Gennaro Gattuso said he was "worried and scared" as Napoli fell 2-0 at home to Fiorentina on Saturday leaving last season's Serie A runners-up scrambling to save their season.
A third consecutive defeat saw the southern giants slump to 13th position as they sit closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League places.
Napoli are without a league win at their San Paolo Stadium since October 19 ahead of hosting Barcelona in the Champions League in a month's time.
For Gattuso the "soulless, unwatchable and embarrassing" defeat was his fourth in five league games since replacing Carlo Ancelotti on December 11, with the club then in seventh spot.
"I'm very worried," admitted the 42-year-old former AC Milan coach.
"We have hit rock bottom and we need to understand what we are going towards.
"We're not looking at the Champions League, we're looking at the scary ranking. We're playing with fire."
Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic scored in either half to give Fiorentina a valuable win .

Gattuso 'scared' as Napoli hit 'rock bottom'

PTI Automatic

Captain Kieron Pollard produced the best bowling spell by a West Indian in Twenty20 International cricket on Saturday before rain forced the second match of a three-game series against Ireland to be abandoned.
Pollard took 4-25 as Ireland were limited to 147-9 in a clash reduced to 19 overs a side.
Set a rain-revised target of 152 to win, the West Indies reached 16-1 after 2.2 overs before rain caused another in a series of stoppages.
Umpired eventually called the game off as a no result.  Ireland lead the series 1-0 after their dramatic four-run win in the opener in Grenada on Wednesday.
The third and final game is also in St Kitts on Sunday.
Pollard ripped the heart out of the Irish middle order by removing top scorer Gareth Delany, whose 44 included five sixes, skipper Andy Balbirnie (36) as well Gary Wilson (five) and George Dockrell (two).
Fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell also starred with two wickets, including dangerous opener Paul Stirling who was caught in the deep for just ...

Pollard's four wickets in vain as 2nd T20 against Ireland abandoned

Norwegian rising star Erling Braut Haaland came off the bench to claim a hat-trick inside 20 minutes on his Borussia Dortmund debut and inspire a 5-3 comeback win at Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday -- despite not being fully fit.
The 19-year-old showed why Dortmund paid Salzburg 20 million euros ($22 million) for him last month when he came on in the 56th minute with his new team 3-1 down.
However, Dortmund coach Lucien Favre insisted the teen lacks full fitness following a knee knock.
"He didn't train at all in December, he had an injury, and in our training camp we couldn't do much for three or four days," said Favre.
"He's not quite ready to play the 90 minutes and we have another game on Friday (home to Cologne)."
Haaland said he was "pretty relaxed" about his hat-trick and brushed off questions about his fitness, replying dryly "did I look fit?".
"I'm at a fantastic club with great team-mates and good people around me. I came here to score goals and it was a good debut for 

'Not fit' Haaland bags 20-minute hat-trick on Dortmund debut

Hundreds of Chileans rallied on Saturday night to protest what they call police repression during three months of the worst social unrest since democracy replaced the country's military dictatorship in 1990.
More than 1,000 people, many wearing black, marched in silence from Plaza Italia, ground zero of all the protests, along Alameda Avenue, the main thoroughfare in Chile's capital.
Keeping quiet was their way of denouncing the security forces' use of tear gas, water cannon and birdshot, although the latter was barred in November because it was causing many injuries.
"We are marching because of the human rights violations we have suffered. We will be here as long as is needed. This is the new Chile," said a social worker who gave her name only as Ana Maria.
The unrest broke out over a metro fare rise but quickly grew into a broader outcry against economic and social inequality in what had been considered among the most stable countries in Latin America.
A total of 29 have died in ...

Chileans march against police repression of social unrest

At first, no one in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil would drink the bitter coffee at Syrian refugee Abdussamad Abdulqadir's cafe. But now it's a hit, part of a growing cultural exchange.
Since conflict broke out in Syria in 2011, many ethnic Kurds living in the country's northeast fled across the border to Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
Despite their similar ethnic origins, the two communities speak distinct dialects and have different cultural habits, but in recent years they have traded customs.
When Abdulqadir fled his northeast Syrian hometown of Qamishli six years ago, he settled in Arbil and opened a cafe in its bustling market.
During his opening week, he sent free cups of coffee to neighbouring shopkeepers to win new customers, but they complained it was undrinkably bitter.
"Business was bad," the 45-year-old told AFP, saying Iraqi Kurds typically prefer instant coffee or tea so sugary it resembles syrup.
With persistence and charm, Abdulqadir first converted his neighbours 

