Huge protests again flood Belarus' capital Minsk despite heavy security presence

MINSK -- Huge crowds of protesters flooded Belarus' capital Minsk again on Sunday calling for President Alexander Lukashenko to step down, defying a heavy deployment of security forces and threats of a crackdown.The protest appeared to be as large if not larger than the historic crowds that have filled Minsk the past two Sundays, the biggest in Belarus' history and have numbered well over 100,000 people.Hundreds of riot police and armored vehicles attempted to block protesters from reaching Minsk's main Independence Square, the usual site of the protests. Thousands more people demonstrated in a number of other cities and towns in Belarus, including Brest, Gomel and Vitebsk.The demonstrators came out despite a week where authorities had increased efforts to stop the protests and amid a warning from Russia President Vladimir Putin that he might send Russian security forces into Belarus if there is a violent attempt to topple Lukashenko.Sunday's protests, like the previous weekends, were determinedly peaceful.