Human rights groups warned Tuesday of a "catastrophe" if the novel coronavirus hits the Syrian regime's overcrowded and squalid prisons, where inmates are routinely denied medical care. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have long documented abuses in the prisons of...

Rescheduling the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will involve "massive" additional costs, organisers of the Games conceded Thursday as they convened a taskforce to begin working on the "unprecedented" and complex task. The historic decision to postpone the Games over the new coronavirus outbreak leaves...

 Iran has started an intercity travel ban, an Iranian official said in a televised news conference on Thursday, a day after Iran’s government spokesman warned the country might face a second outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Officials have complained that many Iranians ignored...

Syria on Wednesday began a nationwide curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. as lockdown measures to counter the spread of coronavirus were extended, residents and state media said. The government had already ordered the closure of shops, markets and public transport, allowing only pharmacies to open...