mothers

Hundreds protested in Mexico City on Mother’s Day to demand justice and accountability for missing loved ones. 130,000 people are registered as missing in Mexico, as of early 2026, which has been driven by organised crime and escalating violence.

May 8 (Asia Today) — Five South Korean birth mothers who lost children to overseas adoption filed petitions Friday seeking a truth investigation into alleged abuses involving foreign adoptions.

The women submitted the petitions to South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, saying their children were taken through kidnapping, false documents, deception by adoption agencies or without parental consent.

TRACE, a coalition advocating for truth-finding on overseas adoptions and child rights, held a news conference outside the commission’s office in central Seoul and disclosed several cases.

“The methods differed, but the result was the same,” the group said. “The mothers lost their children, and the children had to live their lives believing they had been abandoned.”

One case involved Lee Ae-rirana, 53, who said she was told after giving birth in 1993 that her baby daughter was seriously ill. A week later, she was told the child had died.

More than a decade later, Lee learned that her daughter, Park Mi-ae, had been adopted to Minnesota. Park later left her adoptive family after conflict, experienced homelessness and died in 2023, according to the group.

Another mother, Lee Gui-im, said she temporarily placed her two sons in a childcare facility in 1983 because of financial hardship after being told she could take them back when they reached middle school.

When she returned three months later with winter clothes for the boys, she learned they had already been sent to France for adoption.

Lee said an adoption consent form kept by the facility contained a signature in the birth mother’s name that she had never written. She said she could not read or write at the time.

Other cases included children who were reported missing but later sent overseas by orphanages and children allegedly taken through kidnapping or abduction before being placed for adoption.

Han Tae-soon, who was reunited with her daughter through DNA testing 44 years after the child disappeared at age 5 and was adopted to the United States nine months later, attended the event to support other mothers.

Han is pursuing legal action against the government and adoption agencies, accusing them of turning missing children into orphans for overseas adoption.

Park Min-seo, an attorney at Wongok Law Office, said no one involved in the adoption process made a proper attempt to verify the children’s identities.

TRACE called for investigations into false records and illegal adoptions by agencies and childcare facilities, a full review of overseas adoptions conducted without parental consent, a dedicated investigative body, a formal government apology and a support system to reunite birth parents and adoptees.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260508010001911

May 8 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday delivered a Mother’s Day address as he hosted Gold Star Mothers and Angel Mothers in the White House Rose Garden.

Starting with his own mother, Trump thanked mothers across the country in a 20-minute speech that included specific thanks for mothers in the audience and those who work for his administration.

“I want to thank every single mother here this afternoon and all across our nation for your work,” Trump said.

“Every single day, America’s moms are raising — really — raising the future of our country … You have the most important job there is in America or any place else, and you’re doing an incredible job,” he said.

During the speech, Trump honored the mothers of children who died in crimes linked to illegal immigrants, whom he has dubbed Angel Mothers, noting that he hoped to prevent their ranks from growing due to “open borders” and what his administration has in pursuit of that goal.

The president honored Gold Star Mothers — the mothers of members of the military who have been killed in action — some of whom in attendance lost children during the war in Afghanistan.

Questioning whether “time heals all wounds,” Trump said that “our hearts are out to you on Mother’s Day.”

He also spoke about legislative and executive actions his administration has meant to benefit mothers and families.

“We’re honored to be joined by many strong and truly heroic moms who have stood up for their children,” he said, wishing them a Mother’s Day “filled with love and gratitude and joy.”

LONDON — The challenge for King Charles III as he arrives in the United States this week is, as always, to live up to his mother’s example.

The late Queen Elizabeth II wowed Congress in 1991 with a speech that celebrated the shared democratic traditions of Britain and the United States, quoted Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and highlighted the deep bonds between the two nations.

Those themes will also be at the top of Charles’ agenda as he celebrates America’s 250th birthday and seeks to calm tensions surrounding Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s refusal to support President Trump’s war against Iran, said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University in Texas.

“We’ve got to always make the distinction that there’s a difference between the government of the U.K. and the kings and queens of Great Britain, who are really always coming to try to put [on] a good face,” Brinkley told the Associated Press. “Politics come and go; prime ministers, presidents, come and go; but there’s something deeper about the special relationship between the United States and the U.K.”

