LISBON, Portugal (AP) — José Mourinho enjoyed a winning return to coaching in his native Portugal after new club Benfica beat AFS 3-0 on the road on Saturday.
Mourinho was announced as Benfica’s coach on Thursday, the same club where he started his storied coaching career back in 2000.
The win left Benfica in second place in the Portuguese league standings at five points behind FC Porto and with a game in hand.
Heorhii Sudakov opened the scoring in first-half injury time. Vangelis Palvidis doubled the lead, and Franjo Ivanovic put it away. AFS was left in last place.
Mourinho replaced Bruno Lage, who was fired on Wednesday, a day after the team’s 3-2 home loss to Qarabag in the Champions League.
The 62-year-old Mourinho led Porto to the Champions League title in 2004 and left Portugal to take over at Chelsea. Last month, his stint with Fenerbahce ended after the Turkish club was eliminated by Benfica in a qualifying playoff of the Champions League.
His contract with Benfica is until the end of the 2026-27 season, but he and the club have a non-renewal option at the end of this season.
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José Mourinho attends a press conference in Lisbon, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, announcing his return to coaching in Portugal with Benfica on a two-year contract. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
José Mourinho attends a press conference in Lisbon, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, announcing his return to coaching in Portugal with Benfica on a two-year contract. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
José Mourinho, left, poses with Rui Costa, president of SL Benfica, during a press conference in Lisbon, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, announcing Mourinho's return to coaching in Portugal with Benfica on a two-year contract. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
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)
