FBI broke rules on Jan. 6 riot, racial justice protests, court says

WASHINGTON - FBI officials repeatedly violated their own standards when they searched a vast repository of foreign intelligence for information related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and racial justice protests in 2020, according to a heavily blacked-out court order released Friday.

FBI officials said the thousands of violations, which also include improper searches of donors to a congressional campaign, predated a series of corrective measures that started in the summer of 2021 and continued last year. But the problems could nonetheless complicate FBI and Justice Department efforts to receive congressional reauthorization of a warrantless surveillance program that law enforcement officials say is needed to counter terrorism, espionage and international cybercrime.

Pentagon leak suspect to remain jailed as he awaits trial

A Massachusetts Air National Guard member charged with leaking highly classified military documents will remain behind bars while he awaits trial, a federal magistrate judge ruled Friday.

The ruling comes after prosecutors revealed that 21-year-old Jack Teixeira had a history of violent rhetoric, and was caught by superiors months before his arrest taking notes on classified information or viewing intelligence not related to his job.

In ordering Teixeira to remain locked up, U.S. Magistrate Judge David Hennessy cited his “fascination with guns,” disturbing online statements and prior admonitions by superiors about his handling of sensitive information. He said the criminal case represented “a profound breach of the defendant’s word that he would protect information related to the security of the United States.”

Republican Sen. Tim Scott running for president

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina made it official Friday: He’s running for president.

Scott, the Senate’s only Black Republican, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission declaring his intention to seek his party’s nomination in 2024. His candidacy will test whether a more optimistic vision of America’s future can resonate with GOP voters who have elevated partisan brawlers in recent years.

The deeply religious 57-year-old former insurance broker has made his grandfather’s work in the cotton fields of the Deep South a bedrock of his political identity. Yet he rejects the notion that racism remains a powerful force in society, and he has cast his candidacy and rise from generational poverty as the realization of a dream only possible in America.

NASA picks Bezos’ Blue Origin to build lunar landers for moonwalkers

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Jeff Bezos’ rocket company has won a NASA contract to land astronauts on the moon, two years after it lost out to SpaceX.

Blue Origin received a $3.4 billion contract Friday to lead a team to develop a lunar lander named Blue Moon. It will be used to transport astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2029, following a pair of crew landings by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

NASA will get astronauts to lunar orbit using its own rockets and capsules, but wants private companies to take over from there.

Target recalls nearly 5 million Threshold candles

WASHINGTON - Target is recalling almost 5 million candles over laceration and burn hazards, according to a Thursday notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recall impacts some 4.9 million Threshold-branded glass jar candles sold in multiple sizes and various scents - including water mint and eucalyptus, apple blossom and breeze and warm cider and cinnamon, among others.

According to the CPSC notice, Target received 137 reports of the Threshold candles’ jars breaking or cracking during use. Six injuries - which included lacerations and severe burns - were reported.

- Associated Press