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David R. Sands

David R. Sands

dsands@washingtontimes.com

David R. Sands covered numerous beats, including international trade, banking, politics and Capitol Hill, and spent eight years on the foreign desk as senior diplomatic correspondent. He has authored The Times' weekly chess column since 1993.

Articles by David R. Sands

FILE - In this Nov, 3. 2017, file photo, women make kimchi, a traditional fermented South Korean pungent vegetable dish, to donate to needy neighbors in preparation for the winter season during Kimchi Festival at Seoul City Hall Plaza in Seoul, South Korea. Spicy, pungent kimchi; thick fermented soups filled with meat so tender it falls off the bone; barbecued everything; all of it washed down with ubiquitous soju liquor. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

South Korea takes kimchi war to new level

South Korea is taking its kimchi war with China to the next level, enlisting a slew of foreign diplomats in Seoul to attest to the fact that the Koreans' national dish is, in fact, Korean.

February 21, 2021
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, right, speaks with Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, back to camera at center, during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021. The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog met Sunday with Iranian officials in a bid to preserve his inspectors' ability to monitor Tehran's atomic program, even as authorities said they planned to cut off surveillance cameras at those sites. (AP Photo)

Iranian lawmakers press hard line as U.N. nuclear chief visits Tehran

An inconclusive visit by the U.N.'s top atomic watchdog to Iran over the weekend has highlighted another hurdle to the Biden administration's hope to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal that President Trump repudiated -- Tehran, like Washington, has some tricky domestic politics to navigate before it can cut a deal.

February 21, 2021
In this image taken from video footage run Feb. 19, 2021, by China's CCTV via AP Video, Indian and Chinese troops face off in the Galwan Valley on the disputed border between China and India, June 15, 2020. China's military said Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, that four of its soldiers were killed in a high-mountain border clash with Indian forces last year, the first time Beijing has publicly conceded its side suffered casualties in the deadliest incident between the Asian giants in nearly 45 years. (CCTV via AP Video)

China acknowledges four deaths months after clash with India

China revealed Friday that four of its soldiers died in a clash with Indian troops on a disputed border high in the Himalayas in June, a deadly encounter that brought the world's two most populous nations to the brink of open warfare.

February 19, 2021
Mighty Wash employee Fuastino "Frosty" Calderon watches his coworkers shovel the car wash's driveway from atop a pile of snow after slipping on ice Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 in Odessa, Texas. Calderon and his coworkers shoveled snow at the car wash on Wednesday as a way to help pass the time and keep from being stuck inside as the Permian Basin begins to recover from the severe winter storm that passed through Texas. (Eli Hartman/Odessa American via AP)

Foreign foes delight in Texas woes

Texas' struggles dealing with a record cold snap and widespread power outages are providing ready propaganda fodder for America's rivals.

February 18, 2021
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is seen in this June 2018 photo. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Latin lives! Uzbeks prepare latest switch to Western-based alphabet

Americans who have spent decades debating the metric system and the relative merits of Celsius and Fahrenheit could take a lesson in mental flexibility from Uzbekistan. Residents of the Central Asian nation are poised to adopt what would be the fifth different official alphabet in less than a century, moving to a modified Latin-based alphabet by the beginning of 2023.

February 12, 2021
People wear face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus in front of a banner showing Saudi King Salman, right, and his Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, outside a mall in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. In Saudi Arabia, where authorities already have banned travel to the kingdom from 20 countries including the U.S., officials ordered all weddings and parties suspended. It closed down all shopping malls, gyms and other locations for 10 days, as well as indoor dining. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Saudis accentuate the positive after stinging Biden speech

Saudi Arabia Friday appeared determined to look on the bright side a day after President Biden used his first major foreign policy speech to announce an end to U.S. military support and arms sales for the oil-rich kingdom's campaign in neighboring Yemen.

February 5, 2021
Van Foreest-Grandelius after 20...Nf6.

Jordan Van Foreest, local hero, stuns with win at elite Tata chess tourney

Meet the Dutch Rocky Balboa. When countries agree to host world-class tournaments, chess etiquette holds that at least a slot or two in the field be reserved for favorite sons (or daughters) who otherwise wouldn't make the cut. Typically, the invitees' main role is to generate some patriotic buzz and serve as cannon fodder for the big guns.

February 2, 2021
In this Sept. 24, 2020, file photo, Captain Sir Tom Moore in Marston Moretaine, England, attends the launch event for the Lloyd Scott Three Peaks Challenge. Tom Moore, the 100-year-old World War II veteran who captivated the British public in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic with his fundraising efforts, has died, Tuesday Feb. 2, 2021. (Jacob King/PA via AP, File)

COVID-19 hero ‘Captain Tom’ Moore dies at age 100

Captain Tom Moore, the British World War II veteran whose jaunty walk in his backyard last year made him an internet sensation and a prodigious fundraiser in the fight against COVID-19, has passed away in London's Bedford Hospital at the age of 100, less than two weeks after he himself was diagnosed with the coronavirus.

February 2, 2021
In this Dec. 17, 2019, file photo, Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks during a joint press conference with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Reports says Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, a military coup has taken place in Myanmar and Suu Kyi has been detained under house arrest. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File)

Aung San Suu Kyi detained in Myanmar coup: Report

The Myanmar military has reportedly detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of her ruling National League for Democracy party in a coup attempt that climaxes rising tension between the military and the civilian government of the former Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

January 31, 2021
Registered Nurse Lisa Strickland, left, administers a COVID-19 vaccine to Tracy Atkinson during the drive-up inoculation event at Craig Houghton Elementary School in Augusta, Ga., Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (Michael Holahan/The Augusta Chronicle via AP)

COVID-19 vaccines to goose global growth in 2021, IMF predicts

The global economy, devastated in 2020 by shutdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic, is poised to make a major recovery this year as vaccines to control its spread reach the market, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest forecast released Tuesday morning.

January 26, 2021