Syria refugees bring new tastes and traditions to Kurdish Iraq

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he was still comfortably in charge and open to direct negotiations with the US, in an interview published Saturday by The Washington Post.
The interview was Maduro's first with a major US outlet since February of last year, when he abruptly ejected all Univision journalists from Venezuela.
"If there's respect between governments, no matter how big the United States is, and if there's a dialogue, an exchange of truthful information, then be sure we can create a new type of relationship," Maduro told the Post.
The socialist leader said he was ready to hold talks with the US to negotiate an end to sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump intended to throttle the South American country's oil industry and force Maduro from power.
Maduro indicated that, if Trump were to lift sanctions, US oil companies could benefit immensely from Venezuela's oil.
"A relationship of respect and dialogue brings a win-win situation. A confrontational relationship ...

Maduro says still in control, open to talks with US: report

An air strike Saturday by Syrian regime ally Russia killed five civilians, including four members of the same family, in an opposition bastion in the country's northwest, a monitor said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three children were among those killed after midnight Friday in the village of Bala in the jihadist-run Idlib region.
"A man, his wife, and their two little girls were among those killed," said the head of the Britain-based monitoring group, Rami Abdel Rahman.
An AFP correspondent at a hospital in the area saw the bodies of two of the children wrapped up in thick winter blankets.
The strike created a massive crater of rubble near a two-storey home flanked by an empty outdoor swimming pool, the correspondent said.
A rescue worker found a stuffed toy cockerel inside the building.
Another first responder retrieved two slain rabbits.
The Observatory, which relies on sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines who carried out air strikes ...

Russia strike kill five civilians in northwest Syria: monitor

Clashes between police and protesters in Lebanon angered by delays in forming a government wounded more than 160 people on both sides Saturday as anti-establishment demonstrations enter a fourth month.
The sound of ambulance sirens rang out across Beirut as the Red Cross reported 65 wounded had been taken to hospital and 100 more were treated on site.
On Saturday evening, fire tore through protest tents in an iconic square in central Beirut. It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze.
The protest movement rocking Lebanon since October 17 revived this week as a deepening economic crisis increases pressure to form a new government.
No progress appears to have been made towards finalising the cabinet, which protesters demand be comprised of independent experts and exclude all established political parties.
Earlier, marches had intended to converge on the city centre from across Beirut.
But near parliament, dozens of protesters threw rocks and large plant pots at police guarding ..

160 wounded as Lebanon protesters clash with police

Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have agreed to give up their royal titles and stop receiving public funds as part of a settlement with the Queen that lets them spend more private time in Canada.
The announcement from Buckingham Palace on Saturday follows more than a week of intense private talks aimed at managing the fallout of the couple's shock decision to give up front-line royal duties.
"Following many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family," Queen Elizabeth II said in a statement.
"I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life."
Her comments referred to battles with the media that prompted Harry and Meghan -- known until now as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex -- to sue several newspapers over intrusions into their private lives.
A ...

Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan to give up royal titles

Rookie off-spinner Dom Bess claimed his first Test five-wicket haul as England moved into a strong position on the third day of the third Test against South Africa at St George's Park on Saturday.
Bess took the first five wickets as South Africa struggled to 208 for six in reply to England's 499 for nine declared, still 291 runs in arrears - and 92 short of avoiding the follow-on.
"It was awesome. I love bowling. To have that repsonsibility and then to back it up, it gives me more confidence," said Bess.
"I'm quite an optimistic bloke anywhere. There's four more out there so I'm hunting to get them."
Joe Root's side would have been in an even stronger position had it not been for a lengthy rain interruption which wiped out the afternoon session and some defiant South African resistance, notably from Quentin de Kock, unbeaten on 63 and dropped three times by Ben Stokes, and nightwatchman Anrich Nortje.
The 22-year-old Bess, playing in his fourth Test after being called up as cover for .

Bess spins England closer to series lead in spite of de Kock resistance

A strong 6.0 magnitude earthquake shook Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua on Sunday, the United States Geological Survey said.
There was no tsunami warning accompanying the quake which struck inland 158 kilometres (98 miles) from the provincial capital Jayapura at a shallow depth of almost 34 kilometers, USGS said.
The Southeast Asian archipelago is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth.
In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.

