We look at cartoonists' reactions to Italy's ongoing political crisis. And lawmakers in deeply Catholic Portugal consider legalising euthanasia.

Euthanasia is once again under discussion in France. Many say the country should look to Belgium, where the procedure was decriminalised back in 2002.

Lawmakers in New Zealand backed a bill that would legalize euthanasia, but only if endorsed by voters in a referendum next year. Candidates would only be eligible for euthanasia if they had less than six months to live.

Experts say the change would only apply to a small group of terminally-ill children who are "suffering hopelessly." The issue has proven extremely controversial, sparking months of debate in the ruling coalition.

Ramona Maneiro was arrested in 1998 accused of having a hand in the death of her friend Ramon Sampedro. A tetraplegic, Sampedro had fought a 30-year court battle to be able to end his life with dignity. At 55 he finally ingested cyanide. His death stirred a national debate and fuelled calls for assisted suicide to be legalised. Seven years later, after the statute of limitations had expired, Maneiro admitted to having helped Sampedro. Now over two decades later, Spain’s parliament has voted through a law legalising euthanasia, becoming one of the few nations to allow terminally-ill or gravely-injured patients to end their own suffering.

"I should be dead": suffering from an incurable disease, Frenchman Alain Cocq is calling on MEPs to adopt the right to euthanasia on Thursday, without which he is "obliged" to opt for "death in exile" in Switzerland.

Spain has joined a handful of countries where terminally or seriously ill people can end their lives legally, provided they fulfill certain criteria and get doctors' approval. The reform came after years of campaigning by supporters. DW's Nicole Ris reports from Madrid.