TOKYO -- A month before the opening of the COP26 climate summit in Scotland, the U.K.'s ambassador to Tokyo called on Japan to accelerate the phase out of coal power and ban the sale of new petrol and hybrid cars by 2030.

"We hope that Japan will not only end the domestic use of coal, but also find a way to pull out of or find alternatives to remaining coal projects it is financing in Indonesia and Bangladesh," Julia Longbottom told Nikkei Asia

TOKYO -- Fumio Kishida, president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and soon to become prime minister, has decided to dissolve the lower house later this month to hold general elections on Oct. 31, Nikkei has learned.

Kishida, scheduled to be elected prime minister in a special parliamentary session later on Monday, is moving fast. Widespread opinion within the ruling parties had been that the general elections should be held on Nov. 7 or Nov. 14.

After the inauguration of a new cabinet,

SYDNEY -- Australia's spreading pilot programs to let travelers quarantine in the privacy of their own homes are drawing criticism from some quarters for invading that privacy.

Across Asia and elsewhere, countries have deployed various technologies to help fight COVID-19, from contact tracing apps to QR-code check-ins for entering establishments. But some see Australian authorities' use of facial recognition and geolocation to enforce home quarantines as a step down a slippery slope, even as efforts to reopen borders come as a relief.

The

HONG KONG -- Shares of China Evergrande Group and its property management unit were suspended from trading in Hong Kong on Monday without explanation, possibly signaling a significant development in the fate of the world's most indebted developer.

Evergrande's listed electric vehicle unit, also facing a liquidity crisis, continued to trade, rising 5.3% as of late Monday morning.

Evergrande shares have lost 80% of their value this year and the company has missed payments to banks, suppliers, bondholders and other investors.

TOKYO -- Fumio Kishida, president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and soon to become prime minister, has decided to dissolve the lower house later this month to hold general elections on Oct. 31, Nikkei has learned.

This is a developing news story and will be updated.

SEOUL (Reuters) -- The two Koreas on Monday restored their hotlines that the North severed months ago, with Pyongyang urging Seoul to step up efforts to improve relations after criticizing what it called double standards over weapons development.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his willingness last week to reactivate the hotlines, which North Korea cut off in early August in protest against joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises, just days after reopening them for the first time in a year.

Pyongyang's official KCNA news

SEOUL (Reuters) -- North Korea said on Monday it will restore severed inter-Korean hotlines starting Monday but urged South Korea to step up efforts to improve relations, state media KCNA reported.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his willingness last week to reactivate the hotlines, which North Korea cut off in early August in protest against joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises, just days after reopening them for the first time in a year.

The official KCNA news agency said the lines will be reconnected

NEW YORK -- Faced with growing competition from tech companies like Apple and PayPal Holdings, JPMorgan Chase is spending an annual $12 billion on technology to gain an edge, and Asia is at the core of its innovation strategy.

In an interview with Nikkei, Global Chief Information Officer Lori Beer emphasized the region's role in the bank's tech plans.

"There's a lot of innovation, especially when you think about banking and consumer and expectations, in Asia overall. We watch the trends that

NAGANO, Japan -- A new seedless grape grown in Nagano Prefecture has joined Japan's club of premium produce this year, with shipments of the long-anticipated Queen Rouge kicking into full gear in late September.

About 850 kg of field-grown Queen Rouge grapes left a warehouse in the city of Nakano last Monday. The shipment was headed to destinations in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.

"We've been working on a premium red-skinned grape variety for a long time, so I hope