Poland

Politicians in Poland reacted to the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which ordered Warsaw to pay a fine of one million euros a day until the dissolution of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, reports the news portal Onet.

It was his girlfriend's idea. Valentine's Day was coming up and she wanted to see Fifty Shades Darker over the weekend. Koscielnik was not so keen. His exams were coming up and he would rather have been revising. He was 20 years old, a student at a technical college in his hometown of Oswiecim, in southern Poland.

European leaders lined up sharply to criticize Warsaw on Thursday for challenging the EU's legal basis, but Poland's prime minister said he would not succumb to "blackmail" before joining the 27-nation bloc's summit, reports Reuters.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has denied his government's desire to withdraw the country from the European Union and described the idea of ​​Polexit as completely untrue and a "harmful myth", the Associated Press reported.

More than 100,000 people demonstrated in Poland today in support of the country's membership in the European Union, Reuters reported.

This came after the Polish Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that parts of European law were incompatible with the national constitution - something that raised fears that Poland might leave the bloc.

Large protests were held across Poland on Oct. 10 to show support for the European Union after the nation's constitutional court ruled this week that the Polish constitution overrides some EU laws.

Price of bread

Andrzej Pietrasik, Plonsk's mayor, welcomed Tusk in the traditional Polish way with some bread - a staple that has been in headlines recently when Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister and an economist, failed to know the price of a supermarket loaf.

Bulgaria's national volleyball team under 19 lost the final of the World Cup in Tehran with 0:3 sets (-20, -19, - 19) against Poland and thus remained with the silver medals, which is also a huge success.

The Bulgarians offered almost no resistance to their opponent, as the fatigue from the two grueling matches against Italy and Russia, won after a tiebreak, clearly had its say.

Protesters attend a 'Free Media' demonstration in front of the Polish Television TVP building at the Warsaw Insurgents Square in Warsaw, Poland, 09 January 2016. EPA/LESZEK SZYMANSKI

In 1946 the first post-war census counted 23.9 million people (see box below). As elsewhere in Europe, the ensuing baby-boom meant that the population grew fast, and it was to peak in 1996 at 38.3 million, though figures vary depending on definitions of who should be counted.