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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.

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       Czechs have started voting for a new president, with populist billionaire Andrej Babis leading a field of eight candidates in a two-day election to succeed Milos Zeman in the largely ceremonial post.

       Babis, a former prime minister, was acquitted this week in a fraud trial, which boosts his chances of winning in the first round of the presidential election which will run Friday and Saturday.

       If no candidate achieves a majority, as polls have indicated, the top two finishers will face each other in a runoff in two weeks’ time.

       Retired army General Petr Pavel, a former chairman of NATO’s military committee and former university rector and economist Danuse Nerudova, are Babis’ main challengers.

       The two political newcomers fully endorsed the country’s military and humanitarian support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia and see the Czech Republic’s future linked to its membership in the EU and NATO.

       Czech voters head to the polls to choose their next president Czechs start voting in the first round of presidential elections Former PM Andrej Babis cleared of fraud by Czech court

       Polls indicate that none of the remaining candidates are likely to make the runoff.

       They include Pavel Fischer, a former diplomat and adviser to former president Vaclav Havel, and Jaroslav Basta, a lawmaker for the country’s major anti-migrant force, the Freedom and Direct Democracy party.

       The current five-party ruling coalition endorsed Pavel, Nerudova and Fischer, who ran as independent candidates.

       Babis, whose centrist ANO (YES) movement ended up in opposition after losing the 2021 general election, is supported by his Zeman, with whom he shares euroskeptic views and is partial to using anti-migrant rhetoric.

       “We think that a different candidate than anyone supported by the government should be elected," Babis said.