Tokyo  - The Japanese government on Friday decided to begin a complete withdrawal of its military from Iraq by the end of December, media reports said.

The pullout order was to be announced later in the afternoon as Prime Minister Taro Aso and his cabinet agreed on the withdrawal at a morning meeting.

The government decided to end its airlift assistance because Iraq's political and security situation has improved, the Kyodo News Agency reported, citing government officials.

Tokyo  - Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose in a morning of mixed trading Friday, but its gains were capped by a gloomy economic outlook.

The Nikkei rose 47.7 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 8,421.09, but the broader Topix index of all first-section issues dipped 0.21 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 828.82.

Increases were limited after Japan's home electronics company Panasonic Corp slashed its earnings projections for the current fiscal year, which ends March 31.

Tokyo - Panasonic Corp on Thursday cut its earnings forecast for the current fiscal year on the yen's rise and a slowdown in consumption.

Tokyo- Japanese home electronics company Sharp Corp and Italy's largest power company Enel SpA plan to launch a joint venture to develop a number of photovoltaic power plants by the end of 2012, Sharp said Thursday.

The joint business was expected to start in spring, and it plans to build power plants mainly in southern Italy with a total output capacity of 189 megawatts, using thin-film solar cells, the Japanese company said.

Tokyo - Japan's major carmakers on Thursday announced declines in their October exports.

The nation's leading automaker, Toyota Motor Corp, saw its October exports fall 13.7 per cent from the same month a year earlier while exports at Nissan Motor Co dipped 3.2 per cent and Honda Motor Co's exports fell 0.2 per cent.

Toyota's global car production declined 14.7 per cent to 700,146 units and overseas output also dropped 12.5 per cent to 358,198 units.

Its domestic output sank 17 per cent to 341,948 units, and domestic sales dipped 13.7 per cent to 119,999 units.

Tokyo  - Japan's National Police Agency plans to invite Afghan officers for training in December, it said Thursday.

About 10 Afghan police officers are to visit Japan for about two weeks starting Monday to learn about such things as Japan's crime laboratory techniques and its koban police box system, which places mini-police stations in communities for closer contact with the public.

The Afghan police are to receive lectures on policing, recruiting and fighting narcotics.