The Trump administration also banned

in the Yucatan Peninsula.Barely a month later, it also struck down a bill Lopez Obrador backed that would have slashed the funding of the country's

In response, Lopez Obrador criticised the judicial system for serving the interests of the political and economic elites.Daniela Arias, a coordinator for the pro-democracy think tank Laboratorio Electoral, remembers Lopez Obrador railing against the judges at his daily news briefings.“The president's questions in his morning press conferences were: What legitimacy do these [judges] have, versus what the people decided at the polls? Why are they holding up my projects?” Arias said.

With less than a month left in his presidency, Lopez Obrador decided to do something about his complaints. He pushed forward with hislong-desired reforms

to the judiciary — including the imposition of mandatory elections.

But the changes required a constitutional amendment. Still, Lopez Obrador was head of the Morena party, the most powerful force in contemporary Mexican politics.Afghanistan has welcomed an upgrade in its diplomatic ties with Pakistan, signalling an easing of tensions between the South Asian neighbours.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday said the charge d’affaires stationed in the Afghan capital, Kabul,to the rank of ambassador, with Afghanistan’s Taliban government later announcing its representative in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, would also be upgraded.

A charge d’affaires serves as an embassy’s chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador.“This elevation in diplomatic representation between Afghanistan [and] Pakistan paves the way for enhanced bilateral cooperation in multiple domains,” the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on X on Saturday.