ATHENS, Ohio (AP) — John Hauser will be Ohio University's head coach after having the interim tag removed on Friday.
Hauser was named the interim coach on Dec. 1 and led the Bobcats to a 17-10 victory over UNLV in the Frisco Bowl on Tuesday.
Ohio was in the market for a coach after it fired Brian Smith on Dec. 18 for what it called “serious professional misconduct.” That included having a four-month affair with an undergraduate student while he was getting a divorce.
Hauser came to Ohio in 2022 as safeties coach. He was promoted to defensive passing game coordinator in 2023 and defensive coordinator before the 2024 season. Hauser also was the associate head coach this season.
“Over the past four seasons, Ohio football has won 40 games, and John is a key piece in all that goes into our winning program. Additionally, he’s a proven leader, and his focus will be on the student-athlete experience, both on and off the field,” athletic director Slade Larscheid said in a statement.
The Bobcats (9-4) allowed only 295.2 yards per game this season, eighth best in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The 17.46 points allowed per game was 11th nationally.
“This is a special place for my family and me, and we are proud to be part of a community that cares so deeply about Ohio University and its football program," Hauser said in a statement. “I look forward to hitting the ground running with the team as we look to build on the program’s tradition of success in 2026 and beyond.”
Ohio will open the 2026 season at Nebraska on Sept. 5.
Hauser will be OU's third coach in three seasons. Tim Albin left to become the coach at Charlotte after the 2024 season, and Smith was promoted.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Ohio interim head coach John Hauser looks on from the sidelines during the first half of the Frisco Bowl NCAA college football game against UNLV, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian attacker rammed his car into a man and then stabbed a young woman in northern Israel Friday, killing both, police said, as the Israeli defense minister quickly ordered military retaliation on what he said was the assailant's West Bank hometown.
The attack began Friday afternoon in the northern city of Beit Shean, where the Palestinian man crashed his vehicle into people, killing one man and injuring a teenage boy. He then sped onto a highway, where he fatally stabbed the woman, and injured another person near the entrance to the city of Afula. That's where the attacker was shot, according to authorities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu identified the victims as Aviv Maor, a teenager, and Shimshon Mordechai, 68. Paramedics pronounced both dead at the scene.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that he was shocked by the “horrific killing spree.” He said that Israel was “committed to reinforcing and strengthening this challenging border and, of course, to bolstering the security response in the area for the full safety of the residents.”
Israel's military soon after began amassing troops near the Palestinian town of Qabatiya, where Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the assailant was from. Later Friday, the military said that it conducted a “precise operational search at the residence” of the attacker, together with intelligence forces, and was preparing to demolish the residence.
The operation was ongoing in the area, the military said on Friday evening.
Katz said that he’d ordered troops to “act forcefully and immediately” against what he called “terrorist infrastructure" in the town.
“Anyone who aids or sponsors terrorism will pay the full price," he said.
It's common practice for Israel to launch raids in the West Bank towns that attackers come from or demolish homes belonging to the assailants’ families. Israel says that it helps to locate militant infrastructure and prevents future attacks. Rights watchdogs describe such actions as collective punishment.
Raids have been conducted in the area of Qabatiya, which is in the northern West Bank near the major city of Jenin, over the last few weeks.
On Dec. 20, Israel's military said that they killed a person in Qabatiya who “hurled a block toward the soldiers.” It later said that the killing was under review, after Palestinian media aired brief security footage in which the youth appears to emerge from an alley and is shot by troops as he approaches them without throwing anything.
The Israel-Hamas war, which began with the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. It has also sparked a surge of violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank, with a rise in attacks by Palestinian militants as well as Israeli settler violence against Palestinians.
In September, Palestinian attackers opened fire at a bus stop during the morning rush hour in Jerusalem, killing six people and wounding another 12, according to Israeli officials.
Meanwhile, Israel became the first country to recognize Somaliland, the breakaway region of Somalia in East Africa.
It wasn't known why Israel made the declaration now or whether it was expecting something in return. Earlier this year, U.S. and Israeli officials told The Associated Press that Israel had approached Somaliland about taking in Palestinians from Gaza as part of Trump’s plan at the time to resettle that territory’s population. The U.S. has since abandoned that plan.
Netanyahu's office said the prime minister, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, and Somaliland's president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, signed a joint and mutual declaration “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords.”
That's the project that in 2020 formalized commercial and diplomatic ties between Israel and three Arab countries and that U.S. President Donald Trump sees as key to his plan for bringing long-term stability to the Middle East.
Somaliland, a territory of more than 3 million people in the Horn of Africa, seceded from Somalia more than three decades ago, but it hadn't internationally been recognized as an independent state by any country.
The foreign ministry of Egypt — a major mediator in the Israel-Hamas war — said on social media that it rejects Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and stressed full support for Somalia’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.
The ceasefire plan in the Israel-Hamas war specifies that Palestinians won't be expelled from Gaza.
Omar Faruk contributed to this report from Mogadishu, Somalia.
Palestinian youth walk along a tent camp for displaced people as the sun sets in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
In this photo released by Israel Police on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, shows Israeli police officers at the site where a vehicle was used, according to the authorities, during a suspected ramming and stabbing attack in Afula, northern Israel. (Israel Police via AP)
In this photo released by Israel Police on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, Israeli police officers work on the site where a vehicle was used, according to the authorities, during a suspected ramming and stabbing attack in Afula, northern Israel. (Israel Police via AP)
