ATHENS, Greece (AP) - The Latest on the continuing influx of asylum-seekers and migrants in Europe: All times local:
3:25 p.m.
Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei is withdrawing his works from two museums in Denmark to protest a new law that allows Danish authorities to seize valuables from migrants.
Ai announced on social media Wednesday that he no longer wanted to have his works on display at the Aros museum in Aarhus and the Faurschou Foundation in Copenhagen.
Curator Jennie Haagemann told AP that Ai called the owner of the Faurschou Foundation to inform him of his decision.
Aros museum officials said they didn't know anything beyond what Ai had posted on Twitter and Instagram.
Museum director Erlend Hoeyersten said he has "great respect" for Ai's criticism of Danish immigration policies, "but I also find it unreasonable that an entire people is punished for the government's policies."
___
3:05 p.m.
A European Union investigation has found major flaws in Greece's management of its borders due to the migrant influx, which could pave the way for its EU partners to introduce long-term ID checks.
The findings of the investigation by surprise inspection teams in Greece and its Aegean Sea islands in November and December was made public in a report Wednesday. The EU's top migration official, Dimitris Avramopoulos, says their "report shows that there are serious deficiencies in the management of the external border in Greece."
If the EU's executive Commission rules that Greece has demonstrated "serious deficiencies in the carrying out of external border control," some EU partners could maintain tight border controls for up to two years.
___
2:35 p.m.
Greece's migration minister says his country is seeking European Union backing for the swift deportation of migrants not considered eligible for asylum from Greek islands back to Turkey.
Ioannis Mouzalas told Skai television Wednesday that EU-supervised screening centers being set up on the Greeks islands could be used to send back ineligible migrants on chartered boats to Turkey "the next morning."
Mouzalas conceded the government was experiencing delays with setting up the island screening centers - known as hotspots - but said Athens is seeking additional assistance with the project.
Over a million migrants and refugees reached the European Union last year, with more than 80 percent of them traveling to the Greek islands facing the coast of Turkey.
___
12:20 p.m.
The German Cabinet has approved measures meant to make it easier to deport foreign criminals - a package that ministers drew up amid outrage over New Year's Eve assaults in Cologne.
Justice Minister Heiko Maas said the measures approved Wednesday, which must still be passed by Parliament, are also in the interest of hundreds of thousands of migrants in Germany. He said that "they do not deserve to be lumped together with criminals."
The changes mean that even a suspended prison sentence would be grounds for deportation if someone is found guilty of certain crimes. These include homicide, bodily harm, sexual assault, violent theft and serial shoplifting. Youth sentences would be covered too.
The Cologne assaults have been blamed largely on foreigners, heightening tension over Germany's migrant influx.
___
11:50 a.m.
Greek authorities say a total of seven bodies, including those of two children, have been recovered from the sea off the eastern Aegean island of Kos after a boat carrying migrants or refugees sank early Wednesday.
Rescue crews recovered the bodies of three men, two women, a boy and a girl. There were two survivors - a man and a woman.
A search and rescue operation in the area by vessels from the Greek coast guard and the European border patrol agency Frontex, a helicopter and Greek rescue volunteers was called off after all on board the boat were accounted for.