Climate activists occupy giant digger at German coal mine

BERLIN (AP) — Climate activists have occupied a giant digger at a coal mine in western Germany to protest the destruction of a nearby village for the expansion of a separate mine. Energy company RWE told German news agency dpa that four people boarded the digger early Monday. Operations at the Hambach mine have been paused. The company said police have been informed of the incident. Anti-coal group Ende Gelaende wrote on Mastodon that a second group of activists had climbed onto a bridge to block access to Luetzerath. The village has become a flashpoint of protests in the past week. Thousands of people demonstrated Saturday against the razing of the village by RWE for the expansion of the Garzweiler coal mine north of Hambach.