Hungary and Poland on Monday blocked the adoption of the 2021-2027 budget and recovery fund by European Union governments because the budget law included a clause which makes access to money conditional on respecting the rule of law.

A Polish cardinal who was accused of sexually abusing a minor has died at the age of 97, Poland's Roman Catholic Church said on Monday.

Poland reported a record high 548 new coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, the health ministry said, taking the country's total above 10,000.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has sent a letter to European Union institutions suggesting Poland would veto its 2021-2027 budget if access to EU funds is made conditional on governments respecting the rule of law.

Poland reported a record 27,875 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the total number of reported cases over 500,000 as new restrictions came into force to curb the pandemic's spread.

Warsaw's mayor has called off an annual Independence Day march scheduled for Nov. 11 amidst a rise in coronavirus cases in Poland and protests over abortion rights that have flouted government restrictions.

Poland reported a record 445 new coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, the health ministry said, as the healthcare system is facing shortages in hospital beds, equipment and medics.

Poland reported a record 27143 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, approaching a threshold at which the government has said it could be forced to impose a nationwide lockdown.

Poland announced further restrictions on Wednesday to halt the spread of the coronavirus and said it would impose a full national lockdown if COVID-19 cases continue to surge.

Poland's decision to ban most abortions in the face of mass protest is emboldening like-minded neighbours, campaigners say, predicting a retreat on women's rights across eastern Europe.

The Vatican has ordered an investigation into the former archbishop of Gdansk on suspicion of negligence over sex abuse allegations, a month after the pope accepted the resignation of a bishop accused of shielding sexually abusive priests.

Poles staged further protests in cities across the country on Monday ahead of the expected entry into force of a ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal that bans most abortions and that has prompted nearly two weeks of demonstrations and rallies.

As Poland's abortion protests continue into a second week, their top organiser, Marta Lempart, says she is grateful for a clear role model to the East - Belarus' opposition movement.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Monday called on people protesting against the court ruling effectively banning nearly all abortion in Poland to engage in a discussion. "I'm asking for us to sit down and talk" - he said in a video. He also reassured business owners who had counted losses due to closed cemeteries that the government would help them financially.

For some time we've been dealing with infections diffused across the whole population of Poland - said Dr Tomasz Dzieciątkowski, a virologist from the Medical University of Warsaw. He also commented in TVN24 about antigen tests that Poland plans to introduce to detect cases.

The proposed idea to tighten the abortion law is a very foul approach, it's spitting in women's faces - said Klementyna Suchanow from the All-Poland Women's Strike.

Poland's president said he would propose a bill reintroducing the possibility of terminating a pregnancy due to foetal abnormalities, although only limited to "lethal" defects, in a bid to calm mass protests against a near-total ban on abortion.

Protesters were planning to converge on Warsaw from across Poland on Friday for what police said would likely be the biggest demonstrations yet against a court ruling that amounted to a near-total ban on abortion.

"Health and life of women are key, crucial. They're protected under the current law. If it needs to be more precise, then we will certainly make it so" - said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki commenting on the recent Constitutional Tribunal ruling effectively banning abortion due to foetal defects. President Andrzej Duda and the First Lady have also issued their statements. Social outrage with the decision has been manifesting itself for a week now in huge street protests across the country. The PM has called for the mass protest scheduled for Friday in Warsaw to be cancelled.

Poland reported another daily record of coronavirus infections and deaths on Thursday with new 20,156 cases and 301 deaths related to COVID-19.

Thousands took to the streets across Poland on Wednesday for the seventh day of protests against a court ruling that further limits the country's highly restrictive abortion laws.

"I've always considered the existing abortion compromise a reasonable solution" - the daughter of President Andrzej Duda, Kinga, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. She added that she could not agree with consequences the recent ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal could bring.

Poland's ruling party leader Jarosław Kaczyński insisted on Tuesday that a court ruling further restricting abortion could not be reversed, threatening action against mass protests that have spread across Poland since the decision last Thursday.

Opposition lawmakers brought protests over a near-total ban on abortion in predominantly-Catholic Poland to the floor of parliament on Tuesday (October 27).

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called on Tuesday for an end to mass protests over abortion rights, saying those attending were disregarding "massive risks" from the resurgent coronavirus pandemic.

Thousands of Poles took to the streets for the fifth day in a row on Monday to protest the latest ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal which effectively bans nearly all abortion in the country.