Daughter snatched from hospital reunited with mom 23 years later

By the CNN Wire Staff

January 20, 2011 -- Updated 1521 GMT (2321 HKT)
Updated 1521 GMT (2321 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Carlina White was abducted in 1987 from a hospital room
• The girl told authorities that she had felt that she was raised by a family that she did not belong to
• She did an Internet search recently and found information on her abduction case

Find out more about this story from CNN affiliate WABC.

(CNN) -- In 1987, an anguished, trembling Joy White pleaded for someone to help her find her infant daughter.

"I hope she's all right," the heartbroken mother told reporters at the time before collapsing in tears.

Now, 23 years later, White is crying tears of joy as the decades-long mystery of her missing daughter reached a happy ending.

The saga started on August 4, 1987, when White took her sick baby, Carlina, to a Harlem hospital because of an extremely high fever, a New York police official said.

Carlina was admitted in the hospital and White went home to rest. When the mother returned, Carlina was gone.

Years passed as White searched for her daughter, all the time holding onto a photograph of a baby girl she had only held for three weeks.

On January 4, White's phone rang.

The woman on the other end of the line said she was Carlina, and she sent White a picture taken in 1987.

The face in the photograph bore a striking resemblance to that of the baby in the tattered picture White had held on to.

Police too agreed that the photographs looked alike and carried out a DNA test.

On Tuesday, the results came back -- and they were a match.

"Carlina was a missing link," Pat Conway, Carlina White's aunt told CNN affiliate WABC as she raised her hands in the air. "We have gotten her back. In the name of Jesus, Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah."

For her part, Carlina Renae White, had nursed a nagging feeling that she was raised by a family she did not belong to, said Ernie Allen from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Raised under a different name, Carlina grew suspicious when the woman who raised her could not provide her with a birth certificate.

So she scoured the Internet for answers, stumbling on the website of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. There, she came across an item about a baby girl who had been taken from a New York hospital .

She called the center, which in turn notified authorities.

Authorities are not saying much about the woman who raised Carlina White as they continue their investigation.

"I never gave up hope," Carlina White's grandmother, Elizabeth, told WABC. "It is like she has been around us all her life. She wasn't a stranger. She fit right in."

CNN's Laura Dolan, Rob Frehse, Lateef Mungin and Jason Kessler contributed to this report.

Kiev: Golden-domed city of Eastern promise

By George Webster for CNN

January 20, 2011 -- Updated 1216 GMT (2016 HKT)

CNN's global series i-List takes you to a different country each month. In January, we visit Ukraine and look at changes shaping the country's economy, culture and social fabric.

(CNN) -- The Ukrainian capital of Kiev is a riverside city that boasts streets lined with onion-domed churches and lively summer beer gardens.

Founded over 1,500 years ago, it can legitimately claim to be one of Europe's oldest cities -- and it has the monuments to prove it.

Modern-day Kiev is an unusual mix: Part historic Slavic, part Soviet, part Ukrainian-nationalist and part cosmopolitan European. Shiny office blocks mix with medieval statues and examples of bold Soviet-era constructivist architecture.

It is a 24-hour city, bustling with friendly, busy locals. Travelers from the West need to bear in mind that few people speak English, and nearly all the signs are in Russian or Ukrainian script.

Here to help you along is an at-a-glance guide to this intriguing city.

What to see

To get an immediate flavor of the city's rich history head to Kiev Pechersk Lavra, Kiev's monastery complex, which sprawls over a series of hills running along the Dnipro river.

"Mummified monks and a 4th-century B.C. gold hoard that rivals any collection in the world, as well as caves and a marvelous cathedral are the headlines here," says Tom Hall, travel editor of the Lonely Planet guides. "The Lavra will require at least half a day and deserves more."

If you can't get enough of Ukraine's ancient past, then an immersive excursion to the Pirogovo open-air museum -- showcasing folk architecture and life from across the ages -- should be just the ticket.

