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Group of 11 Climate Activists Glue Themselves to Berlin Motorway

Police officers drag a "Letzte Generation" (Last Generation) activist during a protest against food waste and for an agricultural change to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in Berlin, Germany, February 7, 2022. (Reuters)
Police officers drag a "Letzte Generation" (Last Generation) activist during a protest against food waste and for an agricultural change to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in Berlin, Germany, February 7, 2022. (Reuters)
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Group of 11 Climate Activists Glue Themselves to Berlin Motorway

Police officers drag a "Letzte Generation" (Last Generation) activist during a protest against food waste and for an agricultural change to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in Berlin, Germany, February 7, 2022. (Reuters)
Police officers drag a "Letzte Generation" (Last Generation) activist during a protest against food waste and for an agricultural change to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in Berlin, Germany, February 7, 2022. (Reuters)

Eleven climate activists glued themselves to the asphalt of the German capital's main motorway, causing rush hour traffic jams on Monday, in the latest protest demanding a law against food waste and cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.

Activists from the group "Last Generation", who also placed food on the A100 motorway that had been discarded earlier, previously blocked roads and motorways in Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart on several occasions last week.

A Reuters video showed some frustrated motorists getting out of their cars and pulling activists out of the way by their hoods and backpacks to allow vehicles to pass.

There will be further blockades in other German cities later on Monday, Last Generation said in a statement.

By 1000 GMT, activists had blocked three motorway entrances in three places in Berlin and made one unsuccessful attempt, a police spokesperson said.

So far, 27 activists had taken part in blockades, 11 of whom glued themselves to the asphalt, the spokesperson said.

Police on Monday were verifying the activists' identities and checking if they could be placed in custody, the spokesperson said.

She added she was could not immediately say how many people had been detained since the beginning of the protests. According to information from the group's website, there were 50 people in custody in different German cities by the end of day on Friday.

"By planning to achieve climate neutrality by 2045, the German government breaks its constitutional obligation to protect our lives," activist Carla Hinrichs said in a statement.

"By 2030, we will exceed 1.5 degrees (average rise in global temperatures). The government is not only breaking international law but committing a crime against humanity by deliberately heading for a world hotter by 2, 3, 4 degrees with billions dying of hunger," Hinrichs said.

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Danish Archaeologists Unearth 50 Viking Skeletons

Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA
Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA
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Danish Archaeologists Unearth 50 Viking Skeletons

Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA
Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA

The excavation of a large Viking-era burial site in Denmark has unearthed 50 unusually well-preserved skeletons that archaeologists expect will help shed light on the lives of the Nordic people best known for their seafaring exploits in the Middle Ages.

The skeletons, discovered near Denmark's third-largest city Odense, were kept intact by high water levels and favorable soil conditions that prevented them from decomposing, according to Michael Borre Lundoe, the excavation leader from Museum Odense, Reuters reported.

"Normally when we excavate Viking graves, we'd be lucky if there were two teeth left in the grave besides the grave goods. But here we have the skeletons fully preserved," said Lundoe.

"The skeletons are so amazing. They are so well preserved. There are five fingers, five toes. And that opens up a whole new set of possibilities for discoveries," he said.

Rare artifacts such as knives, glass pearls and brooches dated between year 850 to 970 were also found at the excavation, which began six months ago.

Lundoe said the grave gifts indicate most of the people were part of a small community of farmers, although a woman of higher status was buried with a silver-ornamented knife and a piece of glass which was rare in the Viking Age.

Archaeologists took soil samples to search for pollen to determine which season the person was buried in and what textiles they wore.

An x-ray of a soil block from the site revealed an oval brooch, an iconic Viking Age jewelry piece associated with women's garments, covered with wood and human remains.

On the back of another brooch with period-specific ornaments, mineralized woven textile fragments provided evidence of the type of dress worn in the Viking Age, the archaeologists said.

Most of the skeletons have been removed from the graves and packed in cardboard boxes at the museum to dry out before the examination and final cleaning.