David R. Sands

British PM Truss totters as Conservatives meet this week on possible ouster

British Prime Minister Liz Truss's time at 10 Downing Street may be over before she has time to plan a housewarming party.

October 16, 2022

Reeling Truss fires finance chief as new British government totters

New British Prime Minister Liz Truss has sacked her top finance minister just weeks into her new government, the latest policy U-turn for the Conservative leader after markets panned her program of deep, unfunded tax cuts and deregulation.

October 14, 2022

The plot thickens — and sickens — in Niemann chess cheating controversy

The U.S. open and women's annual national championship tournaments are now underway at the St. Louis Chess Club and the Hans Moke Niemann cheating controversy remains, unfortunately, the all-consuming storyline.

October 11, 2022

Chess in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons as cheating controversy smolders

Well, our beloved game is generating front-page headlines, getting coverage on the big network broadcasts and serving as the focus for deep-think pieces from pundits the world over. Yay?

October 4, 2022

Defiant Putin hails annexation of Ukrainian regions, says West wants Russia as ‘colony’

In a ceremony meant to mark the carving up of parts of Ukraine, Russian President and judo master Vladimir Putin told a Kremlin audience that it was the U.S. and its Western allies who were trying to carve up Russia.

September 30, 2022

Compartmentalizing Carlsen wins at the chessboard while fanning cheating controversy

He may be at the center of a raging global scandal with his accusations of possible cheating by a fellow grandmaster, but world champion Magnus Carlsen is showing no signs of stress at the chessboard.

September 27, 2022

Putin gives leaker Snowden citizenship in defiance of U.S.

America's most famous fugitive leaker found a permanent refuge Monday as the government of President Vladimir Putin granted Russian citizenship to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

September 26, 2022

North Korea denies U.S. reports it is selling arms to Russia

A couple of weeks later, North Korea is angrily denying widely disseminated U.S. intelligence findings that it has agreed to sell large amounts of arms and munitions to Russia in support of President Vladimir Putin's troubled invasion of Ukraine.

September 22, 2022

A century later, a chess champ in his prime still inspires awe

This month we had the spectacle of a world champion walking out on a tournament, when Norway's Magnus Carlsen dropped out of the 9th Sinquefield Cup after three games under still controversial circumstances.

September 20, 2022

Carrying a grudge: Chess champ quits after one move against U.S. rival amid cheating controversy

The cheating controversy roiling the world of elite chess shows no signs of cooling down as Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen played one move and then quit in apparent protest in his game against young American rival Hans Moke Niemann Monday.

September 19, 2022

Iranian leader nixes any Biden meeting during U.N. gathering

The trip to New York by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was already controversial, with lawmakers in Congress pressuring the Biden administration not to allow him to travel to the U.N. gathering.

September 18, 2022

Bidens join world leaders in London to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden joined more than 100 global leaders and foreign dignitaries in London Sunday, as the world gathered for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral Monday after a record 70-plus years on the throne.

September 18, 2022

Marines won’t dismiss troops rejecting COVID-19 shot on religious grounds

The Marine Corps has quietly dropped a legal campaign challenging those in the ranks who have cited religious objections to getting the COVID-19 vaccination.

September 18, 2022

In some border areas, it’s Russian residents who fear for safety in Ukraine fighting

Russians living along the border with Ukraine are now experiencing some of the fear and uncertainty their Ukrainian neighbors have been enduring for the past nearly seven months.

September 18, 2022

Firouzja survives controversy-filled Sinquefield Cup to claim chess title

Amid all the Sturm und Drang -- a world champion losing a game and quitting the tournament after just three rounds; a voluble rising American star now shadowed by accusations of cheating at the highest level; rule changes that strongly implied something fishy was going on; even a social media flame war over weird accents -- they did manage to play the 9th Sinquefield Cup and produce an over-the-board winner.

September 13, 2022

Antony Blinken says Iran’s latest stance on nuclear deal a step ‘backwards’

Tehran's latest response on a proposed compromise to revive the troubled 2015 Iran nuclear deal has made it harder to reach an agreement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday.

September 9, 2022

U.S. congressional delegation visits Taiwan as Xi announces trip

A U.S. congressional delegation has arrived unannounced in Taiwan, extending a string of official contacts that have infuriated mainland China and sent tensions soaring across the Taiwan Strait and the region.

September 7, 2022

Champ Carlsen’s shock withdrawal after Niemann loss rocks Sinquefield chess tourney

Breaking (and shocking) news ... Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen abruptly withdrew from the 9th Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis Monday, a day after a painful Round 3 loss to young American GM Hans Moke Niemann.

September 6, 2022

Queen Elizabeth II passes on attending traditional Highland Games event

Just days before she faces one of her biggest constitutional duties, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will not attend a popular Scottish festival that has long been an annual fixture on her calendar.

September 2, 2022

Hail the conquering American! Marking 50 years since Fischer’s epic win over Spassky

The times being what they were, I first learned the result from the newspaper I was delivering. The afternoon Washington Evening Star's front-page, top-of-the-fold headline for Sept. 1, 1972 -- exactly 50 years ago this Thursday -- proclaimed that Russian Boris Spassky had conceded the adjourned 21st game of the stormy match in Reykjavik, Iceland, by phone making Bobby Fischer the 11th official world chess champion and the first American to wear the crown.

August 30, 2022