Spanish court suspends Puigdemont's return to power in

Spain's constitutional court today announced it was blocking Catalonia's ousted separatist leader Carles Puigdemont from returning to power in the region while he remains the subject of legal action.
The court said in a statement that its 12 magistrates had decided unanimously "to provisionally suspend the investiture of Puigdemont unless he appears in the (regional) parliament in person with prior judicial authorisation".
Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium after the Catalan parliament declared independence in October, was earlier this week chosen as candidate to lead Catalonia again, with the regional parliament set to vote on the issue on Tuesday.