Wife of a Belaruskali striker: “I just couldn’t tell my daughter that her Dad was beaten by the police.”

A mother of three children, with the youngest one only two years old, Katsiaryna Dziamkova never thought she would be left alone, without her husband. However, that is exactly what happened on one snowy, freezing afternoon on the last day of winter, when her husband Anton did not return home. He was among seven activists […]

Vera Sauchanka

04/01/2021

“Free Navalny!” | San Francisco joined global anti-Putin rallies

Alexei Navalny, Russia’s opposition leader and prominent critic of Putin, was arrested on January 17, shortly after his flight landed in Moscow. Navalny spent five months in Germany undergoing treatment after poisoning with Novichok nerve agent, allegedly carried out by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied FSB’s involvement in […]

Vera Sauchanka

02/01/2021

Slippery slope: IIHF head Fasel meets Lukashenko as protests continue

This is a developing story, please check back for updates. Last updated at 12:30 pm PST January 13, 2021. Ice Hockey World Championship is scheduled to take place on May 21-June 6. Belarus and Latvia are expected to co-host the event. However, since the widely disputed August 9th presidential election in Belarus and the brutal […]

Vera Sauchanka

01/13/2021

Toyota 86 Hakone Edition: best driver’s car, take number two?

Full model name: Toyota 86 Hakone Edition Final assembly point: OTA, Gunma, Japan Fuel economy: 24 mpg city / 32 mpg hwy / 27 mpg combined Engine: 2.0L 4-cylinder Boxer DOHC 16V Power: 200 hp & 151 lb-ft Price as tested: $31,545 Toyota 86 is another dive back into the sports car segment for Toyota. […]

Dennis Bindarau

01/02/2021

Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport: a budget alternative to Porsche

Full model name: Atlas Cross Sport V6 SE w/Technology R-Line® Final assembly point: Chattanooga, TN, USA Fuel economy: 16 mpg city / 22 mpg hwy / 19 mpg combined Engine: 3.6L 24-valve DOHC narrow-angle V6 w/FSI® direct fuel injection Power: 276 hp & 266 lb-ft Price as tested: $43,260 The looks When it comes to […]

Dennis Bindarau

12/26/2020

Toyota Prius: still ahead of the game, under minor conditions

Full model name: Toyota Prius Limited HV Final assembly point: Toyota, Aichi, Japan Fuel economy (manufacturer’s data): 54 mpg city / 50 mpg hwy / 52 mpg combined Fuel economy (our data): 58 mpg city / 53 mpg hwy / 53.4 mpg combined Engine: 1.8L DOHC 16V 4-Cylinder Power: 121 hp & 105 lb-ft Price […]

Dennis Bindarau

12/19/2020

Building digital society from scratch. Is e-government our future?

Estonia is a small post-Soviet country of about 1.3 million people, located in Northern Europe. However, it’s famous not for its size or population. Being called “the most advanced digital society in the world,” it now runs 99% of all government services online, becoming the first e-government country on the planet. In 2014, Estonia introduced e-residency — […]

Vera Sauchanka

12/13/2020

Life after COVID: what to expect?

Life after COVID. How will our world look like? Will it ever be the same, or should it be, anyway? To find out, we spoke to Bradley Tusk, an American businessman, venture capitalist, philanthropist, writer, as well as former deputy governor of Illinois and first political advisor for Uber. Check out our video to find […]

Vera Sauchanka

12/10/2020

The new Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro: an off-road monster?

The Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro has a slogan. Play harder. I guess after taking it off-road and trying to drive it as fast as I dared on bumpy trails, I get what they mean by it. Some trucks got bigger tires and sometimes you can be disappointed after taking them off-road. On the contrary, the […]

Dennis Bindarau

12/06/2020

Election Chronicles: while votes are counted, protests continue

During the spring-summer protests, Oakland was one of the Bay Area “hotspots” where some looting and civil unrest occurred. As the nation keeps hanging in uncertainty over the election results, we asked local residents and small business owners what they expect now. One of the windows at MudLab has been smashed during the spring-summer protests […]

Vera Sauchanka

11/06/2020