内容摘要：and Serbia’s universities, claiming without proof that they were

and Serbia’s universities, claiming without proof that they were

After dangling the promises of an endorsement for days, Mentzen on Wednesday afternoon said he wouldn’t offer one to either candidate. “Vote as your conscience tells you,” he told his supporters.MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexicans will vote in the country’s first judicial elections Sunday. The fiercely debated question is whether electing judges will deepen democratic decay or purge courts of rampant corruption and impunity.

The vote comes as power inhas been increasingly concentrated in the popular president’s office, and as organized crime wields significant political influence in many parts of the country. Critics worry that electing judges will weaken checks and balances on government and stack the courts in favor of the ruling party.Judges and court staff previously earned their positions through merit and experience. Now the election has more than 7,700 candidates vying for more than 2,600 judicial positions, including on

. Hundreds more positions will be elected in 2027.“We’ve never seen something like this before. What Mexico is doing is like an experiment, and we don’t know what the outcome of it will be,” said Carin Zissis, director of the Council of the Americas’ Washington office.

A supporter of Lenia Batres, who is running for election for the Mexican Supreme Court, holds an instruction sheet on how to vote, during her closing campaign rally in Mexico City, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A supporter of Lenia Batres, who is running for election for the Mexican Supreme Court, holds an instruction sheet on how to vote, during her closing campaign rally in Mexico City, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)London-based design editor Cara Gibbs, meanwhile, has noticed the free-wheeling use of paint.

“I feel like it used to be wacky to paint a room pink from top to bottom, but now the application of these bright, poppy palettes is chic, interesting and most importantly very livable. I’m here for it!” she says.So is Massachusetts designer Nicole Hirsch. She’s put a zingy green — she calls it “alligator” — on a bathroom ceiling. Tangerine on a playroom ceiling. Cobalt blue, lipstick pink and chrome yellow add lively punches on furnishings.

In her own California home, designer Alison Pickart has the kind of roomy closet that storage-challenged homeowners would envy. But she saw value in a different use.“It was a hall closet, but with its generous size and great natural light from a back window, I just felt like the space could be ‘more,’” she says.