News brief

Mexico snubs Spanish king over colonial past. A fight dating back more than five centuries reemerged on Sept. 25 as Mexico’s incoming president defended a decision to not invite the Spanish king to her inauguration after the monarch declined to apologize for colonial-era abuses. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described the snub as “unacceptable” less than a week before Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum’s Oct. 1 swearing-in ceremony. The diplomatic spat could cast a pall over Ms. Sheinbaum’s inauguration in Mexico City, once the seat of Spain’s vast colonial holdings in the Americas after Spanish invaders toppled the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1521.

Mexico’s new female president is walking a crossroads with her nation. Buoyed by the popular economic policies of her predecessor and riding a wave of enthusiasm for women’s rights, she also faces enormous hurdles.