Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia criticised on Thursday proposals for an overhaul of the European Union’s broken migration and asylum rules that are due to be discussed by EU leaders at a summit next week.

Austria will host an unusual tourist season this winter amid rising number of COVID-19 positive pations. Restrictive measures will be further tightened. Skiers and other tourists this winter will have to sit at tables in bars rather than dance and feast under new pandemic rules.

Dogs trained to detect the novel coronavirus began sniffing passenger samples at Finland’s Helsinki-Vantaa airport this week, authorities said, in a pilot project running alongside more usual testing at the airport.

France will order bars and restaurants shut in Marseille and restrict their opening hours in other cities including Paris as part of efforts to stem a continuing rise in the daily number of infections, Health Minister Olivier Veran announced on Wednesday.

Austria's most prestigious ball, an annual event at the Vienna State Opera, will not take place in February due to the continuing health risk, the government announced on Wednesday. "This decision was not easy," Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in a statement, cited by dpa. "But we opted for the cancellation, as infections happen especially at parties and festivities."

German’s Angela Merkel embarks this week on her third bold attempt to reshape European migration, but she faces an uphill task convincing other EU leaders to host refugees, even if her plan contains generous incentives.

The Italians are set to approve a cut in the number of parliamentarians, according to an exit poll released after the closing on ballot stations for the Constitutional referendum on Monday, ANSA reported.

Polish ruling party leaders held an emergency meeting on Monday aimed at tackling the growing government crisis, but that could result in a split of the coalition, news wires reported. According to lawmakers, disagreements over long-term policy plans and the coronavirus pandemic are growing.

The French government this weekend added another 13 departments to its list of 42 red zones, where the local authorities would have extra powers to curb the spread of coronavirus, news wires reported.

Pressure across Europe on governments rose on Monday to tackle the rising number of coronavirus case without resorting to a spring-style strict lockdown that would hit the continent’s struggling economies, news wires reported. As local restrictions were imposed on many places, people stood on the verge of revolt.