Syrian Chess Champion's Six Children Confirmed Dead by Authorities

Syrian authorities have confirmed that the six children of missing chess champion Rania al-Abbasi are likely dead, according to a commission investigating enforced disappearances under the former regime of Bashar al-Assad. The children have been missing since 2013, and their deaths mark a tragic end to a years-long ordeal for al-Abbasi, who has campaigned for answers about her family's fate. The commission's findings have not been independently verified, but they represent a rare official acknowledgment of the fate of those who vanished during the conflict.