Charles and Queen Camilla begin a four-day trip on Monday, when they will have tea with the president and First Lady Melania Trump, then tour the White House beehive, in a nod to the king’s focus on the environment.

The formal arrival ceremony will take place Tuesday, with a 21-gun salute, brass bands playing the national anthems of both countries and a contingent of U.S. service members passing in review. The ceremonies will be followed by a meeting between Trump and Charles.

Behind the scenes

But beneath the pomp and pageantry will be a carefully choreographed diplomatic event staged, like all royal visits, at the request of the British government. Starmer resisted pressure to cancel it after Trump belittled the British military’s sacrifices in Afghanistan and criticized him personally for failing to back the U.S. in its war alongside Israel against Iran.

Despite those tensions, Trump has continued to speak warmly about Charles.

“History has shown that President Trump really tries to be impressive whenever he’s dealing with British royalty,” Brinkley said. “And I’m sure it’ll be the same this time around.”

Ever since 1939, when King George VI became the first British monarch to set foot on the soil of the country’s former colony, there’s been a special sort of excitement whenever the royals come to the United States.

Take that first visit, which took place as World War II loomed over Europe. The royals toured the East Coast and attended a picnic at President Roosevelt’s private home in Hyde Park, N.Y. “King tries hot dog and asks for more,’’ declared the New York Times.

But the big moment was when the royals traveled to Mount Vernon to lay a wreath at the tomb of George Washington. It showed respect at a time of isolationism.

“People could see the handwriting on the wall and know that it was going to be important for the United States and Britain to stay strong for fighting against Hitler,” said Barbara Perry, a presidential scholar at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

But bonding over sausages had broader benefits, helping the royals build links to the general public as well as its leadership. After war broke out in September 1939, Queen Elizabeth, the wife of George VI and mother of the future Elizabeth II, wrote to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to say how moved she’d been by letters from Americans who enclosed small sums for British forces.

“Sometimes, during the last terrible months, we have felt rather lonely in our fight against evil things, but I can honestly say that our hearts have been lightened by the knowledge that friends in America understand what we are fighting for,’’ she wrote.

The queen’s connection

Queen Elizabeth II built on those relationships, making four state visits to the U.S. during her 70-year reign. She joined President Ford in celebrating America’s bicentennial in 1976 and met with President George W. Bush in 2007 as British and American forces fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Smoothing turbulent waters and reminding both sides about their common bonds were what those trips were all about.

Charles’ visit will be no different. It includes a commemoration of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a ceremony honoring fallen service members and an event to be attended by Queen Camilla to mark the 100th anniversary of Winnie the Pooh stories by British author A.A. Milne.

Certain events will be avoided.

The royals won’t meet with Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, despite calls for the king to address his accusations related to his brother Andrew’s links to the convicted sex offender. Nor are there plans for Charles to meet with his son Prince Harry, who has been a critic of the monarchy since giving up royal duties and moving to California.

Those issues aren’t the priority, said Robert Hardman, author of “Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story.”

“He’s going because 250 years ago the Founding Fathers of the USA kicked out his great-times-five grandfather, and he’s going to say, `No hard feelings, it’s been a great divorce, we’ve had a lovely 250 years and let’s reflect on the high points,’’’ Hardman said. “I mean, there are going to be some very, very large elephants in the room during that visit … but, you know, there are plenty of other things for the king to focus on.”

History, not politics

Charles’ speech to a joint session of Congress offers the chance to deliver the message that long-term friendship is more important than transient disputes.

He is also likely to offer a bit of humor, as his mother did when she addressed lawmakers in 1991.

Wearing soft peach amid a sea of gray suits, the diminutive monarch began her remarks with a joke about an earlier blunder at the White House when her lectern was so tall it obscured the audience’s view of her.

“I do hope you can see me today from where you are,’’ she deadpanned.

The chamber erupted in laughter. A standing ovation followed. Then she launched into a speech about democratic values, the rule of law and the Atlantic Alliance — the foundation of NATO.

Those are values that critics of the current U.S. administration say it has retreated from in recent years. But Charles will offer his own take on those ideas, Brinkley said.

“The theme of the speech is going to be American exceptionalism, American history, the importance of U.S.-British alliance, and some memories from the past,” he said. “But also about the love affair the two countries share with each other, even though it goes over rocky rapids from time to time.”

Kirka writes for the Associated Press.