WASHINGTON (AP) — What's all the buzz about?
Melania Trump on Friday announced that she is expanding the White House honey program by adding a beehive in the shape of the White House to two other beehives that have been on the south grounds since 2009.
The existing hives can swell to about 70,000 bees during peak summer months and produce 200 pounds to 225 pounds (91 to 102 kilograms) of honey in a year, the White House said. The new hive could increase honey production by about 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms), according to the White House.
The White House uses the clover honey to prepare meals, as official gifts from the president and first lady, and in donations to food kitchens.
The bees help pollinate a nearby produce garden that then-first lady Michelle Obama started in 2009 and a nearby flower cutting garden, along with vegetation on the National Mall.
The beekeeping program began in 2009 after a White House carpenter started beekeeping as a hobby on the complex.
The new hive was funded through the Trust for the National Mall, the White House said.
The hive and the base were designed by White House residence staff and hand-made by a Virginia artisan.
FILE - First lady Melania Trump arrives for the premiere of her movie, "Melania," at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert, File)
First lady Melania Trump smiles during the 113th Annual First Lady's Luncheon, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
LONDON (AP) — A proposed bill to allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives failed Friday as parliamentary time ran out following an effective filibuster by unelected lawmakers in the revising chamber that blocked the will of elected members.
Though the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was passed by the House of Commons last June, the House of Lords talked it out since then, stoking widespread criticism that it had overstepped the mark.
Proponents of what has been termed “ assisted dying ” — sometimes referred to as “assisted suicide” — hoped it would mark the biggest change to social policy in the U.K. since abortion was partially legalized in 1967. The intention was to put an end to the practice of those near the end of their lives from going to other countries, such as Switzerland, for an assisted death.
The bill had proposed allowing adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel.
But opponents in the House of Lords managed to hold up its passing by filing more than 1,200 amendments on a range of concerns, including the potential coercion of vulnerable people and a lack of safeguards for those with disabilities.
”The House of Lords scrutiny exposed this bill as ‘skeleton legislation’ riddled with gaping holes,” said Gordon Macdonald from the Care Not Killing campaign group which is opposed to a change in the law. “It is now clear that this bill was both unsafe and unworkable.”
The number of amendments is believed to be a record high for a piece of legislation that was brought forward by a backbencher rather than by the government. These so-called private members' bills can only be debated on a Friday as the government largely controls the rest of the parliamentary timetable, thereby limiting the time available.
Campaigners for assisted dying expressed their anger at the sight of unelected lawmakers holding up the will of the elected chamber. They have insisted that they intend to bring the bill back in the next parliamentary session, which begins after King Charles III outlines the government's upcoming program in a speech to both houses of Parliament on May 13.
The sponsor of the bill in the House of Lords, Charlie Falconer, said he felt “despondent” that a piece of legislation “so important to so many, has not failed on its merits, but failed as a result of procedural wrangling."
“Much more than letting ourselves down are the very many people who support the bill and who feel we have not treated them properly,” he said.
Lawmaker Kim Leadbeater, who introduced the Bill to the House of Commons in late 2024, said she was “trying to stay positive” while admitting “a real sense of sadness and sorrow today.”
She said there “will absolutely be appetite" within the Commons to bring the legislation back in the next session of parliament.
Last month, lawmakers in the Scottish Parliament rejected their own assisted dying legislation. Scotland has a semiautonomous government that has authority over many areas of policy, including health.
Assisted suicide — where patients take a lethal drink prescribed by a doctor — is legal in countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and parts of the U.S., with regulations on qualifying criteria varying by jurisdiction.
Campaigners hold a banner outside parliament in London as a proposed law to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales will run out of time on Friday, more than a year after MPs first voted in favour of it, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
A campaigner holds a banner outside parliament in London as a proposed law to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales will run out of time on Friday, more than a year after MPs first voted in favour of it, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Campaigner Louise Shackleton holds a banner outside parliament in London as a proposed law to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales will run out of time on Friday, more than a year after MPs first voted in favour of it, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
A campaigner holds a banner outside parliament in London as a proposed law to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales will run out of time on Friday, more than a year after MPs first voted in favour of it, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Campaigners hold a banner outside parliament in London as a proposed law to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales will run out of time on Friday, more than a year after MPs first voted in favour of it, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
