Catalan leaders defy Spanish government on independence vote

Regional leaders in Catalonia have moved to defy the central government in Madrid and go ahead with a ballot on independence even though Spain's constitutional court has ordered the vote suspended.

While the pro-independence Catalan government tried to flex its muscles, most of the opposition to the vote - both regional and national - rallied around conservative prime minister Mariano Rajoy and his efforts to crush the planned October 1 ballot.