U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday he had told his German counterpart that sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline were a real possibility and there was "no ambiguity" in American opposition to its construction.

"It's impossible to precisely verify how many Poles were rescuing Jews" - said deputy director of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) Mateusz Szpytma. "Most common estimation is approximately 300,000" - he added. On March 24, Poland celebrates the National Day of Remembrance of Poles saving Jews under German occupation.

Poland accused Belarus on Wednesday of persecuting its Polish minority after Polish and Belarusian media said the head of a group representing the Polish diaspora had been arrested.

Polish football association confirmed on Wednesday that one of the players selected for the upcoming World Cup qualifying games has contracted coronavirus. Leeds United midfielder Mateusz Klich won't be able to help his team, but he feels fine and does not show any symptoms.

Precisely 2,316. This is the official population of bisons living in Poland as of the end of 2020. The data shows there's more free-living specimens, and less live in farms. Interesting fact is the leader of the "classification", the Białowieża Forest, has only 8 bisons more than, second on the list, mountain region of Bieszczady.

Poland 

Poland will announce new COVID-19 restrictions for the next two weeks by Thursday at the latest, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday, as the country braces for what could be a second Easter spent under a strict lockdown.

Over a million Poles have registered to be vaccinated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot in the last 24 hours, the Polish prime minister's top aide said on Tuesday, in what he said was a sign that confidence in the jab was returning.

If he is still alive, Andriy Chemeris is 38 years old. He hasn't seen his family for a few years now, while investigators from Legnica (southwestern Poland) suspect that his body was found in a pond last year. The prosecutors ask anyone who may recognise the man in the photo to come forward. The Ukrainian citizen has left two children in his homeland, his wife died in a gas explosion.

"The next two weeks will be crucial" - deputy health minister Waldemar Kraska told public broadcaster Polskie Radio on Tuesday. Asked if the government was considering imposing a total lockdown, he said he was "slightly" more optimistic than Prof. Andrzej Horban. The latter, who is PM's chief COVID advisor, said on Monday that such scenario could unfold.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday the Nord Stream 2 pipeline being built from Russia to Germany ran counter to the European Union's own interests and could undermine Ukraine.

A man in the city of Białystok could not find his way out of a burning building. He was holding his cat in his hands as he was trying to save the animal. Luckily, brave police officers came to the rescue.

"Poland is a strong Ally who has provided support to many other Allies and partners in our joint fight against the pandemic" - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Twitter after Poland decided to send 20 medics and share its own supply of AstraZeneca vaccine to inoculate staff at the NATO headquarters. "We've always been a loyal and reliable NATO ally" - PM Mateusz Morawiecki said on Facebook.

Poland is seeing an increase in people willing to take AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, the prime minister said on Monday, after reports that as many as 70% in some places had been unwilling to get the shot due to safety concerns. His aide Michał Dworczyk reassured later that day the vaccine was safe to use, and that the first stage of the vaccination programme should be complete in the second quarter of 2021.

It only took a few days to identify a woman wearing a military uniform in a vintage photo published Poland's Institute of National Remembrance. On Saturday, the IPN posted another photograph of Maria Barr.

Robert Lewandowski has been awarded by President Andrzej Duda with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. The captain of Poland's national team received the distinction for outstanding sport achievements and promoting his country in the world.

Adam Zagajewski, one of the most renowned Polish poets, prose writer, essayist and translator died on Sunday at the age of 75.

Limited services in shopping hall, closed hotels, swimming pools, theatres and cinemas - all this and many more other restrictions will be in place from Saturday on across Poland. The official ordinance was published on Friday in the Journal of Laws.

Now, he's is resting after a wild journey, but only a few days ago, he lived in a shelter. Lovely white cat from the photo had left his home and ended up 300 kilometres away in the city of Poznań. It remains a mystery how he had managed to travel that far. His despaired owners were on the brink of losing hope to see their pet ever again. They were lucky as the cat was only moments from being adopted.

Anna Jagiellonka Bridge - soon this could be the new name of the recently opened southern bridge in Warsaw. Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski has put forward the proposal, but the city councillors have said the decision would be made at a later stage. They have decided, however, about naming boardwalks and alleys in central Warsaw after famous Polish women.

In a world put to a hold due to the pandemic there are still places open for tourists. More and more Poles choose to travel to those countries and ignore the fact adhering to coronavirus restrictions there are rather low. The most glaring example is Tanzania, along with its tropical island of Zanzibar. Since April, 2020, the country has not been reporting about the infection rates, and its president John Magufuli likened COVID-19 to flu and reassured the disease could be tackled by prayer. John Magufuli died on Tuesday, March 16. Officially - due to heart complications. Many speculate, however, that coronavirus might have been the real cause of death.

Poland's total number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 2 million on Friday, according to health ministry data, as Poland grapples with a third wave of the pandemic.

The EU's drug watchdog said on Thursday it is still convinced the benefits of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks following an investigation into reports of blood clots that prompted more than a dozen nations to suspend its use.

Polish cellist Anna Wójtowicz-Pawluśkiewicz died on Wednesday in Kraków at the age of 73. She was the "Lovely cellist" from the famous song by Polish folk band Skaldowie. She also played the cello in the original lineup of Marek Grechuta's Anawa band.

On March 18, 1921, a peace treaty between Poland, Russia and Ukraine was signed in Riga. The treaty ended the Polish-Soviet War, of which Poland, although weak and bruised, came out victorious and proud. This pride was also manifested through the March Constitution adopted the day before the treaty.

Tomasz Komenda, a man who had been wrongly sentenced and spent 18 years in prison, decided not to appeal against the compensation verdict. The State Treasury is to pay Mr Komenda nearly 13 million zlotys. "I just want to have peace and forget about what happened as soon as possible" - Tomasz Komenda told tvn24.pl.

Poland's Health Ministry said on Thursday 27,278 new coronavirus infection cases were confirmed - the highest daily number this year and the second-highest since the start of the pandemic.

"I also thought it would be a piece of cake for me, but after 10 days of staying home sick I've ended up here" - singer Andrzej Piaseczny said in a video he recorded in a hospital on Wednesday. The artists has been undergoing oxygen therapy.

A World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine safety panel said on Wednesday that it considers that the benefits of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine outweigh its risks and recommends that vaccinations continue.