David R. Sands

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

Burke, fellow Yanks score high in Maryland’s ‘International’ chess showcase

It was the Washington-area's 9th International Tournament, but it was the Americans who claimed some of the top honors.

August 23, 2022

Indiana Gov. Holcomb latest U.S. official to spark Chinese ire with visit to Taiwan

Indiana Gov. Eric J. Holcomb became the latest U.S. political figure to make a high-profile trip to Taiwan, as tensions between the U.S. and China over the island democracy's status continue to soar.

August 21, 2022

Russia hawks blame Ukraine for car bomb that killed Putin adviser’s daughter

Russian hardline nationalists rushed to blame Ukrainian agents for a stunning car bomb attack just outside Moscow on Saturday night that killed the daughter of a leading ideological thinker believed to be a major influence on the foreign policy of President Vladimir Putin.

August 21, 2022

A passel of chess games to get us through the dog days

It's the middle of August and a good time for a vacation, so we'll let the players do the heavy lifting today. Fortunately, the dog days of summer are a boom time for chess, and we have a ton of fine games to fill some column inches from the recent World Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India and, closer to home, the 122nd U.S. Open in Rancho Mirage, California.

August 17, 2022

Russian, U.S. officials talking over Griner prisoner swap, Moscow says

The Kremlin acknowledged for the first time Thursday that U.S. and Russian officials are in talks on a swap that would potentially free women's basketball star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan from Russian jails.

August 11, 2022

Iran dismisses U.S. charges of plot to murder John Bolton as ‘baseless’

Iran's Foreign Ministry is dismissing U.S. charges that an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer plotted to kill former National Security Adviser John Bolton, in Tehran's first official response to the sensational charges laid out Wednesday by the Justice Department.

August 11, 2022

Unlikely stars shine as Uzbekistan, Ukraine capture chess Olympiad gold

The biennial Olympiad, attracting nearly 200 squads representing countries around the globe, is the ultimate in team sport in chess. But that doesn't mean don't you can't ride a hot individual horse to victory.

August 9, 2022

Ukrainian women capture chess Olympiad gold after Russians barred

Ukraine scored a big win away from the battlefield Tuesday as its women's chess team captured the gold medal at the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India.

August 9, 2022

Fallout from Taiwan visit follows Pelosi on trips to South Korea, Japan

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 24-hour visit to Taiwan -- and China's furious and ongoing reaction -- are making for some delicate diplomacy as the California Democrat concludes her Asian tour with stops in South Korea and Japan.

August 4, 2022

Russian court gives U.S. basketball star Griner nine-year jail term in drug smuggling case

A Russian court Thursday sentenced U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for smuggling drugs "with criminal intent" in a politically charged trial that has roiled already tense relations with the United States.

August 4, 2022

Russians preparing renewed attack on Zelenskyy’s hometown, Ukrainians warn

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is getting personal -- again.

August 3, 2022

After COVID-19 pandemic and site shift, delayed chess Olympiad kicks off in India

It wasn't completely able to sidestep the problems of the world, but the fact that the 44th Chess Olympiad is underway with actual over-the-board competition in Chennai, India, is a heartening sign that things are finally returning to something resembling normalcy.

August 2, 2022