Last activists leave hamlet at heart of German coal protest

By FRANK JORDANS
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — The last two climate activists holed up beneath a German village due to be destroyed for the expansion of a nearby coal mine left the site on Monday. The activists — nicknamed “Pinky” and “Brain” — had remained inside a self-dug tunnel for days in a bid to prevent heavy equipment from being brought in to bulldoze the hamlet of Luetzerath. Meanwhile, anti-coal protests continued in the region, with eight activists chaining themselves to a giant digger at another nearby mine and others abseiling from a bridge to block access to Luetzerath. Both of those protests ended after several hours. Activists have cited the symbolic importance of Luetzerath for years, and thousands of people demonstrated Saturday against the razing of the village.