Spain PM Sanchez says he is suspending public duties to "reflect" on future

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said he will suspend public duties to "stop and reflect" on whether he wants to continue in frontline politics, in a letter shared on his X social media acccount. "I urgently need an answer to the question of whether it is worthwhile (...) whether I should continue to lead the government or renounce this honour," he said in the letter.

The shock announcement came after a Spanish court said earlier on Wednesday it was launching a preliminary investigation into whether Sanchez's wife Begona Gomez committed a crime of influence peddling and corruption in business in her private dealings.