Russia puts pets at centre of spy row

A security agency chief has warned that Moscow has a "very complex intelligence interest in Germany." However, far-right extremism is the country's current "greatest threat," he said.

Diving into the pool at the Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre, Ibrahim Al Hussein is a natural. The swimmer is aiming for Tokyo this summer, a journey that has been far from simple. Originally from Syria, Ibrahim lost his leg and had a metal rod inserted into the other. Ever since, he's been on a mission to turn his life around.

In the ancient Syrian village of Maalula, whose residents still speak the language of Jesus, volunteers rake stones and scrub graffiti in preparation for the return of Christian pilgrims after years of war. Nestled among towering cliffs in the mountains north of Damascus, Maalula is one of the world's oldest Christian settlements.

Syrian weightlifter Maan Asaad and high jumper Majd Eddin Ghazal are preparing to participate in the Tokyo Olympics after a 2 year hiatus from competing internationally because of COVID-19. The lack of international participation has impacted Maan according to his brother and trainer, Qays.

The shocking image of a violently ill Alexander Litvinenko as he lay dying from radioactive poisoning in a London hospital bed is how much of the world remembers the ex Russian spy. But a new opera in London based on a book by his wife Marina and composed by former London financier, Anthony Bolton seeks to tell more of his story. A British public inquiry in 2016 concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin had "probably approved" Litvinenko's killing, which it said was likely to have been FSB-directed, but no one has ever been brought to justice.

Foreign paragliding pilots fly over Syria's war-scarred city of Homs, as part of a festival to showcase the safety of Syrian skies after years of civil war.

Hurling a javelin, leaping over hurdles and sprinting beyond rows of tents to win gold, displaced children in the northwest of war-torn Syria stage their very own Olympics.

A report by Amnesty International contradicts some governments' views that Syria is now safe to return for refugees. Returnees have faced detainment, torture, disappearance, and sexual violence.

"I didn't know what a marathon was until today", says one of a group of Syrian orphans taking part in a race in the rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib. The event has been organised by an NGO in a bid to introduce children who have lost their parents in Syria's ongoing conflict to different kinds of sports. Nearly 500,000 people have died in the conflict since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of peaceful demonstrations.

A giant puppet representing an uprooted Syrian child named Little Amal arrives at the port of Folkestone, in the United Kingdom, as she comes to the end of a journey across Europe that began in Turkey. The 3.5 metre-tall puppet created by Handspring Puppet Company is meant to focus attention on the urgent needs of young refugees.

Scores of migrants are stranded in the border region between Belarus, Poland and Lithuania. A refugee based in Austria has headed to Poland in hopes of finding his father and mother. Magdalena Gwozdz-Pallokat reports.

A historic trial against members of Bashar al-Asad's regime has moved on to its main defendant. Germany is holding the trial under the principle of universal jurisdiction.