As Mark Twain wrote,Damascus “measures time not by days and months and years,but by the empires she has seen rise and prosper and crumble into ruin”.
Syrian officials have acknowledged violations of humanitarian law,which they have blamed on unorganised masses wanting to support official security forces.
Other controversial moves include plans to remove references to gods from ancient history courses,as well as a period of history that saw France rule Syria.
Ahmed al-Sharaa,the leader of the rebels who ousted the Bashar al-Assad regime,also plans to dissolve the group that took control of the country this month.
The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also rejected media reports suggesting Bashar al-Assad had been confined to Moscow and had assets frozen.
“We really haven’t seen anything quite like this since the Nazis,” says an international war crimes prosecutor who estimates 100,000 people were killed.
At the country’s most notorious prison,Syrians confront their worst fears:that they will never know what happened to the loved ones who disappeared.
In the dark,cavernous warehouses at the abandoned site in Douma,fighters who ousted Assad found thousands of pills hidden in furniture,fruit and electronics.