Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 15 Oct 2015

1. US troops to tackle Boko Haram in Cameroon

Barack Obama has revealed the US has deployed troops to Cameroon to help fight the terror group Boko Haram. The force, which will eventually total 300 troops, will provide intelligence and reconnaissance and will remain in country until “no longer needed”, the president said. Boko Haram is also active in Nigeria.

2. Osborne’s charter passes, with 21 Labour rebels

The Commons yesterday voted in George Osborne’s fiscal charter, which will force future governments to run a budget surplus, by 320 to 258. No Labour MPs voted in favour of the measures but 21 rebelled against a three-line whip and abstained, rather than voting against, in the biggest challenge yet to Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

How did Osborne's fiscal charter put Labour in such a mess?

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3. First selective state school in 50 years to open

The department of education has given the go-ahead for the first new selective state school in the UK for 50 years, despite legal and political opposition. The grammar school, to open in Sevenoaks, Kent, will be an expansion of an existing secondary school. Labour was quick to warn selective schools would damage social mobility.

Pros and cons of creating new grammar schools

4. Three-quarters of NHS hospital trusts are failing

Three-quarters of NHS hopsital trusts in England are 'inadequate' or 'requiring improvement' according to the first set of Ofsted-style official rankings, issued by the Care Quality Commission. It rated 98 hospital trusts – two thirds of those across the country – and gave just two trusts the top ranking of 'outstanding'. Ten were deemed 'inadequte'.

NHS watchdog: three in four hospitals are failing

5. Violence continues in Jerusalem

Violence has continued in Jerusalem after new checkpoints were set up in Arab areas of the city with at two Palestinians shot dead by police after attacking Israelis. Since the start of the month seven Israelis have been killed and dozens wounded in attacks and at least 30 Palestinians have died and hundreds injured. Police have sealed off the district of district of Jabal Mukaber.

Ban Ki-moon holds talks in Jerusalem amid ongoing violence

6. Tesla: autopilot will ‘hopefully’ not hit pedestrians

Electric car manufacturer Tesla has launched a software update for its vehicles which includes an autopilot to "automatically steer down the highway, change lanes, and adjust speed in response to traffic". The company has urged caution, however, with billionaire owner Elon Musk saying: “It should not hit pedestrians, hopefully.”

7. Pistorius set for house arrest next week

Oscar Pistorius, jailed for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, is to be freed from prison to house arrest next Tuesday, says the South African parole board. The athlete was sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 after being found guilty of culpable homicide. An appeal by the prosecution, which says he should have been convicted of murder, is to be heard next month.

Oscar Pistorius out of legal options as request to appeal rejected

8. Bridge 'not a sport' says High Court

The High Court has ruled that card game bridge is not a sport. The English Bridge Union had challenged a decision from Sport England not to reclassify bridge as a sport, which would have made it eligible for government and lottery funding. Judges said bridge could not be a sport as there was no physical activity. However, the game could yet appear at the 2020 Olympics.

9. No second Scottish referendum... yet

Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the SNP, has said that a second independence referendum is not "inevitable" despite the party's "thumping win" in the general election earlier this year. She opened the SNP conference in Aberdeen by calling on those who voted against independence to support the SNP and said the party would govern in the best interests of Scotland.

Scottish independence: Is IndyRef2 'dead' after election losses?

10. Briefing: what the MH17 report has revealed

Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine by a Russian-built missile according to the final report of the Dutch Safety Board. Its findings come 15 months after the plane came down, killing all 298 people on board. The investigation aimed to answer four key questions: what caused the plane to disintegrate in mid-air? Why was it flying over the conflict zone? To what extent were those on board aware of what was happening? And why the identification of the bodies was delayed?

Missile that downed MH17 came from Russia, investigation rules