This Week in Explainers: Why South Korea's incentives to women to have babies isn't working

It’s been another massive week for news.

Another election across the border saw Nawaz Sharif’s political heir Maryam Nawaz make history by becoming the first woman chief minister of a Pakistan province.

South Korea, home to the world’s worst fertility rate, saw its woes deepen further.

This despite the government spending hundreds of billions of dollars to try to get its citizens to have children.

Australia was left shocked after the gruesome double murder of a same-sex couple by a jilted lover.

As the US presidential election fast approaches, the public doesn’t seem happy about the rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Now, a recent poll has thrown up a surprising name from the past whom the public would happily vote for.

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Staying with America, a number of multinational firms are now using AI to snoop on their employees.

In China, a matchmaking service is offering an unusual service — live-in son-in-laws

And finally, we all know that this year is a leap year. But have you ever wondered about what would happen if leap years didn’t exist?

All this in our weekly roundup of explainers on the big news stories that grabbed headlines around the world:

1.  Maryam Nawaz this week truly came into her role as her father’s political heir.

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The 50-year-old was elected first woman chief minister of Punjab province, a position previously held by Nawaz and his brother Shehbaz.

Not only that, the post has long been a stepping stone to the ultimate prize in Pakistan — the prime minister’s office.

But how did Maryam get here? And what do experts say about her ascent?

This piece takes a look at Maryam's long, intense political journey to the top.

2. Why don’t people want to have kids anymore?

South Korea, China and Japan don’t seem to have the answer.

Despite showering their citizens with billions of dollars in incentives and subsidies, the governments of these Asian nations just can’t seem to convince their citizens to have babies.

The three nations have many similarities — from being patriarchies to concerns about the cost of living and childcare to women worried about what taking a break for child-rearing could have on their careers.

But what are the governments doing precisely? And why is it falling on deaf ears?

This article does a deep dive on the issue.

3. Australia witnessed a gruesome crime this week.

The murder of a same-sex couple by a jilted lover, a police officer at that, left the country shaken.

Former television presenter Jesse Baird and his partner Luke Davies were killed — allegedly by police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon — in the former’s home in the inner-Sydney suburb of Paddington.

But what happened? How did the shocking events unfold? Why are the Australian police under fire?

This piece gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the shocking crime.

4. Trump vs Biden is the rematch for US president no one really wanted.

But is there another contender? What happens if Biden, for whatever reason, drops out of the race?

A new poll shows there is one figure on the Democratic side who could conceivably replace Biden — former First Lady Michelle Obama.

But how popular is Michelle? And what is the secret of her enduring acclaim with the American people?

And will Michelle actually ever run for political office?

This piece gives you the low down .

5. An unconventional service in China, a deeply patriarchal country, is catching the eyes of many.

In China’s Hangzhou, the Jindianzi agency is offering its clients a unique service — live-in son-in-laws.

The arrangement witnesses the husband moving into the wife’s home and their children take her surname.

The slogan on the wall outside the agency reads: “Break the tradition of women marrying into men’s families, and start a new national campaign that marries men into women’s families."

But how does it work? Are prospective grooms actually approaching the agency? And what do people think about this brave, new world?

6. The year 2024 is a leap year. So is 2028. And 2032. And 2036.

But have you ever considered how leap years begun? And why do we have leap years in the first place?

And what happens if we, horror of horrors, don’t have leap years?

“Without the leap years, after a few hundred years, we will have summer in November,” Younas Khan, a physics instructor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham explained.

“Christmas will be in the summer. There will be no snow. There will be no feeling of Christmas.”

7. Do you ever have that feeling that you’re being watched?

You may very well be right. In fact, if you’re working for a multinational firm in the United States, chances are your company is monitoring your communications – and using Artificial Intelligence to do so.

A number of huge firms including Walmart, Delta, T-Mobile and Starbucks are using software from a start-up firm to keep a tab on employees on Slack and Microsoft Teams.

Both are extremely popular office platforms with Slack in use with over 100,000 firms and Microsoft Teams having nearly 300 million monthly users.

But how does the software work? What does the common man say about it? And are experts concerned?

Here’s everything you need to know.

And that’s all from us this week. If you like the way we break down the big stories for you, here’s where you can read more of our explainers.