Texas' State Board of Education rejected a plan to create an expert panel to identify factual errors in history and geography textbooks.
An 8-7 vote Wednesday shot down a proposal to have a panel of college professors read the books specifically searching for errors.
The vote followed a year of controversy regarding the books' interpretations of Islamic history, the Ten Commandments, the Civil War and global warming. There was also an inaccurate reference to African slaves transported to North America as "workers" brought to the board's attention by the mother of a ninth-grade Houston student, provoked a national dispute.
Texas shoots down plan for experts to fact-check textbooks
Obama's drone war a 'recruitment tool' for Isis, say US air force whistleblowers
Four former US air force service members, with more than 20 years of experience between them operating military drones, have written an open letter to Barack Obama warning that the program of targeted killings by unmanned aircraft has become a major driving force for Isis and other terrorist groups.
The group of servicemen have issued an impassioned plea to the Obama administration, calling for a rethink of a military tactic that they say has “fueled the feelings of hatred that ignited terrorism and groups like Isis, while also serving as a fundamental recruitment tool similar to Guantánamo Bay”.
Anonymous says it took down 5,550 Islamic State Twitter accounts
Hacker group Anonymous said it has taken down 5,500 Twitter accounts linked to the Islamic State days after declaring war on the militant group.
The loose collective of hackers said "OpParis," or Operation Paris, the team that launched the digital assault on the IS, is collecting the details from the accounts, verifying them through a "trusted individual" and will be turning over the information to authorities.
Hundreds of thousands of Texas women attempted self-induced abortion – study
Between 100,000 and 240,000 women in Texas aged 18 to 49 have tried to induce an abortion at home, according to a new study released on Tuesday.
In the first study of its kind, the Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP), run by the University of Texas, attempted to show the prevalence of self-induced abortions in the state in the wake of legislators’ attempts to limit women’s access to abortions. Last week the supreme court agreed to hear a challenge to one of Texas’s most stringent abortion laws, known as HB2, which has led to the closure of more than half the state’s clinics.
Multiple cups of coffee a day linked to lower risk of death
For years, studies have cautiously shown that moderate amounts of coffee can be beneficial for brain and liver health, as well as reduce the risk for several types of cancer.
Researchers have now linked three to five cups of coffee per day to an overall lower risk of death, according to a new review of data on more than 200,000 health professionals.
Israel outlaws Islamic group accused of inciting violence
Israel on Tuesday outlawed an Islamist group accused of inciting violence among Arab citizens amid a two-month wave of unrest, and in a separate development approved the construction of hundreds of homes in a Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem.
The decision to ban the group threatened to worsen already strained relations with the country's Arab minority and was condemned by Arab leaders. The granting of final approval for the construction of more than 400 homes in east Jerusalem was likely to anger the Palestinians.
U.S. Police-related deaths pass 1,000, terror fatalities remain below 10
In the aftermath of last week's terrorist attacks in France, the United States of America on Sunday reached a deadly milestone in a different crisis. With a little over a month to go in 2015, a thousand people have already died in police-related incidents so far this year, according to a tally run by Britain's The Guardian newspaper.
U.S. citizens killed by police this year are being tallied and represented in an interactive web exhibit created by the news outlet, called "The Counted."
Paris attacks: The West’s fatal misunderstanding of Islamic State
The horrendous attacks on Paris have an eerie resemblance to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, in that they seem to have caught everyone off guard.
Until perhaps Friday, the main perception among Western intelligence agencies and Washington policymakers has been that Islamic State poses “no immediate threat” to the United States or the West.
“Unlike Al Qaeda, ISIS is more interested in establishing a Caliphate and not so interested in attacking the West,” a retired CIA officer explained during a closed meeting at one of Washington’s think tanks. He was echoing a common sentiment, and insisted that “Al Qaeda remains the main threat.” Even U.S. President Barack Obama recently said with confidence that Islamic State was being “contained.”
Hacker group Anonymous declares war on Islamic State
The hacker organization Anonymous on Monday declared itself at war with the Islamic State over attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people.
In an unverified video posted on YouTube, an Anonymous spokesman, speaking French and wearing the group's signature Guy Fawkes mask, threatened IS -- also identified as Daesh, ISIS and ISIL.
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