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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

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton arrives at a rally Monday, Oct. 12, 2015, in Las Vegas, held by the Culinary Union to support a union drive at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Asian investors fret over ‘Hillary risk’

She's having enough trouble trying to calm nervous Democrats about the state of her 2016 presidential bid, but now front-runner Hillary Clinton has another constituency that needs reassurance -- Asian financial markets.

October 13, 2015
Cyprus' president Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci shake hands after a meeting at U.N. buffer zone at Ledra Palace Hotel in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus in September. The heads of Cyprus' Christian and Muslim communities are meeting with the ethnically divided island's rival leaders to lend their support to ongoing reunification talks. (Associated Press)

Cyprus inches towards reunification

It ranks among the world's oldest frozen conflicts, but an "unusual alignment of the stars" is raising new hopes that Cyprus may soon be on the road to reunification, the top diplomat of the divided island's Turkish Cypriot government said in an interview.

October 6, 2015
Russian President Vladimir Putin (center) listens to a question during a meeting with his supporters in Moscow on Sept. 7, 2015. Putin took part in a discussion on Monday of a health care reform with his supporters who form All-Russian People’s Front. (Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA-Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) **FILE**

Kremlin: No plans for Putin, Obama to meet at U.N. gathering

He has Pope Francis on his schedule, but Russian President Vladimir Putin right now has no plans to meet with President Obama when he travels to New York later this month for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the U.N. General Assembly, the Russian leader's spokesman said Thursday.

September 10, 2015
Trader Eugene Mauro (right) works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 1, 2015. (Associated Press)

China woes send U.S. stock markets plummeting

Fresh economic data showing softness in the Chinese economy sent U.S. and global stocks plummeting Tuesday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones index of top stocks down some 469 points, or 2.84 percent, to 16,058, and the broader S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq market also posting losses of more than 2 percent for the day.

September 1, 2015
Chinese officials are casting about for scapegoats to blame for the country's mishandling of a recent stock bubble that dented the country's economy. (Associated Press)

China’s leaders on the spot after economic stumbles

Chinese officials say they know exactly who is to blame for a wild week that rocked global stock markets, battered the currencies of emerging markets around the globe, sent commodity prices lower and may have shaved a percentage point or two off of global GDP growth next year: anybody but China.

August 30, 2015
Trader Robert Oswald, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015. U.S. stocks are opening sharply higher Wednesday after slumping for six straight days amid concern that growth in China was slowing more quickly than previously thought. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Wall Street roars back with 619-point gain

Wall Street started strong Wednesday and this time didn't falter at the finish line, with the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average reversing six days of losses with a gain of 619 points, or 3.95 percent, to finish at 16,285. The daily increase was the third-biggest point rally in the market's history.

August 26, 2015