Police in Minsk broke up a 1,000-strong crowd demonstrating against a referendum that approved allowing Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko to stay in power for another term, a witness said. Protesters gathered near the president's offices, police beat some demonstrators and dragged them into buses, the witness said. The rally came just hours after Lukashenko expressed delight at receiving the support of nearly 80 percent of registered voters for his plan to stay in power for a third term. Western monitors said the referendum, held in conjunction with parliamentary elections which shut out the liberal opposition, fell badly short of international standards.
