Napoli's title hopes in Serie A take a hit with a 0-0 draw against Parma, Inter beats Lecce 1-0

MILAN (AP) — A frustrating evening for Napoli saw it held to a 0-0 draw at home by lowly Parma as the defending champion lost more ground in the title race Wednesday.

The result saw third-placed Napoli slip six points behind Serie A leader Inter Milan, which ground out a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Lecce.

Inter could see its lead cut back to three points if AC Milan wins at Como on Thursday.

Parma, which had lost only one of its past four matches, continued to climb away from danger — moving to eight points above the relegation zone.

Napoli had drawn its past two matches 2-2, including Sunday’s title showdown against Inter Milan — allowing it to be caught in third place by Roma and Juventus.

Antonio Conte had been sent off at San Siro and began his two-match touchline ban on Wednesday.

Napoli thought it had taken an early lead against Parma but Scott McTominay’s strike was ruled out on video review as teammate Pasquale Mazzocchi was fractionally offside in the build-up.

Parma goalkeeper Filippo Rinaldi was making his senior debut and he pulled off a sensational save in the 27th minute to parry a bullet header from Alessandro Buongiorno at point-blank range.

Rinaldi made a number of other saves as a resolute Parma defense managed to fend off a fierce Napoli assault.

The 23-year-old Rinaldi was named player of the match.

One of the few positive notes for Napoli was the appearance of David Neres as a second-half substitute after he missed the past couple of matches with an ankle sprain. However, the Brazilian was clearly not fully fit and was taken off shortly before fulltime.

It was far from pretty at times but Inter took what could prove to be significant step toward the scudetto.

Substitute Pio Esposito scored the only goal of a mediocre match in the 78th minute.

A ball was floated into the box and Esposito flicked it on for Lautaro Martínez — who had initially been rested but was brought on late with Inter badly needing firepower.

Lautaro's shot was parried but Esposito smashed home the rebound. The 20-year-old celebrated by showing off his muscles.

Lecce remained just three points above the drop zone.

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Inter Milan's head coach Cristian Chivu gives instructions during the Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Lecce in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Francesco Pio Esposito scores his side's opening goal during the Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Lecce in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Francesco Pio Esposito celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Lecce in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Napoli's Amir Rrahmani, center, in action during the Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Parma, in Naples, Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)

Napoli's Rasmus Hojlund, right, and Parma's Alessandro Circati fight for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Parma, in Naples, Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)

Napoli's Scott McTominay, center, and Parma's Mariano Troilo, left, in action during the Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Parma, in Naples, Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)

Napoli's Rasmus Hojlund, center, and Parma's Mandela Keita, right, in action during the Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Parma, in Naples, Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez said Wednesday her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under former President Nicolás Maduro's rule in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster by the United States earlier this month.

It appeared to be an understatement for the Maduro loyalist now tasked with placating an unpredictable American president who has said he will “run” Venezuela, while also consolidating power in a government that long has seethed against U.S. meddling.

Rodríguez opened her first press briefing since Maduro's capture by U.S. forces with a conciliatory tone. Addressing journalists from a red carpet at the presidential palace in the capital, Caracas, she offered assurances that the process of releasing detainees — a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration — “has not yet concluded.”

The lawyer and veteran politician pitched a “Venezuela that opens itself to a new political moment, that allows for ... political and ideological diversity.”

A Venezuelan human rights organization estimates about 800 political prisoners are still being detained. That figure includes political leaders, soldiers, lawyers and members of civil society.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was seized and flown to the U.S. on Jan. 3 to face drug-trafficking charges.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during a bill signing in the Oval Office. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

Unlike past speeches directed at her domestic audience that echoed Maduro’s anti-imperialist rhetoric, Rodríguez did not mention the U.S. — or the dizzying pace at which relations between both countries were evolving.

But she criticized organizations that advocate on behalf of prisoners’ rights. She pledged “strict” enforcement of the law and credited Maduro with starting the prisoner releases as a signal that her government meant no wholesale break from the past.

“Crimes related to the constitutional order are being evaluated,” she said, in apparent reference to detainees held on what human rights groups say are politically motivated charges. “Messages of hatred, intolerance, acts of violence will not be permitted.”

Flanked by her brother and National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, as well as hard-line Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, she took no questions. Cabello, she said, was coordinating the prisoner releases, which have drawn criticism for being too slow and secretive.

Trump has enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, earlier this month, Trump threatened Rodríguez with a “situation probably worse than Maduro,” who is being held in a Brooklyn jail.

Maduro has pleaded not guilty to drug-related charges.

In endorsing Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined María Corina Machado, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition who won a Nobel Peace Prize last year for her campaign to restore the nation’s democracy. Machado is scheduled to meet with Trump on Thursday at the White House.

After a lengthy career running Venezuela’s feared intelligence service, managing its crucial oil industry and representing the revolution started by the late Hugo Chávez on the world stage, Rodríguez now walks a tightrope, navigating pressures from both Washington and her hard-line colleagues who hold sway over the security forces.

“The regime, on one hand, wants to send a message within Venezuela that it still has complete control and the United States isn’t dominating,” said Ronal Rodríguez, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory in Colombia’s Universidad del Rosario. “On the other hand, internationally it's sending a message of gradual progress with the release of political prisoners. ... They’re playing a game.”

Those tensions were on display in her speech Wednesday, which focused only on the issue of prisoner releases. Venezuela’s leading prisoner rights organization, Foro Penal, has verified at least 68 prisoners freed since her interim government raised hopes for a mass release with a promise to free a “significant number” of prisoners.

Foro Penal reported the release of at least a dozen prisoners on Wednesday, including political activist Nicmer Evans. Machado campaign staffers Julio Balza and Gabriel González, whose detentions were considered to be for political reasons, were also freed on Wednesday, the opposition leader’s party announced.

Earlier this week, Rodríguez's government released several U.S. citizens, as well as Italian and Spanish nationals and opposition figures.

But it was Maduro who first started the process of releasing prisoners, Rodríguez insisted, apparently pushing back on White House claims that the prisoners were being freed due to U.S. pressure. She said Maduro oversaw the release of 194 prisoners in December because he “was thinking precisely about opening spaces for understanding, for coexistence, for tolerance.”

She claimed her own caretaker government had released 212 detainees, without offering any evidence. Foro Penal estimates that over 800 prisoners were still held in Venezuela’s prison system on political grounds, and has criticized the government's lack of transparency.

Rodríguez did not address those complaints. Instead, she slammed “self-proclaimed nongovernmental organizations” as having “tried to sell falsehoods about Venezuela.”

“There will always be those who want to fish in troubled waters,” she said, trying to present her first press briefing as an effort to counter false narratives and “let the truth be reported.”

A woman who lives near the Cardon refinery hangs clothes to dry in Punto Fijo, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Supporters of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rally calling for his release as he faces trial in the United States after being captured by U.S. forces, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, wave before making a statement at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Carlos Rojas, a journalist freed after 18 months in jail, prays with his partner, Francy Fernandez, on the day of his release from prison at La Candelaria Church in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Relatives and friends of political prisoners hold banners and candles calling for their loved ones to be set free outside the Rodeo I prison in Guatire, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026 after the government announced prisoners would be released. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Narwin Gil cries as she waits for news of her detained sister, Marylyn Gil, outside El Helicoide, headquarters of Venezuela's intelligence service and a detention center, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Mileidy Mendoza, center, waits at Zone 7 of the Bolivarian National Police, where her fiancé Eric Diaz is being held as a political detainee in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, after the government announced prisoners would be released.(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Students lay out photos of people they consider political prisoners at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President, her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, as they prepare to make a statement at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)