Belgian Senate approves mercy killing

The Belgian Senate, the upper house of parliament, has approved a bill on euthanasia, bringing Belgium one step closer to becoming the second country in Europe - after the Netherlands - to legalise mercy killings.

If the law is passed by the lower chamber of parliament, doctors in Belgium will no longer be prosecuted for ending the life of terminally ill patients at their request.

The law requires that the patient is an adult and has made a specific, voluntary and repeated request in writing, to be allowed to die.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service