Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 28 Oct 2015

1. US to shift strategy against IS as Iran joins talks

The US has announced a shift in strategy in its fight against Islamic State in Syria. US defence secretary Ash Carter said there would be a change to air strikes against "high-value targets" and that US troops would carry out direct ground raids. Meanwhile, Iran is to attend multilateral talks on finding a political solution to the conflict in Syria in Vienna this week.

US and Russia spar over vetoed Syria sanctions

2. David Cameron pushes for EU reform in Iceland

David Cameron will today continue pushing EU leaders for reform as he attends a meeting of the Northern Future Forum in Iceland. The forum includes EU and non-EU states. Some Eurosceptics look to forum member Norway as a model for a UK outside the EU but Cameron told MPs that the relationship would not work for the UK.

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Remain-voting City lobby group calls for 'dramatic Brexit U-turn'

3. Duncan Smith calls for job advisers at food banks

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has called for job advisers to be placed in food banks around the country after a trial in Manchester. The Trussell Trust, which runs food banks, says they were used one million times in the last year. The advisers would be on hand to offer users guidance on how to receive welfare payments and find work.

4. Canada capsize: passengers 'on same side'

Investigators working out why a Canadian whale watching boat overturned on Sunday, killing at least five, say the position of passengers and crew played a part. Most people on board were standing on one side of the top deck, raising the centre of gravity, when a freak wave struck. None of the dead were wearing life jackets.

5. Triple heart bypass for comic Bob Mortimer

Comedian Bob Mortimer, one half of Vic and Bob, has undergone a triple heart bypass operation. A spokesman said the first part of an upcoming UK tour will have to be cancelled while Mortimer recovers. It is hoped shows in the new year will still go ahead. The absurdist comedians are celebrating 25 years as a double act.

6. Madeleine McCann investigation scaled back

The number of Metropolitan Police officers investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been cut from 29 to just four, Scotland Yard has announced. The force saif it was now following a "small number of focused lines of inquiry". The three-year-old vanished while on holiday in Portugal in 2007 and the Met began a review of evidence in 2011.

7. Blatter: US was supposed to host 2022 World Cup

Suspended Fifa president Sepp Blatter has claimed he is the victim of a campaign orchestrated by Michel Platini and Uefa to oust him from power. In an interview in Russia the 78-year-old Swiss also claimed that Platini and then French president Nicolas Sarkozy torpedoed a deal to give the 2022 World Cup to the US, and instead persuaded delegates to vote for Qatar.

Michel Platini will resign at Uefa's next congress

8. Corbyn presses Cameron on tax credits at PMQs

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn pressed David Cameron over tax credits in combative exchanges during Prime Minister's Questions. In a departure from his previous appearances at PMQs Corbyn focused on a single issue and demanded a guarantee that no-one would be worse off in April because of tax credit cuts. Cameron said he would have to wait for the Chancellor's Autumn Statement.

Jeremy Corbyn is a 'disaster', says Stephen Hawking

9. Jailed Briton to be freed by Saudi Arabia

A 74-year-old British man who was jailed and sentenced to 360 lashes in Saudi Arabia after being caught in possession of homemade wine is to be released, says Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who is on a visit to the Arab country. The case of Karl Andree had created tensions between Britain and Saudi Arabia and had been raised by Prime Minister David Cameron.

10. Briefing: minister promise to raise 'tampon tax' in Brussels

Ministers have promised to lobby Brussels over the so-called tampon tax in order to avoid a rebellion in the House of Commons. Women in the UK are currently forced to pay a 5 per cent levy on tampons and other sanitary products because they are regarded as "non-essential luxury items" under EU tax laws. Eleven eurosceptic Tories had joined Labour and other opposition parties to demand government action to lift the tax.

Tampon tax: ministers promise to raise issue in Brussels