Australia's third-most populous city enters one of the "strictest lockdowns" for three days. Elsewhere, Uganda relaxes rules imposed during a six-week lockdown. Follow DW for the latest.

Middle-distance runner Abraham Guem was stranded in Japan for 21 months with four compatriots. Though his chances at the Tokyo Olympics look slim, he has more at stake than medals.

Baseball fan Masamitsu Takahashi opened his "izakaya" bar-restaurant in 2013, when Tokyo was chosen to host the 2020 Olympics. Never had he imagined that, eight years later, he would be watching Japan beating the USA in the quarter-final there all alone. Other bars have decided to stay open despite the state of emergency, but Takahashi says he prefers "to avoid the situation deteriorating to the point where there isn't even baseball".

When Tokyo last hosted the Olympics, in 1964, Itsuo Masuda was deeply depressed, struggling with his sexuality. This year he watched openly gay and transgender athletes compete with pride, in the most LGBTQ-friendly games yet.

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.

Residents in Shanghai react as China takes home 38 gold medals, the second-highest number at the Tokyo Olympics and one less than the United States. Morning commuters say they are proud of Chinese athletes' "historic" achievements, and look forward to Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which they hope will be "better" than Tokyo's Games.

Rome's zoo distributes frozen fruit to animals to help them cope with high temperatures and to ensure they get enough sugar in their diet.

Timelapse footage shows the conversion of Tokyo's Aomi Urban Sports Park, the venue for 3x3 basketball and sport climbing during the Olympic Games, into a football 5-a-side venue for the Paralympic Games. The work started on 6 August after the sport climbing competition ended, and was completed on 23 August.

The high temperatures were particularly severe in countries such as Italy, Greece and Spain. The continent experienced a variety of extreme weather events this summer, including deadly flooding and wildfires.

The skateboarding tricks that made Rayssa Leal the youngest Olympic medalist in Brazil's history push girls from early childhood to teenagers onto the country's slopes, where until recently they were the exception.

People in Beijing share their views after a decision announced by the International Olympic Committee that next year's Winter Olympics in the city will be held without fans from overseas. "I think this measure is for the safety concerns and is acceptable," says a pedestrian at Beijing Olympic Park.

Chinese and foreign figure skaters train ahead of the 2021 CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy, which will be held in Beijing this week as a test event for the 2022 Winter Olympics. All journalists and Winter Olympics staff are required to wear masks inside the stadium as Covid-19 prevention measures.