An anti-government fighter prays in the courtyard of Damascus' historic Umayyad mosque. Photograph: Abdul Ketaz/AFP/Getty Images The leader of Syria's Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, address a crowd at the capital's landmark Umayyad Mosque. Photograph: Aref Tammawi/AFP/Getty Images An opposition fighter steps on a broken bust of the late Syrian president Hafez Assad in Damascus following the downfall of the government of his son Bashar. Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP Syrians flocked to the main square of the capital city Damascus on December 9th to mark what many regard as a long-awaited new dawn after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad. Photograph: Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images A man poses for a photo with anti-government fighters holding a Syrian opposition flag at Umayyad Square in Damascus. Photograph: Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images A girl poses for photos waving a Syrian opposition flag at Umayyad Square in Damascus. (Photograph: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images People celebrate holding a large Syrian opposition flag at Umayyad Square in Damascus. Photograph: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images A man treads on a picture of Syria's ousted president Bashar al-Assad as people enter his residence in Damascus' al-Maliki area. Photograph: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images People remove the Syrian flag from the entrance of ousted president Bashar al-Assad's Al-Muhajirin residence in Damascus. Photograph: Bakr AL Kassem/AFP/Getty Images A woman displays a printed Syrian opposition flag while standing atop a car as she celebrates at Umayyad Square in Damascus. Photograph: Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images Assad fled to Russia the day before after a lightning offensive spearheaded by Islamist rebels ousted him from power, opening a new chapter in Syria's history after five decades of rule by his clan. Photograph: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images Syrian residents who live in Turkey wait in a queue at Cilvegozu crossborder gate before entering Syria at the Reyhanli district in Hatay. Photograph: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images A Syrian woman and her child waiy at the Cilvegozu crossborder gate before entering Syria at the Reyhanli district in Hatay. Photograph: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images An armed rebel walks in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria. Photograph: Bilal Alhammoud/EPA-EFE Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phoneJoin The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to dateListen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
Dublin school to review ethos statement over message telling parents students must attend all religious ceremonies
‘When these women left home there were rumours that they were sent to Europe to be concubines for black soldiers’