There are old-fashioned windmills, traditional churches and peasant huts dotted around (Pirogovo).
--David Mottershead - visitkievukraine.com

According to David Mottershead, founder of travel site visitkievukraine.com, the museum consists of a number of traditional villages, built to represent the folk heritage of each region of Ukraine.

"There are old-fashioned windmills, traditional churches and peasant huts dotted around the site," he says. "You're free to wander around and interact with the craftsman that work here in the summer -- it's a very popular activity with both tourists and locals."

However, if you want to have an experience that combines Kiev's colorful history with its buzzing, metropolitan present, then Mottershead suggests a stroll to Independence Square -- Kiev's central plaza renamed following the country's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The focal point for mass demonstrations in 2004's peaceful "Orange Revolution," the square is also the city's social hub, where parades, concerts and festivals take place and which is, according to Mottershead, "a popular spot for late-night drinking and people watching."

Even if you think you've had enough history for one day, no trip to Kiev would be complete without taking in the golden domes and intricate mosaics of St. Sophia cathedral -- Kiev's oldest church and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Where to shop

Lurking beneath the busy roads surrounding Independence Square you'll discover "Metrograd" -- a vast subterranean shopping Center. Divided into a myriad of quarters according to various categories -- such as "shoes," "books," and "boutiques" -- the "Metrograd" is the largest dedicated shopping space in Kiev and perfect for those in search of high-end products and designer labels. Tourists should note, however, that prices are relatively high by Ukrainian standards and bargain-hunters are better off above ground.

For a more traditional Ukrainian shopping experience head to Bessarabsky Square, home to a historic indoor market that glows with colorful spices, exotic fruits, fish, meat and flowers. "It's a photographer's dream," says Mottershead. But pliable travelers be warned, some of the sales people don't easily take "no" for answer.

"Khreschatyk is Kiev's answer to (London's) Oxford Street" says Mottershead. "You can find anything here from mobiles and bargain clothes to the fine porcelain and stylish watches."

Where to eat

If you're in a hurry, Kiev's "Puzata Khata" is a self-service eatery that offers good, cheap, no-frills food in an interior designed to look like a traditional Ukrainian peasant house. Part of a chain of restaurants, it has regional classics like borsch (a type beetroot soup), holubtsy (stuffed cabbage), and mlyntsi (a thin, yeasty pancake).

For those craving a panoramic view of the city, and who have the cash, then "Belvedere," housed in an elevated glass gazebo on a hill overlooking the Dnipro River, is an up-market option, serving a variety of European and fusion foods.

If the weather's good, Hydropark is the place to aim for beaches, bathing and ogling the city's bodybuilders.
--Tom Hall, Lonely Planet

RELATED TOPICS

• Kiev
• Travel Destinations
• Ukraine
• UNESCO
• Cultural History

A popular haunt among ex-pats and homesick travelers is "O'Brien's Irish Pub." Situated just a short walk from Khreschatyk, this Irish boozer also serves-up an excellent English breakfast and other traditional pub food, as well as a host of decent quality ales, according to Mottershead.

Where to hang out

"If the weather's good, Hydropark is the place to aim for beaches, bathing and ogling the city's bodybuilders," said Hall. "This outdoor play park is much loved by locals, some of whom plunge into the river from the bridge connecting its two islands to the rest of Kiev."

At night, Kiev comes alive with a growing number of bars and clubs. However, it's worth remembering that a number of venues operate a "face control" policy -- which gives them the right to turn people away based on their looks.

In search of the next big thing? Mottershead recommends "Art Club 44." "It's an amazing live venue, playing all sorts from jazz and experimental, to reggae and rock, and is very popular among the local students," he says.

For those in search of an all-night rave, try "Arena." Spread over four floors, this entertainment megaplex houses a dance club with a deafening sound system, a sports bar, beer house, and a karaoke lounge and has played host to the likes of Kraftwerk and 50 Cent.

