AP PHOTOS: The month of December in pictures

Tuesday, Dec 31, 2024 10:13 PM Updated Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024 10:13 PM

An opposition fighter steps on a broken bust of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad in Damascus, Syria, Sunday Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

When Syrian rebels roared into Damascus after a lightning advance on the capital, they exalted in their triumph over President Bashar Assad and rejoiced at the sudden end of a 14-year civil war that laid waste to much of the country.

In images captured by Associated Press photographers in December, rifle-toting opposition fighters celebrated in the streets and stepped on a broken bust of Assad's late father, Syrian President Hafez Assad.

The toppling of the Assad family also unleashed a search for answers in morgues and prisons where families went in search of loved ones who disappeared under the Assad police state. At the infamous Saydnaya military prison, a man found two ropes tied into nooses. At a hospital morgue, a Palestinian mother wept in a dingy identification room after finding her son’s body.

Meanwhile, wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Lebanon upended more lives in the final weeks of 2024. A Ukrainian military chaplain held a church service for an infantry unit during Christmas near the front-line town of Chasiv Yar. A wide-eyed Palestinian child wounded in Gaza received treatment at a hospital. A man decorated a Christmas tree atop a pile of rubble inside a Catholic church hit by Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.

In the U.S., Americans watched as the suspect in the fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO returned to New York surrounded by police. On the West Coast, firefighters battling a wildfire in Malibu, California, were photographed under a rain of embers in the eerie orange glow of the flames.

There were moments of joy, too, especially as Christmas drew near.

In Nairobi's Kibera slum, one of the busiest neighborhoods of Kenya’s capital, young dancers in sparking outfits performed a Christmas ballet. In London, a butcher hurled a turkey to customers during the annual meat auction at Smithfield Market, and young choir singers at St. Paul’s Cathedral rehearsed for a Christmas performance that was to include girls for first time in the church's 900-year history. In New York, the Radio City Rockettes danced in the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.

Hilala Meryeh, a 64-year-old Palestinian mother of four, weeps in the middle of the dingy identification room after finding her son's body at the Al-Mojtahed Hospital morgue in Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. Many are flocking to morgues, hoping to identify loved ones who were either killed or imprisoned under President Bashar Assad's government, which collapsed over the weekend. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The setting sun casts a warm glow through the windows as Syrians walk through the infamous Saydnaya military prison in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. More than a week after the rebels overthrew Bashar al-Assad's regime, Syrians continue to visit the prison, known as the "human slaughterhouse." (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Military chaplain Yurii of the 24th Mechanized Brigade holds a church service for an infantry unit during Christmas near the frontline town of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ivanna, warms her dog in front of a destroyed burning car after a recent Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Firefighters battle the Franklin Fire in Malibu, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is escorted by police, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

In this picture taken through a window, President-elect Donald Trump, from left, Trump's pick for the planned Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk and Vice President-elect JD Vance attend the NCAA college football game between Army and Navy at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A Kenyan police officer, part of a UN-backed multinational force, patrols a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A Palestinian child wounded during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip receives treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A wounded security officer looks on after being shot by armed gangs at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jean Feguens Regala)

A man shows two ropes tied in the shape of nooses, found in the infamous Saydnaya military prison, just north of Damascus, Syria, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. Crowds are gathering to enter the prison, known as the "human slaughterhouse," some hoping to find relatives who were held there, after thousands of inmates were released following the rebels' overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime on Sunday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Syrian opposition fighters celebrate after the Syrian government collapsed in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Protesters take part in a candlelight vigil against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

The Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, is empty on Sunday morning , Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Georges Elia decorates a Christmas tree inside St. George Melkite Catholic Church, that was destroyed by Israeli airstrike, in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Israeli residents in a hot water pool coming from a drilling project which exposed a subterranean hydrothermal spring near Mount Bental in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

A young girl walks in the Kaweni slum on the outskirts of Mamoudzou, in the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, after Cyclone Chido. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

The Choristers of St Paul's choir, including girls for first time in 900-year history, rehearse for the Christmas services in St Paul's Cathedral, in London, Monday, Dec. 23 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Young dancers perform, during a Christmas ballet event in Kibera slum, one of the busiest neighborhoods of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A pilgrim crawls to the Sanctuary of Lo Vasquez marking the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, in Lo Vasquez, Valparaiso, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Ralph Fiennes poses for a portrait to promote the film "The Return" on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Workers install a piece by artist Osmany Betancourt as part of 15th Havana Biennial, in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Ley)

Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida, left, Takao Kato, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, center, and Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe, right, leave after a joint news conference in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Radio City Rockettes perform the Parade of the Wooden Soldiers dance during the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Indian army soldiers perform Kalari Payattu, a traditional exercise in Kolkata, India, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024 during the military tattoo celebrating the Victory Day, marking the India's victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war to liberate Bangladesh. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

A butcher throws a turkey for sale to customers during the annual Christmas Meat Auction at Smithfield Market in London, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Cinthia Falcon, right, dressed as Santa Claus, pushes a cart filled with gifts to deliver to children at a pre-Christmas celebration organized by "Los Chicos de la Via" soup kitchen, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Supporters of opposition candidate and former President John Dramani Mahama celebrate his victory after his opponent conceded in Accra, Ghana, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Pakistan's Saim Ayub plays a shot during the second T20 International cricket match between South Africa and Pakistan, at Centurion Park in Centurion, South Africa, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

A great blue heron flies inside Florida's Everglades National Park, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Rihanna poses for photographers upon arrival at the The Fashion Awards 2024 on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

A spectator waits for the start of the annual Christmas lottery draw, known as El Gordo, or The Fat One, at Madrid's Teatro Real, Spain, on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Young An Se of South Korea plays a shot against Akane Yamaguchi of Japan during a women's singles badminton match at the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang province, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Markus Mueller, of Austria, soars through the air during his qualification jump at the first stage of the 73rd Four Hills ski jumping tournament in Oberstdorf, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)