Mother tries to sell newborn for Dh10,000 in Abu Dhabi, court hears



ABU DHABI // A mother tried to sell her newborn daughter for Dh10,000, saying she could not afford to care for the child, Abu Dhabi Criminal Court heard on Sunday.

A woman she asked for help took her to her neighbours who, she said, could find a foster family for the baby, reported Aletihad, the Arabic-language newspaper of The National.

Two other people took the woman, mother and newborn from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, but did not know of the deal to sell the child, the court heard.

“When we reached Abu Dhabi, I met a lady in a hotel and she expressed her interest, and told me and the mother how much she loves children and gave us Dh10,000,” the woman said.

In court, she denied that she had said this to police, claiming she was only a mediator.

The neighbours and one of the people accused of taking them to Abu Dhabi denied driving them to the capital or playing any part in trying to sell the baby.

The hearing was postponed to November 7.

newsdesk@thenational.ae

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It's up to you to go green

Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.

“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”

When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.

He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.

“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.

One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.  

The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.

Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.

But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”


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