However, if a quiet night is more your thing, take a stroll along "St. Andrew's Descent" -- a winding pebble-stone street on a steep hill that is one of Kiev's oldest and most popular. Linking St Andrew's church at its top to a bevy of historical museums at its bottom, St. Andrew's descent is lined with galleries, art sellers and, inevitably, a fair share of souvenir stalls.

Americans fall for rising Shanghai

By Steven Jiang, CNN

January 20, 2011 -- Updated 1447 GMT (2247 HKT)

Shanghai (CNN) -- Inside the three-story "Chinatown" nightclub, the packed building that once housed a Japanese temple was anything but Zen on a recent Friday night.

Red decor and smoky rooms, loud music and burlesque acts, gyrating Russian dancers and a cheering international crowd -- this could be a quintessential Shanghai scene in the 1930s, if not for the ringing cell phones on the tables.

"I think you could hardly keep a good town down," said British owner Andrew Bull.

CNNGo.com: Insider's guide to Shanghai

In the early years of the 20th century, Shanghai was the foremost cosmopolitan city in the Far East, home to some 70,000 foreigners and flourishing in trade and commerce -- the leading Asian city in style and decadence.

Most non-Chinese residents had left by the time the Communists dimmed the neon in 1949. The "Paris of the East" became a grim industrial powerhouse that churned out textiles and machinery to the rest of the country.

Hu's visit to Washington

Shanghai: The 'Paris' of Asia

China's military power concerns others

China looks to sustain economy

Cupcakes and rock 'n' roll in China

"It's an amazing place to start a business ... If you work hard, there can be nothing better."
--Kelly Lee, 34, Chinese-American entrepreneur

RELATED TOPICS

• China
• Asia
• Economic Issues
• Hu Jintao
• Barack Obama

When Beijing's leadership decided to breathe fresh life into the aging metropolis in 1990, years of neglect produced an unintended consequence: preservation of one the world's largest collection of art deco buildings, completed during Shanghai's last heyday.

Spencer Dodington saw romance and opulence in Shanghai's unique architecture when he first moved here in 1995. Since quitting his finance job with a U.S. conglomerate, the Texan has turned his passion for the city's elegant old homes into a successful second career.

"For me, the crucial thing has been to preserve the Shanghai pedigree -- '20s, '30s or '40s design in a way that still suits modern living," Dodington, 42, said as he showed CNN his last project -- restoring his art deco apartment built in 1928 in the heart of the former French quarter.

He installed pine floors from the same era found at demolition sites, and put in period furniture he collected over his long stay in Shanghai. As the city fast redevelops, Dodington said the value of properties like his has surged 15 times in the past decade.

While Dodington relishes recapturing the city's past glory, he is nevertheless drawn to the dynamic changes in Shanghai, now home to some 20 million residents -- a far cry from his hometown hidden in the cornfields of central Texas with a population of 953.

"There is that new energy that keeps proving to me that it's interesting to stay here rather than find a different place," he said.

The city's physical transformation is even greater than during its first "Golden Age." After two decades of fervent economic growth, skyscrapers -- including China's current and future tallest building -- have replaced farmland on the east side of the Huangpu River, which cuts through the city.

During the construction boom before last year's World Expo, Shanghai reportedly spent more than $50 billion to build new infrastructure and landmarks. In the 15 years Dodington has lived in Shanghai, the city's subway system went from nonexistent to the world's longest network with 420 kilometers (260 miles) of tracks.

Dodington remembers what the expatriate scene was like when he first arrived.

"There was one bar that was not in a hotel," he said. "You ring up your mate in the office: 'Hey, let's go out tonight,' and he would just hang up: 'OK, fine.' There was only one place."

Hundreds of bars and nightclubs now dot city streets, and government statistics show the number of registered foreign residents by the end of 2008 has exploded to 152,000 -- with Americans being the second largest community, trailing Japanese residents.

