Marieke Vervoort: Paralympian who has signed euthanasia papers

Doors open for you in Diest when you're with Marieke Vervoort.

Go to a restaurant in this pretty Belgian town, and all the diners know her. They come over to congratulate her on winning two medals at the 2016 Rio Paralympics; she raises a glass to a family celebrating a birthday.

For a few hours, she's the life and soul of the party.

But, at 37, the Belgian wheelchair racer suffers such pain she wakes her neighbours by screaming in the night. As she watches her precious, fiercely defended independence dwindling, she has planned her own death.

Euthanasia is legal in Belgium, and eight years ago Vervoort signed the papers which will, eventually, allow a doctor to end her life. It's not that she wants to die. She wants to live. But she wants to live on her terms.

Man urges MPs to back assisted dying before ending his life at Dignitas

A grandfather has called on parliament to legislate in favour of assisted dying before ending his own life at Dignitas.

Andrew Barclay, 65, died on Thursday after taking a lethal dose of drugs in an apartment near Zurich, having travelled to Switzerland with his wife. He had advanced multiple sclerosis.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, the former civil servant, from Folkestone, Kent, said he was concerned that his partner, Sandra, 67, may face a police investigation on her return to Britain for helping him fulfil his wish.

 “We need a law that makes it a feasible option in Britain,” he said. “It needs to be tightly regulated but why not draw the line where Dignitas has?

READ HERE

Rillington Place - Capital Punishment and Abortion

BBC series 'Rillington Place' has details you can use for Capital Punishment (miscarriage of justice leading to execution of Timothy Evans) and episode 2 also includes reference to a 'backstreet' abortion (the type you can use in your evaluation of the issue of abortion. i.e. if abortion had been legal, then women would not have needed to resort to the services of illegal abortionists). 

WATCH EPISODE 1 HERE

WATCH EPISODE 2 HERE

When was Timothy Evans’ name finally cleared?

In 2003 the Home Office’s independent assessor, Lorn Brennan QC declared that “the conviction of Timothy Evans is now recognised to have been one of the most notorious, if not the most notorious, miscarriages of justice.”

“There is no evidence to implicate Timothy Evans in the murder of his wife”, he continued. “She was most probably murdered by Christie.”

Angela Merkel endorses party's call for partial ban on burqa and niqab

Angela Merkel has for the first time endorsed her party’s call for a partial ban on the burqa and the niqab in Germany, telling delegates at the Christian Democratic Union’s conference in Essen “the full facial veil is inappropriate and should be banned wherever it is legally possible”.

The German chancellor’s CDU party is expected this week to pass a motion proposing a ban on the full-face veil in some areas of public life such as courts, schools and universities, as well as in road traffic and during police checks. A full ban, as introduced in France in 2011, is seen as incompatible with Germany’s basic laws.

READ HERE 

French town told park's Virgin Mary statue must go

A French town has been told it must take down its statue of the Virgin Mary to comply with a national ban on religious symbols in public spaces, the town's mayor said on Saturday.

A court has given the town of Publier, in eastern France, three months to remove the work.

If it fails to do so, it will be fined €100 (£80; $105) a day.

Mayor Gaston Lacroix said he will try to relocate the marble statue on private land.

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Religion in the media articles

Can TV be fair to Muslims? READ HERE.

Islamist, gay man, teacher: TV housemates bid to show the diversity of British Muslims. READ HERE.

Was Muslims Like Us a helpful portrayal of Islam in the UK? READ HERE

Production company One4Kids, which makes children's shows with Islamic themes, wants to raise A$20,000 (£12,000; $15,000) to begin production on Barakah Hills.

"The show's main objective is to show children what it is like to be a practicing Muslim as well as a good citizen in their community," the company said in a statement.

READ HERE

BBC Bitesize - Religion and Media - READ HERE