Almost half of UN contracts in 2019-2020 are with suppliers blacklisted by West, including group that killed blindfolded prisoners in 2013 and buried them in mass grave

Lafarge to pay $778m fine after pleading guilty to providing 'material support' to terrorist groups to keep Syrian cement factory running in 2013 and 2014

Deemed one of deadliest such operations, no group has yet claimed responsibility

Artifact shown in 4th-century building features rare portrayal of ancient Amazon warriors in Roman mythology; armed groups tried to sell piece in 2017

Instead of zipping past each other, convoys backing opposing sides of Syrian civil war stop to chat, pose for pictures and exchange uniform patches as momentos of the interaction

2018 video shows Giorgia Meloni, who has now vowed to support Israel, offering praise of Syria's Assad and his backers

After years of eschewing offers, record numbers of Druze are quietly applying to become Israeli, motivated not by newfound Zionism, but convenience and a drift away from Damascus

Witness testimonies of atrocities in Daraya tell of 'systematic attack against the civilian population,' in which entire families were executed, hospitals and schools were bombed

Biden administration says it knows 'with certainty' Syria holding US journalist Austin Tice; Syria labels claims 'misleading and illogical'

But UN High Commissioner for Refugees and rights groups oppose involuntary repatriation, say the practice risks endangering the refugees