In the Jinqiao neighborhood in eastern Shanghai lies a picture-perfect replica of American suburbia. Single-house homes with manicured lawns stand near private schools with large sports arenas; SUVs scout for parking spaces at strip malls.

Lining up the main commercial street are restaurants with names like "New York Pizza" and "Cantina Agave." The latter, packed with families during weekend lunch hours, is the creation of Kelley Lee, a Chinese-American born and raised in Southern California, and trained as a chef in Paris.

When Lee had an opportunity to open a restaurant in Shanghai in 2004, she relocated without hesitation, having witnessed the city's resurgence in an earlier visit.

Six years later, Lee, 34, sits atop a mini-empire of six dining establishments across the city -- including two Mexican restaurants, an American microbrewery and a cocktail bar.

"It's an amazing place to start a business," she said. "If you work hard, there can be nothing better."

During the dinner rush hours in her brewery, Lee brought food to the tables, suggested beers at the bar, and even briefly donned the chef's dress to help out in the kitchen.

She acknowledged the challenge of bringing Chinese customers to Western restaurants. But she said she captured an ever-larger local clientele by sticking to authentic food and ambiance at her venues.

"Every year, I keep saying to myself that I'm going to go back to the States, but every year I find that there are just more opportunities," she said. "It's such a fantastic place to grow a business."

It is also a remarkable place to keep a loyal musical following. The sound of jazz from Shanghai's ubiquitous dancing halls, which had once permeated the city until the then new Communist government put a stop to it, has returned after decades of silence.

One staple venue is the dark and smoky Cotton Club. Trumpeter Hwa Fu performed on a recent Saturday night to a packed crowd of locals and expatriates.

Born in Taiwan, Fu, 35, grew up in Seattle and moved to Shanghai in 2002 to join the music scene in a city in the fast lane.

As Dodington speaks the Shanghai dialect with a Southern drawl and Lee chats in Mandarin with a Californian twist, Fu, too, has discovered the connection between his musical notes and the city that effortlessly blends East and West.

"Jazz is the energy in Shanghai," he said. "Shanghai is reborn as a city -- it's changing so fast and it's great!"

Boxing champion Vitali Klitschko plans to be political heavyweight

From Diana Magnay and Barry Neild, CNN

January 20, 2011 -- Updated 1517 GMT (2317 HKT)

CNN's global series i-List takes you to a different country each month. In January, we visit Ukraine and look at changes shaping the country's economy, culture and social fabric.

Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Ukrainian politicians don't pull their punches. There have been fist fights in parliament and, as the country deals with aftermath of a turbulent two decades since emerging from Soviet rule, brushes with the law that have threatened to bruise reputations.

Newcomers could be forgiven for entering this uncompromising arena with trepidation -- unless, of course, they are Vitali Klitschko.

A name familiar to boxing fans, Klitschko is the current WBC world heavyweight champion, having retained his title last October with a victory that left American opponent Shannon Briggs recovering in hospital.

But Klitschko has also been making a name for himself in Ukraine's political ring, scoring success for his Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform party -- aptly also known as "Punch."

Gallery: Ukraine's pugilist politician

And the 38-year-old believes there are clear similarities between sparring in the ring and fighting a political corner.

"In every way, in life, in politics, you have to show your skills," he told CNN. "You have to defend yourself. You have to defend your mind -- not physically -- you have to use your strong mentality, you use your brain skills to defend your position."

Klitschko, already an oddity in the boxing world thanks to a doctorate in sports science that earned him the nickname "Dr. Ironfist," made the jump into politics in 2006, standing in his home city of Kiev.

He launched his Reform party in April last year, campaigning on a platform of anti-corruption and pledging to bring "European standards" of politics and economics to Ukraine.

Standing at over two meters tall, Klitschko is a formidable addition to Ukraine's political landscape, but the fighter says, unlike some politicians, he will keep his fists to himself.

