Italy

Aboubakar Soumahoro speaks at a protest in Rome last month. "If the workers lack dignity and rights, the food they provide is virtually rotten," he says in a new short documentary, The Invisibles.

World News

In Italy, A Migrants' Advocate Fights For The 'Invisibles'

11:01am August 05, 2020

by Sylvia Poggioli

"The reality is that laborers work at the limit of human dignity," Aboubakar Soumahoro tells NPR. He's the subject of a new documentary, The Invisibles, shot at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

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A COVID-19 patient lies in a hospital bed at Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital, in Bergamo, Italy, in April. Prosecutors are investigating whether regional or national authorities mismanaged the response to the coronavirus as it quickly spread through northern

Prosecutors Question Italy's Top Leaders Over Coronavirus Response

3:16pm June 12, 2020

by Sylvia Poggioli

Italy's prime minister, health and interior ministers faced hours of questioning in Rome as prosecutors opened an investigation into possible mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis.

Pedestrians in face masks pass a mural in Naples depicting the city's patron saint, St. Gennaro, in a face mask too. Italy has set a timeline for lifting its strict coronavirus travel restrictions, after its outbreak overwhelmed medical centers across the

Italy Plans To Lift Some Coronavirus Travel Restrictions Early Next Month

10:33am May 16, 2020

by Colin Dwyer

In a decree issued Saturday, officials said they would once more allow travelers to and from the country beginning June 3. The announcement marks a major step in the hard-hit country's reopening plan.

Commuters crowd Cadorna train station in Milan on Monday. Italy has begun stirring again, after a nearly two-month coronavirus shutdown, as restrictions on movement ease.

World News

Millions Return To Work In Italy After Weeks Of Lockdown

12:48pm May 04, 2020

by Austin Horn

Italy was one of the first countries to be racked by the disease. The government imposed strict lockdown policies on March 9, earlier than many countries started responding.

A Senegalese migrant collects oranges on the plain of Rosarno and San Ferdinando in Calabria, Italy, on Feb. 6. The lockdown countries imposed to stop the coronavirus pandemic have cut off the usual flow of seasonal farmworkers.

Italy Considers Permits For Undocumented Migrants To Fill A Big Farmworker Gap

12:01pm April 29, 2020

by Sylvia Poggioli

The country faces a shortfall of up to 350,000 laborers just when it is bracing for deep economic impacts from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

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A vendor wearing protective masks and gloves serves a customer at a market in Rome on April 16.

In Italy, 'Suspended Shopping' Helps Those Facing Economic Hardship During Pandemic

11:11am April 24, 2020

by Sylvia Poggioli

La spesa sospesa means paying in advance for someone who can't afford it — an act of charity in which donors don't show off and recipients don't have to show gratitude.

A view of the Neapolitan suburb of Scampia, notorious for drug wars and battles between rival Camorra mafia factions.

Amid Pandemic, Italian Prosecutors Warn That Mafia Groups Are Cementing Their Power

5:12pm April 20, 2020

by Sylvia Poggioli

Organized crime will exploit growing desperation, warns a prosecutor: "The mafias always gravitate toward money, and they're constantly trying to improve their image in the eyes of ordinary citizens."

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French President Emmanuel Macron attends a video conference call with French virologist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi on efforts to develop a vaccine and treatment against the new coronavirus, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday.

Several European Leaders See A Popularity Boost During Coronavirus Pandemic

11:26am April 17, 2020

by Eleanor Beardsley

Even after Europe became an epicenter in the global spread of COVID-19, a number of leaders have had growing approval from their citizens.

Is COVID-19 Changing How We Measure Distance?

8:00am April 12, 2020

Liying is from Wuhan, China. She's married to Federico, from Lombardy, Italy. Now in the U.S., they describe the rapid shift in perceptions of the pandemic as it has spread through each country.

Italian star Andrea Bocelli will live stream an Easter concert from the empty halls of Milan's Duomo cathedral Sunday.

Andrea Bocelli To Perform In An Empty Duomo Cathedral On Easter Sunday

4:24pm April 07, 2020

by Jon Lewis

The Italian star will sing songs like "Ave Maria" live from the empty halls of one the world's most famous churches.