DEPOSED Catalan President Carles Puigdemont is set to lead a republican council from his exile in Brussels, with Jordi Sànchez, leader of the grassroots Catalan National Assembly (ANC), to be nominated as state president.

The Catalan Parliament has now taken a major step to break the political deadlock, and you can read our full story on that here.

However,  Puigdemont has also recorded a video in English, calling on Catalonia's international allies to come to their aid as they battle against Spain for their right to independence.

You can watch Puigdemont's message in full below.