Midday Roundup: Teacher arrested for helping California convicts escape

Inside job. Police have arrested five people in connection with last weekend’s escape from the Central Men’s Jail in southern California. Investigators believe the three violent escapees—who are still at large—had help from outside the prison. One of those arrested, Nooshafarin Ravaghi, is a children’s book author who taught inside the jail. Police believe she had some kind of relationship with the prison break mastermind, Hossein Nayeri. Both grew up in Iran and had shared similar experiences. Ravaghi has admitted to giving the men maps and aerial photographs, but denied providing tools to aid in the escape. In addition to Ravaghi, the investigation has focused on a Vietnamese gang active in the Orange County area. Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchins admitted it took too long to discover the inmates were missing—nearly 16 hours. Until now, the jail counted prisoners only twice a day. Maximum security prisons count three or four times a day. More than 250 police officers continue to search for the escapees. The reward for information leading to their capture has grown to $200,000.

Dueling accounts. The FBI has released video footage showing the shooting of a man who occupied an Oregon wildlife refuge for nearly a month. Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, a 54-year-old Arizona rancher, was one of about a dozen people who took over the federal facility demanding land rights for ranchers and loggers. An FBI agent shot and killed him Tuesday during a traffic stop. Officials say the video shows Finicum reaching into his jacket, allegedly for a gun, when he was shot. But the footage, taken from the air, is grainy and hard to decipher. A lawyer representing Finicum’s family claims he did not pose any threat. Several witnesses at the scene say he had his hands in the air at the time.

Always watching. New documents released by former National Security Agency security analyst Edward Snowden reveal a widely accepted and diplomatically awkward aspect of U.S. policy: America has a systematic strategy for spying on both its friends and its enemies. The latest revelation from the Snowden files, published by The Independent and the German newspaper Der Spiegel, focuses on a joint U.S.-British effort to spy on Israeli drones. U.S. and British agents hacked into the electronic feeds for drones and fighter jets, stealing data and even images, to keep track of developments in the Middle East. Israeli officials didn’t seem surprised, telling reporters they are well-aware the U.S. keeps an eye on everyone, even its closest allies. But they do plan to change the encryption tool they use on the drone feeds, just to keep up the pretense of secrecy.

Dialing back. The U.S. economy ended last year with a whimper, according to government data released today. The gross domestic product increased at just 0.7 percent, with growth slowed by lower oil prices and unseasonably warm weather cutting into consumer spending on utilities. But the slow-down wasn’t unexpected, and economists note the economy rebounded at the beginning of last year after a similarly disappointing end to 2014. The economic stutter could have an effect on interest rates, with the U.S. central bank likely to consider holding off on another interest rate hike until June.

Security breach. Hundreds of guns, badges, credentials, and cell phones have gone missing at the Department of Homeland Security since 2012, according to a DHS inventory report obtained by online news site Complete Colorado under a Freedom of Information Act request. The report shows more than 1,000 badges, 165 guns, and nearly 600 cell phones have vanished, posing a serious security risk. The missing badges and credentials could be used to gain access to restricted areas such as airport baggage facilities. Most of the missing guns and credentials were issued to employees of Customs and Border Protection.

WORLD Radio’s Kristen Eicher and Paul Butler contributed to this report.