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Climate activists break through police line at German lignite mine

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Aachen, Germany: Climate activists broke through a police line and ran across a field into the Garzweiler lignite mine in western Germany as part of a protest against coal mining and demanding action against climate change.


Police would not immediately give an estimate of how many had crossed the line. A dpa reporter on the scene said activists were facing off against police at the edge of the mine.


Some 1,600 demonstrators began a march early Saturday from Keyenberg to Jackerath on the southern edge of the mine. They included students of the “Fridays for Future” protests against climate change, but also families and older protesters.


The demonstrations were organized by the so-called “Ende Gelaende” group, which describes itself as a civil disobedience protest movement to limit global warming through fossil fuel phase-out. “Ende Gelaende” translates roughly to “time is up.”


Some 2,500 people had been expected to participate in the protest, which was to include non-violent acts of civil disobedience to halt operations at the mine, which is Germany’s largest and belongs to energy giant RWE.


Another 3,000-strong rally, which will include speeches, was scheduled to take place later.


Since late Friday, some 800 protesters have been blocking train tracks in the region that usually serve as a coal transport route to the Neurath lignite-fired power plant. The “Fridays for Future” protest network is driven largely by schoolchildren and led by Sweden’s Greta Thunberg. Her weekly protest outside parliament in Stockholm culminated in a May 24 global schoolstrike that was staged in 131 countries. — DPA


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