It's painful to see that if a politician doesn't have brain power to defend his position, he tries to use his muscles
--Vitali Klitschko, boxer and politician

RELATED TOPICS

• Vitali Klitschko
• Wladimir Klitschko
• Ukraine
• Boxing

"I am actually 20 years in sport, in boxing, and never ever in 20 years I use my skills outside of the ring," he said.

"It's painful to see that if a politician doesn't have brain power to defend his position, he tries to use his muscles -- this politician doesn't have a future."

Klitschko isn't the only fighter to switch from pugilism to politics. In the Philippines, welterweight world champion Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao was last year elected to the country's House of Representatives.

Even as he eyes inevitable retirement from boxing, Klitschko says he will not focus entirely on politics, maintaining an active role in the children's charity he runs with younger brother Wladimir, also a world heavyweight champion.

Founded in 2003, the Klitschko Brothers Foundation built on work the pair were already undertaking for the United Nations, aiming to promote healthy lifestyles for children through sport.

"We try to give the young generation the opportunity to develop himself through sport," he said. "We try to use the power what has sport to change the world and bring attention to the people the problems that have our society."

Klitschko credits his relationship with his brother -- sometimes compared to that of the tennis world's champion sisters Serena and Venus Williams -- for his success.

"My brother is not just brother -- he's my best friend," he said. "We understand each other very well, we help each other and maybe that's why we're lucky and successful in sport.

"We make a condition in sport also: we never fight each other but we play each other at table tennis, chess. The life without a brother would be so boring and that's why I'm thankful to my parents I have my brother Wladimir. "

Palme d'Or winner denied foreign film Oscar nomination

20 January 2011 Last updated at 12:36 GMT

Uncle Boonmee was a surprise winner of the Palme d'Or last year

The Thai movie that won the prestigious Palme d'Or at Cannes will not feature at the Oscars in the foreign language film category.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives was one of 66 films that had featured on the Academy's longlist of eligible titles.

Yet it is not one of the nine films that have been chosen for the next round of voting.

France's official submission, Of Gods and Men, has also been eliminated.

The film, inspired by the murder of seven French monks in Algeria in 1996, was also lauded at Cannes where it won the Grand Prix last May.

The nine films on the Academy's shortlist hail from Algeria, Denmark, Canada, Greece, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Spain and Sweden.

The shortlist will now be winnowed down to five nominees, to be announced with the rest of the Oscar nominations on Tuesday.

Uncle Boonmee, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, tells of a dying man who is visited by the ghosts of his late wife and son.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM SHORTLIST

• Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) - Algeria
• Incendies - Canada
• In a Better World - Denmark
• Dogtooth - Greece
• Confessions - Japan
• Biutiful - Mexico
• Life, Above All - South Africa
• Tambien la Lluvia (Even the Rain) - Spain
• Simple Simon - Sweden

The film was praised by critics and awarded the Palme d'Or by a jury headed by the US director Tim Burton.

Algeria's submission, Outside the Law, provoked controversy when it premiered in Cannes last May.

Demonstrators claimed that Rachid Bouchareb's film - which tells of three brothers caught up in Algeria's struggle for independence - was biased against France.

The Academy Awards take place at Hollywood's Kodak theatre on 27 February.

Last year's foreign language film Oscar went to Argentinian drama The Secret in Their Eyes.

One of the titles it beat to the award was Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, recipient of the Palme d'Or in 2009.

Google fights Spanish privacy order in court

20 January 2011 Last updated at 12:42 GMT

If Google loses its bid to overturn the ruling, it could have consequences across Europe

Google has challenged Spain's data watchdog in court over claims that its search engine invades personal privacy.

The regulator had told the internet giant to delete links to websites that contain out of date or inaccurate information about individuals.

But the company argues that it is publishers - and not search engines - that should be forced to take action.

Google lawyers told Madrid's high court yesterday that deleting results "would be a form of censorship".

The case revolves around a ruling by the Spanish data protection agency, the AEPD, that some search results contravene the country's privacy laws.

