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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

Energomash company employees stand near RD-180 engines prepared for shipment to the United States in a shop at the Energomash, leading Russian rocket engine company, in Moscow on June 6, 2002. Energomash and U.S. company Pratt & Whitney have created a joint venture to build and test the RD-180 engine. The engine has successfully flown twice as the first stage engine of Lockheed Martin's Atlas 3 rocket. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Russian firm vows to fight to keep U.S. rocket monopoly

Even as the U.S. military pushes to end the country's reliance of Russian-built rocket engines to get its satellites into space, the Moscow-based manufacturer says it is still hopeful to hold onto its American clients.

March 3, 2016
President Obama stars as poster child for Russian anti-smoking ads.

Obama stars as poster child for Russian anti-smoking ads

An image of President Obama enjoying a last long drag on a cigarette is being used in a new campaign in Moscow to encourage Russians to give up smoking. The message: Both tobacco and the American president can kill you.

February 16, 2016
Wei-Navara after 14…f6.

DAVID R. SANDS: After a long siege, the Berlin Wall starts to come down

Norwegian world champ Magnus Carlsen captured his fifth Tata Steel Masters title, winning the year's first strong event at the Dutch seaside town of Wijk aan Zee with an undefeated 9-4 score, a full point clear of American GM Fabiano Caruana and China's Ding Liren.

February 2, 2016
Meeting of the minds: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (left) met in private with Pope Francis at the Vatican Tuesday during a European trip aimed at positioning Tehran as a potential top player in efforts to resolve Middle East conflicts — including Syria's civil war — as Tehran's nuclear sanctions dissolve. Story, A9. (Associated Press)

Iran hard-liners reject middle path, disqualify moderate candidates

For the second time in less than a week, Iran's theocratic leaders have disqualified a slew of moderate candidates from the race for a key governing body, ruling that even the grandson of Iranian revolutionary hero Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was too ideologically suspect to run for office.

January 26, 2016
Navara-Caruana after 48…Rh6-g6.

DAVID R. SANDS: Magnus Carlsen takes risks to rise to chess top at Wijk

The champ isn't resting on his laurels. Unlike some of his illustrious predecessors, world titleholder Magnus Carlsen isn't afraid to mix it up with his rivals, maintaining an active tournament schedule -- and risking the occasional embarrassing loss -- since he first won the crown in November 2013.

January 26, 2016
"The legs of Iran's economy are now free of the chains of sanctions, and it's time to build and grow," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whose own political future may hang in the balance if the economic payoff does not come, said in a tweet Sunday. (Associated Press)

Iran welcomes business rush as sanctions are lifted

Literally hours after the ink had dried on the accord lifting international economic sanctions on Iran, big-name companies across Europe and Asia were signing deals, major world leaders were booking trade missions to Tehran, idled oil fields were being ordered back online, and Iran's financial authorities had processed applications for some 1,000 letters of credit from businesses hoping to cut deals in the near future.

January 18, 2016