The great state of Texas is famous for its cowboys, its Southern hospitality, its oil - and, within the United States, for the power it wields over the country's school textbooks.

Because of its size, Texas is the country's second-largest purchaser of textbooks - meaning that publishers, ever in pursuit of the largest possible markets, are under pressure to ensure they win approval from Texas State Board of Education (SBOE).

But this body has long been criticised as partisan, with SBOE members accused of trying to stamp their political and religious views on the school curriculum.

Dan Quinn, communications director at the Texas Freedom Network, an advocacy group that supports religious freedom, told Al Jazeera that the SBOE was bringing a far-right bias to Texas classrooms. "Social conservatives began a concerted effort to take control of the state board of education in the early 1990s," he said. "As that faction's power on the board has increased, so has its influence over the process of adopting state curriculum standards and textbooks that must be based on those standards."

He added: "The board's far-right bloc rejects separation of church and state, opposes teaching students responsible sex education, demands that biology textbooks include creationist arguments against evolution, dismisses concerns about climate change and other environmental problems, and promotes fear and ignorance regarding religious minorities in this country."

The teaching of evolution is perhaps the biggest lightning rod for debate. A recent discussion over which books should be used resulted in a delay in the approval of certain biology textbooks because of one board member's concerns with their treatment of evolution.

READ MORE: The great Texas textbook debate

Ramallah - An Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip has killed three Palestinians who were associated with Islamic Jihad, the group said.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on Tuesday's attack, which Islamic Jihad said in a statement targeted its members as they "resisted an Israeli military incursion" into Rafah, a town bordering Egypt.

The attack comes after a Palestinian man died following a car chase with Israeli police near Tulkarem in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, Palestinian sources said on Tuesday.

Another Palestinian, a 20-year-old student, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers near Ramallah on Monday night, the Israeli military confirmed.

Fida Majadleh was killed after his car veered off the road near Jbara checkpoint, south of Tulkarem, during the chase, according to [Arabic] Tulkarem Governor Abdullah Kamil.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army, but the police described the incident as a traffic accident, and said Majadleh's car, which was stolen from Israel, hit another vehicle.

Late on Monday night, 20-year-old Saji Darwish, a second year student at Birzeit University, was shot near Ramallah. Clashes following his death left five Palestinians wounded.

The Israeli army said he was part of a group of Palestinians throwing stones at settler cars between the villages of Beiten and Deir Debwan, just outside of Ramallah.

READ MORE: Israeli airstrike kills fighters in Gaza

A NATO air raid in eastern Afghanistan has accidentally killed five Afghan soldiers, officials say.

NATO offered its condolences for Thursday's deaths and pledged action to avoid further mistakes, but President Hamid Karzai has often seized on botched raids to launch bitter criticism of the international military effort in Afghanistan.

"At 3:30am this morning, due to a NATO air strike in Charkh district, Logar province, five service members of the Afghan national army were martyred and eight others were wounded," Zahir Azimi, Afghanistan's Defence Ministry spokesman, said on his Twitter account.

Khalilullah Kamal, Charkh district governor, told AFP news agency he had visited the site of the attack, which he said was from a US drone.

"The post is totally destroyed," he said. "The Americans used to be in that post but since they left, the ANA [Afghan national army] took over. The post is on a hilltop. The attack was conducted by drones."

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) issued a statement confirming that at least five Afghan soldiers had been killed accidentally.

"An investigation is being conducted at this time to determine the circumstances that led to this unfortunate incident," it said.

"Our condolences go out to the families of the ANA soldiers who lost their lives and were wounded ... we will determine what actions will be taken to ensure incidents like this do not happen again."

An ISAF source told Reuters news agency that the soldiers were bombed because they were mistaken for insurgents.

"The aircraft engaged suspected insurgents on a ridge overlooking Nawer village," the source said, adding that the victims were later identified as soldiers.

READ MORE: NATO air raid kills Afghan soldiers

A senior US senator has accused the CIA of criminal activity in improperly searching a computer network set up for lawmakers investigating allegations of torture.

Democrat Dianne Feinstein, in an extraordinary speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, publicly aired an intense but formerly quiet dispute between Congress and the spy agency.

The criticism by Feinstein is particularly biting because she has been one of the main defenders of intelligence agencies at a time when they have been sharply criticised at home and abroad following revelations about mass surveillance programmes.

CIA Director John Brennan, asked about Feinstein's accusations, said the agency was not trying to stop the committee's report and that it had not hacked into Senate computers, the Associated Press reported.

He said the appropriate authorities would look at the matter further and "I defer to them to determine whether or not there was any violation of law or principle".

READ MORE: US senator: CIA searched Senate computers

Government guidance intended to increase availability of banking services, such as savings accounts, to marijuana shops.

The Obama administration has sought to lessen the fear of prosecution for banks doing business with licensed marijuana companies, further encouraging US states such as Colorado and Washington that are experimenting with legalising the drug.

The Justice and Treasury departments outlined the policy in writing to federal prosecutors and financial institutions nationwide, the Reuters news agency reported.

The guidance stopped short of promising immunity for banks, but made clear that criminal prosecution for money laundering and other crimes was unlikely if they met a series of conditions, officials said.

Currently, processing money from marijuana sales puts federally insured banks at risk of drug racketeering charges, and they therefore refuse to open accounts for marijuana-related businesses, the AP news agency reported.

The guidance was intended to increase the availability of banking services, such as savings and checking accounts, to marijuana shops that typically deal in cash.

Last month, Colorado became the first state to open retail outlets legally permitted to sell marijuana to adults for recreational purposes, in a system similar to what many states have long had in place for alcohol sales.

Washington state is expected to follow Colorado's lead.

The number of states approving marijuana for medical purposes has also been growing. California was the first in 1996.

It has since been followed by about 20 other states and the District of Columbia.

READ MORE: US banks free to accept legal marijuana money

A charity chief says banking mirrors drug-dealing but that the difference is you don't get killed working in the City. Jasmine Gardner investigates.

John is a trader whose days are spent watching the markets. He is in his early thirties, married, with children at private school. "The earning potential here is incredible," he says. "Some people are probably making £100,000 a month." But it wasn't always like this. John has been to prison twice. He used to be a drug dealer — selling crack and heroin in the West End.

"I grew up in Brixton. A lot of young black men there haven't got their dads about, and you need a role model. You look to your next socialisation agent —your peers. Mine were drug dealers and bank robbers," he explains.

In order to protect his identity, he is using a pseudonym and won't reveal the name of his company.

An ex-Goldman Sachs trader, who prefers not to be named, described the bank's pay structure as "a pyramid with a fat foundation". During his time, interns made £600 a week. Analysts in their first year can earn £50-£60,000, which can rise to £100,000 in the second and third years including a bonus. A "vice-president" (usually aged around 28) can have a combined salary and bonus of £300,000. After a few moves between banks, by 35 you can be a partner earning £2 million. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein pocketed £7.8 million last year.

READ MORE: Who earns the most — a Goldman Sachs banker or a street drug dealer?