protests in which the internet and international calls were cut. Several people in Tehran were able to call The Associated Press.
The AP bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back.
Witnesses said the internet remained cut off from the outside world. Iran cut off the internet and calls on Thursday as protests intensified.
Activists said the death toll from ongoing protests have at least 646 people.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the latest death toll early Tuesday. The agency relies on supporters in Iran cross-checking information.
The agency said 512 of the dead were protesters and 134 were security force members.
More than 10,700 people have been detained over the two weeks of protests, the agency said.
Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and show solidarity with Iran in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Activists carrying a photograph of Reza Pahlavi take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
People attend a rally in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)
A picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is set alight by protesters outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
