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       A vast storm system that spawned at least one tornado has swept across the southern US killing at least seven people.

       The destructive force of the swirling air mass smashed rural communities around Selma, Alabama.

       Dozens of homes and businesses in the city associated with the civil rights movement were reduced to ruins.

       Six of the deaths were recorded in Autauga County, northeast of Selma, where an estimated 40 homes were damaged or destroyed by a tornado that cut a 32 km path across two rural communities.

       As residents returned to their homes to assess the damage, emergency services were searching for people possibly trapped under collapsed buildings.

       Storm systems like these are unusual in winter. It follows extreme cold weather which has affected tens of millions across the US in recent weeks.

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       Two climate activists are still holding out in tunnels under the condemned hamlet of Luetzerath in Germany, which is due to be demolished in order to expand a nearby coal mine.

       Protesters have occupied the abandoned village in an attempt to stall the plans, arguing that the mine's expansion would increase CO2 emissions and damage Germany's international commitments.

       Activists have installed themselves in hard-to-reach places, often off the ground, with police taking many hours to get to some people.

       The utility company RWE says it needs the coal beneath the hamlet to ensure Germany's energy security, after cuts in gas supplies from Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.

       In return for expansion, RWE says it will close the mine in 2030, eight years earlier than planned.

       It's not clear how many activists remain in Luetzerath, however, according to police 300 people left the site voluntarily on Thursday.

       Click on the video above to see more.

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       Germany is about to drop the last of its restrictions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.

       The German health minister has announced that as of February 2, masks will no longer be required on long-distance trains and buses.

       The regulation was to have been in force until April 7, but the government has decided that it is no longer necessary, as the pandemic situation has subsided.

       However, authorities are encouraging vulnerable people to continue to wear masks when indoors and on public transport, on a voluntary basis and out of personal responsibility.

       Germany is one of the last European countries where it's obligatory to wear masks on long-distance public transport.