Jerusalem / AFP Israel is razing Palestinian homes and other buildings constructed with international aid at an “alarming” rate, the UN says, with more demolitions so far this year than in all of 2015. In total 121 structures funded partly or fully by international donors were demolished in the occupied West Bank between January 1 and March 2, overtaking the …

Seoul / AFP South Korea on Tuesday accused North Korea of hacking the smartphones of government officials, and unveiled new sanctions on Pyongyang over its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said the North had stolen phone numbers and texts from the phones of dozens of key officials between late February and early March. …

Kabul / AP Six months after fleeing a Taliban assault on her city, the owner of an Afghan radio station devoted to women’s rights is back home and returning to the airwaves. Zarghona Hassan is a lifelong activist and the founder of a radio station in Kunduz that until last year reached hundreds of thousands of listeners across northern Afghanistan, …

Beijing / Bloomberg China’s exports saw their heaviest fall in nearly seven years in February, diving more than a quarter as feeble global trade offset the weaker yuan and raised pressure on Beijing to ramp up domestic demand. The below-forecast reading is the latest data to raise fears of a “hard landing” in China and comes days after Beijing cut …

Tokyo / DPA The number of foreign technical intern trainees who fled from workplaces last year reached the highest level ever at 5,803, greatly surpassing the previous year’s figure, according to a Justice Ministry survey. The government believes that poor working conditions have resulted in the incidents in many cases. To counter this situation, the government plans to take legislative …

Tokyo / Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has made no progress in increasing the proportion of women in management positions in the past two years. Women held 4 percent of management posts in 2015, which was unchanged from 2013, according to a comparison of a statement released Tuesday and one from 2014. The central bank, in the statements, said …

Hanoi / Bloomberg 500 Startups is starting a $10 million fund dedicated to Vietnam as the Silicon Valley venture capital firm founded by Dave McClure backs more of the country’s technology startups. Growing Internet use by its young population, where the number of mobile phones exceeds the number of residents, provides an attractive bet in the nation that gave rise …

New Delhi / Bloomberg Indian billionaire Ajay Piramal is a man on a shopping mission. His firms are training their sights on distressed assets discarded by indebted businesses and banks struggling with bad loans. His unlisted real estate unit, recently flush with cash from Warburg Pincus & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., is looking to buy land parcels from …

Bloomberg Mark Carney was accused of jeopardizing the Bank of England’s credibility in the European Union debate as he faced a fiery line of questioning from U.K. ­legislators. While the BOE governor has spent months trying to avoid the political battle — a task lawmaker Andrew Tyrie compared to bomb disposal — some members of the Treasury Committee said BOE …

Bloomberg Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller sought to win over workers to restructuring measures aimed at lifting margins at the embattled German carmaker’s namesake brand and helping weather the emissions-cheating scandal. After nearly six months of crisis and recent revelations that senior managers missed warning signs, workers are fighting to avoid footing the bill. That put Herbert Diess, …