Strong 6.0 quake hits Indonesia's Papua

The five hopefuls to lead the post-election revival of Britain's battered Labour party Saturday condemned its struggles with anti-Semitism and vowed to expose the frailties of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Their first joint appearance before Labour members in Liverpool comes with the 120-year-old party reeling from its worst election defeat since 1935.
The successor to veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn will be charged with fighting Johnson's efforts to reshape Britain's economy after he takes it out of the European Union on January 31.
Finance minister Sajid Javid gave an early taste Saturday of the disruptions potentially facing UK companies when the Brexit transition period expires at the end of 2020.
"There will not be (economic) alignment. We will not be a rule-taker," Javid said in an interview with the Financial Times.
"We will not be in the (European) single market and we will not be in the customs union."
The post-Brexit difficulties some economists predict will test the unity ..

UK Labour rivals take on anti-Semitism at first debate

At least 10 charred corpses have been found in a southern Mexican state among the hardest hit by violence linked to organised crime, a state prosecutor said on Saturday.
The Guerrero prosecutor said the bodies were found on Friday in a vehicle in Chilapa municipality, after someone called an emergency line.
Forensic and other investigators were at the scene, the prosecutor said.
Drug gangs violently defend trafficking routes in the state along the Pacific coast.
In October, 14 suspected criminals and a soldier were killed in Guerrero after a group of armed civilians attacked security forces.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office more than a year ago promising to attack violent crime at its roots by fighting poverty and inequality with social programs, rather than with the army.
But the country still saw nearly 29,000 murders last year, and has registered around 275,000 killings since the government launched a military offensive against drug cartels in 2006.

10 burned bodies found in Mexican vehicle: prosecutor

New Barcelona boss Quique Setien threw down a challenge to his players on Saturday when he said he will never be happy if the Catalans fail to play the beautiful game - even if they win.
Setien faces his first game as Barca coach against Granada on Sunday, having replaced the sacked Ernesto Valverde earlier this week.
He arrives with a reputation for attacking, possession-based football but his team cannot afford much of a transition period, given they sit top of La Liga but level on points with Real Madrid.
They play Granada at home after a run of one win in five games.
"I always want to win," said Setien in a press conference on Saturday.
"If I win playing badly, I will not go home happy and I will never tell the players that the result was worth it.
"We are all smart and able to understand that if you play well, you have a better chance of winning. That is my explanation. I will always try to make my team play well because that way we are more likely to win."
- Tears for Messi ...

Setien demands attractive football from Barca

Dutch motorcyclist Edwin Straver remains in critical condition in a Riyadh hospital after crashing his KTM 450 at the Dakar rally last Thursday.
The 48-year-old was racing his third Dakar in a sub-section of motorbike racers, unassisted by a back-up team, but is now stricken with a fractured spine.
A statement from Straver's family said that he "had no heartbeat for 10 minutes" before being resuscitated by medical professionals.
The 42nd edition of the Dakar staged in Saudi Arabia was marred by the death of Portuguese rider Paulo Goncalves, the 20th biker and 25 competitor to die during the rally.
The decision to stage the race in Saudi Arabia this year and for at least the next four years sparked an angry reaction from critics of the kingdom's human rights record.

Dutch Dakar biker in critical condition

French police fired tear gas under a rain of projectiles and arrested several people Saturday as thousands of "yellow vest" anti-government protesters returned to the streets of Paris.
Demonstrators shouted slogans denouncing the police, President Emmanuel Macron and his pension reforms that have triggered the longest French transport strike in decades.
This was the latest of the weekly demonstrations held every Saturday by the yellow vest movement since November 2018, and which have been boosted by opposition to the pension reforms.
Police said 15 people were arrested after police tried to disperse a bloc at the head of the protest in northern Paris.
"The street is ours," some protesters chanted. "Macron, we're going to come for you, in your home." Police fired tear gas as they came under a hail of projectiles, AFP reporters witnessed.
Annie Moukam, a 58-year-old teacher, said too many people in France were suffering.
"We're suffocating with this government who wants to put us on our 

