Ex-Governor’s Brother Arrested on Corruption Charges in Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Carlos Mateo Aguirre Rivero, the brother of former Guerrero Gov. Angel Aguirre, and several other individuals were arrested on corruption charges, Mexican Criminal Investigations Agency director Tomas Zeron said.

Investigators “have determined that a group of people, including former public servants in the state of Guerrero,” had state and federal funds deposited in their personal bank accounts, Zeron said.

The suspects, however, did not have any corporate or business relationships with companies that received public works contracts in Guerrero, the federal official said.

“It was determined, moreover, that relatives of the former public servants linked to these illegal transactions served as legal representatives, had power of attorney and were authorized (signers) on bank accounts of the different firms via which the funds were diverted,” Zeron said.

Funds from the Federal Electricity Commission, Banobras, the Federal Treasury, the State Water Commission, the State Public Safety Council and the Guerrero Highway and Airport Infrastructure Commission were diverted and ended up in personal bank accounts.

Some 287 million pesos ($19.16 million) was diverted to the suspects’ personal accounts between January 2012 and September 2014 via the Constructora Travesa, Comercializadora 2003 and Comercializadora Topacio corporations, Zeron said.

The Federal Police arrested the suspects on Tuesday on arrest warrants issued by a federal judge in Mexico state, which surrounds the Federal District and forms part of the Mexico City metropolitan area, Zeron said.

The other suspects under arrest are Luis Angel Aguirre Perez, Paulo Ignacio Hughes Acosta, Mauricio Francisco Hughes Acosta, Alejandro Carlos Hughes Acosta and Jorge Eduardo Hughes Acosta, the federal official said, adding that “other people” were also in custody.

Angel Aguirre, a member of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, stepped down as Guerrero’s governor in October in the wake of the disappearance of 43 education students in the city of Iguala.

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IRAN: Tehran protest halts police action to confiscate satellite dishes

NCRI - A protest erupted in Tehran after Iranian police began removing satellite dishes from the roofs of homes and hurling them into the street below.

Police finally halted the removal of dishes in Iran Street in the Iranian capital on Sunday fearing the protest could spread to other areas of the city.

The police action was part of the latest crackdown on satellite TV by the regime's rulers, who have also used teenage members of the Basij paramilitary force to remove dishes and confiscate satellite equipment in other parts of the country.

A Revolutionary Guards’ website has reported that on the occasion of anniversary of the revolution, a teenage member of Basij collected 10 satellite receivers from the homes of the residents of Ahamad Abad village, in Fars province.

Prior to this, a number of young Basij force members also confiscated equipment in the village of Khosrow Abad.

The Cultural Deputy of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps said on January 29 that over 60 percent of Iranians watch satellite TV channels.

On February 8, Ali Jannati, the minister of Islamic Culture and Guidance, acknowledged that the regime’s efforts to prevent use of satellite TVs have failed.

He said: "Wherever we collected the satellite dishes from rooftops, two days later the dishes were returned. It seems that we only create business for the dish installers."

But he warned: "The enemy is seeking to change the behavior of citizens, particularly youths, in Iran."

IS Publicly Executes Former (Female) Parliamentary Candidate in Iraq

MOSUL, Iraq – The Islamic State, IS, jihadist group on Wednesday shot dead in public a female former candidate in the Iraqi parliamentary elections held last year, according to a local official in the city of Mosul where the killing took place.

The official, who declined to be identified for security reasons, told Efe that Nahla Yunis al-Badrani, who worked as an official in the province of Nineveh, was executed in the center of the provincial capital.

The Sunni jihadist group said it killed her for apostasy, for not complying with the teachings of Islam and for supporting the Iraqi government which it said was “loyal to the West and Iran.”

IS has executed a large number of candidates who took part in the last Iraq legislative elections, including several women.