As Belarus protests ramp up, Putin offers security help to authoritarian president

By YURAS KARMANAU and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV | Associated Press
MINSK, Belarus — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that he stands ready to send police to Belarus if protests there turn violent but sees no such need now, while Belarusian police dispersed a protest in the capital and detained scores Thursday, raising pressure on the opposition.
Belarus’ authoritarian president of 26 years, Alexander Lukashenko, is facing weeks of protests against his reelection to a sixth term in th