In particular, the watchdog says that Google breaks the country's so-called "right to be forgotten" - a law that enables people to control information about them.

Google is hoping to overturn five AEPD adjudications, including one involving a leading surgeon who has complained that the site's search results treat him unfairly.

Publisher or distributor?

The man was charged with criminal negligence in 1991 but later acquitted of any wrongdoing.

When a Google search is conducted on his name, however, only reports about his arrest - not the eventual outcome of the case - are visible.

The AEPD has said that this is wrong, and that in an increasingly digital world the right to be forgotten should include the ability to delete incorrect or out of date information online.

It has sought an injunction against Google to force it to comply, which the company says is a "dangerous" move.

"Asking search engines to withdraw the information in an arbitrary manner is very dangerous," Google lawyer Luis Javier Aparicio Falon told the court.

"Search engines are a fundamental part of the information society, and it would be attacking freedom of expression."

Speaking before the trial started, Google executives said that it was a fundamental error for regulators to treat the engine as a publisher of information, rather than a distributor.

"We are disappointed by the actions of the Spanish privacy regulator," said Peter Barron, Google's director of external relations, in a statement.

"Spanish and European law rightly hold the publisher of material responsible for its content. Requiring intermediaries like search engines to censor material published by others would have a profound chilling effect on free expression without protecting people's privacy."

'Right to forget'

If Google is unsuccessful in its challenge, it will be forced to delete information about the individuals concerned from its Spanish site - as well as respond to another 88 cases also brought by the regulator.

Although the Californian company famously stopped political censorship of its Chinese service last year, it does screen search results in other countries in order to comply with the law.

In the US it blocks sites known to carry material that violates copyright, while in France and Germany it deletes listings for neo-Nazi and race hate groups.

The case could also have an impact outside Spain - particularly since the European Union has said that it is considering applying the right to be forgotten across the entire continent.

"Internet users must have effective control of what they put online, and be able to correct, withdraw or delete it at will," said Viviane Reding, Europe's digital rights commissioner, two months ago.

"The right to be forgotten is essential in today's world."

Microsoft explains Windows phone 7 'phantom data'

20 January 2011 Last updated at 11:10 GMT

The software was seen as the firm's first credible challenge to other phone systems

Microsoft has confirmed that some handsets running its Windows Phone 7 software are sending and receiving "phantom data".

Earlier this year, users complained on net forums that their phones were automatically eating into their monthly data plans without their knowledge.

Microsoft said its investigation found that most problems were caused by a unnamed "third party" service.

However, it said it was still looking into other potential faults.

"We are in contact with the third party to assist them in making the necessary fixes," a spokesperson said.

The firm also said that it was looking into "potential workarounds" until the issue was solved.

"At this point in our investigation, we believe this is responsible for most of the reported incidents.

It said that the problem seemed to only affect "a small (low single-digit) percentage of Windows Phone customers".

'Root cause'

The problem surfaced in early January with some owners of phones running Windows Phone 7, claiming that their phone was sending "between 30 and 50MB of data" every day; an amount that would eat into a 1GB allowance in 20 days.

Most complainants were based in the US.

"I received an e-mail from AT&T saying that I was close to my 2GB data limit which truly shocked me as I feel I do not use data that much," a phone owner called Julie told Paul Thurrott's supersite for Windows.

"I went and looked at my AT&T account online and noticed that my phone was sending huge chunks of data seemingly in patterns."

Another, writing on Howard Forums, said that they had noticed that the phone's "idle data usage is around 2-5MB per hour".

Microsoft has admitted that not all problems may have the same root cause and has said it was still "investigating" other potential reasons for the fault.

"We are continuing to investigate this issue and will update with additional information and guidance as it becomes available," the spokesperson said.

Windows Phone 7 was launched in October 2010 to acclaim by manufacturers and users.

It is considered the company's first credible challenge to rival operating systems from Apple, Google, Research in Motion and Nokia.