Sylvia Poggioli

Anti-corruption experts warn of a potential surge in loansharking by the Mafia in Italy as businesses struggle there following months in lockdown.

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.

Imagine taking in the splendor of the Sistine Chapel without packs of tourists. That experience can be had now for those who set aside COVID-19 fears to visit the reopened Vatican Museums.

Italy's economy is expected to shrink by at least 8 percent this year, with no way for the vital tourism sector to revive in the foreseeable future. A government rescue package gives some relief.

Europe starts to loosen up the quarantine restrictions and reopen economies. But some countries are expecting — even planning for — the next wave of the coronavirus outbreaks.

Italy has started reopening after an eight-week lockdown on Monday. Italians are now emerging to a country changed by the devasting human and economic toll of the coronavirus.

Tomorrow, Italy begins lifting the lockdown it imposed March 9 to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Despite some of the strictest measures in Europe, more than 28,000 Italians have died.

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.

Right-wing populists in Italy are battling more liberal politicians who want to give work permits to undocumented immigrants, who could fill seasonal labor shortages in the agriculture sector.

Italy's prime minister has announced that the country's lockdown will begin to lift on May 4 — in a phased reopening of the economy and public life.

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.

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."

Drawing on a centuries-old tradition, a Naples couple has begun lowering baskets from their balcony. People are encouraged to take food they need, and others are encouraged to add food to the baskets.

With church soup kitchens closed because of the coronavirus, an Italian couple in Naples are feeding the homeless and hungry by lowering baskets of food from apartment balconies.

A north-south divide is again dividing Europe, this time in response to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

As the country moves into its fourth week of lockdown, the head of Italy's national institute of health announced that the country "has reached a plateau" in its infection rate.

The U.S. and China have clashed over the handling of the coronavirus outbreak. China is using its soft power to compete with the U.S. for influence during the pandemic.

The "Urbi et Orbi" blessing is normally delivered at Christmas and Easter. The delivered his homily against the dramatic backdrop of an empty St. Peter's Square, glistening in the rain.

Fausto Russo has been hospitalized with COVID-19 for over two weeks. On Wednesday, he spoke to NPR and other media by video in Italy.

Teams from Russia, China and Cuba have arrived in recent days to help Italy. There's gratitude — along with anger that the U.S., Italy's traditional ally, is absent.