A demonstrator holds a Syrian opposition flag as members of the Syrian community chant slogans in Syntagma square in Athens to celebrate the end of the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad after rebel fighters took control of the Syrian capital Damascus overnight, on December 8, 2024. Islamist-led rebels toppled Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive that a UN envoy called "a watershed moment" for the nation marred by civil war. (Photo by Angelos TZORTZINIS / AFP)