This aerial view shows Muslim worshippers attending the first weekly Friday prayers since the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad at the 8th-century Umayyad mosque in the old city of Damascus on December 13, 2024. Islamist-led rebels took Damascus in a lightning offensive on December 8, ousting president Bashar al-Assad and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria. (Photo by Bakr Alkasem/AFP Photo)
