Teen idol Justin Bieber has made headlines for his hard-partying lifestyle and run-ins with the law in several countries, including a January 2014 arrest for allegedly racing a Lamborghini through Miami. He announced in January on his Facebook page that he wanted to leave behind his ‘arrogant and conceited’ behaviour. Bieber arrived in Sydney on Monday to attend a week-long gathering at a Hillsong pentecostal church, in an attempt to discard his hard-partying image. ‘Justin is here, like tens of thousands of others, as a delegate who is seeking to build stronger foundations into his life,’ Hillsong Church said in a statement. Music is central to Hillsong's form of worship but the Canadian singer is unlikely to perform any of Hillsong's faith-based songs, according to the church. Last year, Hillsong's conference in Sydney attracted around 20,000 followers from more than 60 countries.

The illegal dumping of domestic and sometimes even hazardous industrial waste by the mafia has long been a problem in Italy. Now it has emerged that the trafficking of rubbish has spread across Europe, with garbage transported from Italy to countries including Germany and Sweden. It is a dirty business, but a hugely profitable one for the crime gangs. The price may be even higher for some, as the clandestine disposal of dangerous substances is being linked with rising cancer rates and birth defects in the areas affected. People are asking what is being done to deal with this toxic time bomb. Why are investigators and prosecutors not bringing the guilty to justice? How are the gangs’ activities spreading across Europe and what more could politicians at a national and European level be doing? These issues were discussed with a panel of experts from Eurojust, the European Union’s prosecutorial agency this week.

A 24-year-old Belgian woman has been told she qualifies for euthanasia because she suffers from ‘suicidal thoughts’. The anonymous woman says that she has wanted to die since her childhood and spoke about her decision in an interview with a Belgian newspaper. She has been a patient in a psychiatric institution since she was 21 but feels that the treatment did not help, saying, ‘Death does not feel to me as a choice. If I had a choice, I would choose a bearable life, but I have done everything and that did not work.’ Last year, a Dutch academic who supported legalising euthanasia in the Netherlands, warned of rising numbers of patients with psychiatric illnesses or dementia being euthanised. He said, ‘Cases have been reported in which a large part of the suffering of those given euthanasia were aged, lonely or bereaved. These patients could have lived for years or decades’. At Westminster, Labour MP Rob Marris is set to introduce an assisted suicide bill in the coming weeks (see article 2 in British Isles section).

Prime Minister David Cameron is in uncharted territory as he lays out UK demands. The United Kingdom is staging a plebiscite on whether to stay in. If you do not give me what I need, Cameron implicitly states, then the EU’s third biggest country may quit. Many in the EU elite are bemused that the question of Europe played no role at all in the UK general election campaign, but became the number one issue on 8 May. Leaders and officials said repeatedly, with some relief, that once Cameron had won his second term they would learn the details of Britain’s aims and hopes. In vain. Cameron is being advised to remain vague’ The months ahead will be dominated by ‘technical’ and legal discussions between the lawyers, eurocrats and Downing Street aides. Senior sources in Brussels reported, ‘during the recent round of bilaterals, Philip  Hammond, the foreign secretary, told an EU colleague that the City question was the most important in the negotiations. He demanded a British veto over Eurozone and European Central Bank decisions and regulations that affect the City’.