Belgium’s federal parliament is close to introducing a ‘right to die’ for sick children, according to reports in a Belgian newspaper. Der Morgen has said that a consensus is forming around proposed legislation which would allow children, whose situation is deemed dire enough, to opt for euthanasia. Euthanasia is already legal in Belgium. A law legalising the practice was introduced in 2002 but restricted it to people aged 18 or over. If the law passes, Belgium would become the first country to legalise euthanasia for children. The bill was introduced in December by the Socialist Party. It would lay out guidelines for doctors to assess on a case by case basis whether a child is mature enough to make the decision to end their life and whether the child’s illness is serious enough to warrant euthanasia. Leader of the Socialist party, Thierry Giet, said: ‘The idea is to update the law to take better account of dramatic situations.’ (See also Prayer Alert 01-2013)

Pray: that these proposed changes will not be accepted. (Ps.119:126)

More: http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/end-of-life/belgium-considers-euthanasia-for-children

Belgium is considering allowing children and Alzheimer’s sufferers to ask to be euthanized. The proposed changes to the country’s decade-old law were submitted to Parliament on Tuesday by the Socialist Party. The draft legislation calls for ‘the law to be extended to minors if they are capable of discernment or affected by an incurable illness or suffering that we cannot alleviate’. Belgium was the second country in the world after the Netherlands to legalise euthanasia, but it applies to people over the age of 18. The European Institute of Bioethics has already criticised the current law in Belgium, in a report reviewing ten years of euthanasia in the country. Dr Peter Saunders, director of campaign group Care not Killing, warned in response to the report: ‘The lessons are clear. Once you relax the law on euthanasia or assisted suicide steady extension will follow as night follows day.’

Pray: that the Care not Killing response be listened to and these proposed changes would not be accepted. (Ps.119:126)

More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/belgium-considering-extending-euthanasia-law-to-children/

The body that keeps tabs on the terrorist threat in Belgium, the OCAD, has just heightened the country's terror alert level from 2 to 3 across Brussels. The OCAD that analyses the security situation believes that there is now a greater terrorist threat following Friday night's stabbing of two police officers on the Brussels metro. The OCAD says that the terrorist threat in Brussels is now serious. Until yesterday alert level 3 only affected the Brussels borough of Saint-Jans-Molenbeek where the arrest of a woman wearing a full veil sparked rioting. Level 3 has now been extended to the entire Brussels Region.

Pray: that the situations which led to the terror alert rising would be calmed. (Ac.4:29)

More: http://europenews.dk/en/node/55495

Religious communities in various parts of Belarus have faced visits, threats and warnings for holding meetings of worship which officials regard as illegal. On one Sunday in January, officials visited three Pentecostal services in separate villages. Pastor Vasili Raptsevich – who led worship in a church-owned house in a village in Brest Region for about ten disabled church members - was summoned to the police station. There he was told that he had violated the law by conducting a religious service away from its legal address without permission. Police threatened him with court proceedings and threatened to strip his Pentecostal church of state registration. In February, police in the capital Minsk - among them masked riot police - launched a mass raid on a cultural meeting being held in a Pentecostal pastor's home. 34 participants were taken to a police station, but were released two hours later without any explanation and without any official record being drawn up.

Pray: that God’s Church will be protected from persecution. (Ro.8:35)

More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue15611.html

A young Catholic layman, who turned his home in a western Belarus village into a shelter for homeless people with a prayer room, is being accused of leading an unregistered religious organisation, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Aleksei Shchedrov - who says he has helped about 100 local people since December 2011 - is being investigated on criminal charges under Article 193-1, and faces a maximum possible sentence of two years' imprisonment. Shchedrov denies the authorities' accusation of founding an unregistered religious organisation. ‘I am a Christian and I started to help those who are in need,’ he insisted to Forum 18 on 24 June from the village of Aleksandrovka, Grodno [Hrodna] Region. ‘I give them food, a bed, a bath and clothes and I pray together with them. But this is no religious organisation, just charity.’ Local police launched the criminal investigation against the 28-year-old Shchedrov following raids on the shelter in February and April.

Pray: for Shchedrov that the authorities will release him and allow him to continue to care for those in need. (Rom.12:13)

More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue20209.html

An online petition was launched to repeal the amendment of Belarus criminal code, that allots two years of imprisonment for religious activity without registration, reports Christian megaportal InVictory.org. The author of the petition is Alexey Shein, co-chair of the Belarus Christian Democracy party. The goal is to collect 5,000 signatures. In his appeal, Mr Shein notes that, since 2006, 18 people have been convicted under this law. ‘There are hundreds of Christian communities and ministries that work without registration in Belarus. A lot of organizations tried to register but they were denied. At the same time, the right to freedom of association means the right to found free associations,’ underlined the author.

Pray: for a huge response to the petition and that the authorities will reconsider their amendment. (Je.1:19)

More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue15362.html

A new European Commission funded report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says that an average of one person in six has to pay bribes to access services in the Western Balkans and that the problem, despite the best efforts of both the EU and western Balkan governments, is as bad as it ever was. An official from the European Commission’s bureau for enlargement in the Balkans said that, ‘corruption and the rule of law are at the heart of the current enlargement process,’ and the ‘challenge is enormous,’ but fighting corruption was ‘make or break’ for the Balkan nations aspirations towards EU membership. Only 1.5% report bribery. Over half do not report payoffs because either it was perceived as ‘pointless’ as ‘nobody will care’ or because it was deemed ‘common practice’. Of the few that did make a report on paying a bribe, in a quarter of cases no action at all was taken.

Pray: that God would expose corruption here and wherever it occurs that His light will expose the darkness. (Job.12:22)

More: http://www.neurope.eu/articles/Balkan-Bribes/106541.php

A Christian couple who were fined because of their ‘marrieds only’ policy for double rooms at their guest house in Cornwall have won permission to take their case to the Supreme Court. Earlier this year the Court of Appeal upheld the verdict that Peter and Hazelmary Bull had breached equality legislation and discriminated against Martyn Hall and his civil partner Steven Preddy after refusing them a double room due to their ‘marrieds only’ policy for double rooms. Mr Hall and Mr Preddy were awarded a total of £3,600 in damages. Now the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, has decided to hear their case, and may overturn the decision of the Court of Appeal. Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, said: ‘This case is one of many where the judiciary have severely restricted freedom of religion in favour of homosexual rights.’

Praise: God for this change of direction by the authorities to allow a right of appeal. Now may God over-rule. (Job.5:8)

More: http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/sexual-orientation/christian-bb-owners-win-right-to-appeal-to-supreme-court

By mid-November, Azerbaijan's parliament will have adopted stricter amendments for those who produce or distribute religious literature. Heftier fines and long prison sentences will now be the punishment for those who do not submit their religious literature to compulsory state censorship before producing or distributing it, according to Voice of the Martyrs, Canada. Prison sentences will be as long as five years, and fines will be as high as nine years' official minimum wages, reports Forum 18 News. The new restrictions come just months after an amendment made to Azerbaijan's Religion Law. In June, the nation invoked a requirement for all religious communities that 50 adults must state that they are founders in order for the group to apply for registration. The law tightens its grip around religious necks each time an amendment is added, keeping Azerbaijan in the top 25 Most Persecuted countries in the world.

Pray: that these restrictions would not hinder the spread of Christian materials and the Gospel. (2Th.3:1)

More: http://mnnonline.org/article/16434