US President Barack Obama is set to outline his plan to start bringing US troops home from Afghanistan. He’s expected to announce later this morning that 10,000 troops will be withdrawn by the end of the year. They are part of an extra 30,000 troops sent to Afghanistan in 2010. The Afghan government is welcoming the move. 

 

The British fashion designer John Galliano has gone on trial in Paris for making racial slurs. Prosecutors say Galliano hurled anti-Semitic comments at customers in a Paris café on several occasions. Dior sacked him as its creative director over those allegations. Galliano says he is addicted to drugs and alcohol and doesn’t remember making the comments. 

 

Chinese authorities have released outspoken artist Ai Weiwei. He was arrested two months ago during a government crackdown on activists. A Chinese news agency says Weiwei was granted bail after confessing to tax evasion. His family has rejected the charges. 

 

And Western Australian author Kim Scott has won this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award for his novel The(口误，应为That) Deadman Dance. The book tells the story of the early contact between a group of Aborigines and European settlers. It’s the second time Scott has won the award.