Tear gas, arrests in new anti-Macron demo in Paris

Patrick Bamford's missed penalty summed up Leeds' day as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat away at Queens Park Rangers with their poor run of form in the Championship showing no sign of stopping.
Leeds' wretched day ended on a suitably low note with Kalvin Phillips facing a three-match ban after a straight red card in the dying minutes.
Defeat left Marcelo Bielsa's side a point off leaders West Brom who can extend that to four on Monday if they beat Stoke.
However, with just one win in their last seven Championship matches they have seen an 11 point advantage five weeks ago eroded to a four point advantage over third-placed Fulham, who beat Middlesbrough 1-0 on Friday.
Brentford could reduce it to just three if they beat Huddersfield later on Saturday.
There was an element of luck in QPR's goal as Nakhi Wells handled the ball before slotting it home, but with no VAR in the second tier it stood to give QPR only their second win in their last seven Championship matches.
"I think it hit my ...

Bamford misses penalty as Leeds slump continues

Watford held Tottenham to a goalless draw on Saturday to extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League and further damage Spurs' Champions League ambitions.
When Nigel Pearson took over at Vicarage Road last month Watford looked doomed ro relegation but he has put together a remarkable run of results to lift the club out of the relegation zone.
It is a different story for Jose Mourinho's Spurs who, without the injured Harry Kane and with uncertainty over the future of Christian Eriksen, could be 11 points off fourth spot by the end of the day.
But Pearson will feel Watford should have wrapped up all three points after his side squandered some golden chances in the second half and captain Troy Deeney saw his penalty saved.
Before kick-off there was a warm tribute from the fans to former manager Graham Taylor, who died three years ago.
It was the visitors who settled first, finding their rhythm from the kick-off, dominating possession and probing for openings on the edge of the ...

Watford stalemate hits Spurs Euro hopes

Off-spinner Dom Bess claimed his first Test five-wicket haul before rain interrupted England's push for victory on the third day of the third Test against South Africa at St George's Park on Saturday.
Bess took all the wickets as South Africa slumped to 113 for five in reply to England's 499 for nine declared, still 386 runs in arrears.
With England seeking a win which would put them 2-1 ahead in the four-match series, rain started falling 15 minutes before the scheduled lunch break and continued through most of the afternoon, preventing any play between lunch and tea.
Bess bowled unchanged from the northern, Duck Pond end, and finished the morning with five for 41 in 18.2 overs. He had taken a total of five wickets in his previous three Tests at a cost of 48 runs each.
He was the first England spin bowler to take the first five wickets in an innings since Derek Underwood claimed the first seven against Australia in Adelaide in 1974/75.
Bess, who was not originally in England's tour ..

Rain delay after Bess takes five

A Tunisian court on Friday sentenced eight people to death in a trial for a 2015 attack on a presidential guard bus that killed 12.
The November 24, 2015 suicide bombing in the capital Tunis claimed by the Islamic State group (IS) killed a dozen presidential guards and wounded 20 more.
"The court issued the death sentence against eight people accused of participating in the attack against the presidential guards' bus," deputy public prosecutor Mohsen Dali told AFP on Saturday.
Two others were sentenced to 10 years and life imprisonment respectively, he said.
The convicted were all found guilty of "voluntary murder and belonging to terrorist groups," Dali said, without providing details about their identities.
Only four of those convicted appeared in person at the trial, with the rest sentenced in absentia.
Tunisia has imposed a moratorium on carrying out capital punishment since 1991.
IS claimed two other major attacks in Tunisia in 2015.
An attack at the capital's Bardo museum that ..

Tunisia condemns 8 to death for presidential guard attack

Forces loyal to military strongman Khalifa Haftar on Saturday blocked oil exports from Libya's main ports, the National Oil Company said, raising the stakes on the eve of international peace talks.
The closure of Libya's "oil crescent" will cause the country's daily crude production to plunge from 1.3 million barrels to 500,000 barrels and cause losses of USD 55 million a day, the firm warned.
The string of export hubs along Libya's northeastern coast has been controlled by Haftar -- who is at war with the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) -- since 2016.
A group close to Haftar had called for a blockade of the export terminals to protest a Turkish intervention against the strongman, who dominates eastern Libya.
Turkey has backed the Tripoli-based GNA, which is battling an offensive by Haftar's forces to seize the capital.
After months of combat, which has killed more than 2,000 people, a ceasefire took effect on January 12 backed by both Ankara and Moscow, which is ...

AFP

AFP

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