Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio.

I'm your host Shashank Joshi standing in for Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we give you a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

In recent years, the search for life beyond Earth is mostly focused on Mars.

There are six spacecraft around the red planet.

Venus has just one.

But the striking discovery of phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus

suggests that it might be the likely a candidate.

And pop music from South Korea has conquered the world.

It's also been tainted with sexual abuse scandals,

but the industry's most successful pop group is getting in touch with its sensitive side

and shedding K-pop's misogynistic image.

But first...

Protests have been raging in Belarus for five consecutive weeks, following last month's fraudulent presidential election.

Since the highly controversial vote, which Lukashenko

denies rigging, thousands have been arrested, and almost all opposition leaders have been

either jailed, deported, or forced into exile. The country's dictator, Alexander Lukashenko,

has unleashed a brutal crackdown on his people, one that has failed to halt the demonstrations.

On Sunday, more than 100,000 Belarusians took to the streets of Minsk

in what was one of the biggest protests yet, calling for Mr. Lukashenko to step down.

The next day, he flew to Sochi for lengthy talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

That meeting was seen as vital for Mr. Lukashenko's political survival.

...