Odd News
70-year-old woman gives birth to twins, father flees

The 70-year-old woman
In an extraordinary turn of events that sounds more like a script from a dramatic movie, a 70-year-old woman from Uganda has given birth to twins, turning a page in her life that many thought was firmly in the past.
Safina Namukwaya, hailing from Masaka, located about 75 miles west of Uganda’s capital, Kampala, has lived most of her life under the shadow of being labeled “cursed” due to her inability to conceive. But the narrative of her life took an unexpected twist when, against all odds, she became a mother to twins—a boy and a girl, both in good health—at a hospital in Kampala. This miraculous event came just three years after the birth of her first child, a daughter, at the age of 67.
Dr. Edward Tamale Sali, who spoke to AFP about the birth, described it as an “extraordinary feat.” Indeed, the path to motherhood for Safina was far from conventional, involving in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments that finally allowed her to experience the joy of motherhood not once, but twice, in her twilight years.
The story, however, takes a bittersweet turn with the reaction of her current partner, whom she met in 1996 after the death of her first husband in 1992. The joy of the newborn twins was not shared by him; in fact, he was conspicuously absent from the hospital during their birth. Safina revealed to AFP that he might not have been thrilled about the arrival of the twins, perhaps daunted by the responsibilities they brought along. According to her, he vanished during her pregnancy and has not been seen since she was hospitalized, a testament to his reluctance to embrace this new chapter.
Safina’s journey to motherhood later in life is a narrative of resilience, breaking societal norms, and the wonders of modern medicine. It’s also a stark reminder of the challenges women face in societies where fertility defines their worth. While the absence of her partner casts a shadow over this story, the birth of the twins is a beacon of hope and a symbol of triumph against adversity.
In a world that often writes off the dreams of the elderly, Safina Namukwaya stands tall, a mother at 70, defying age, societal expectations, and even biology itself, to bring new life into the world. Her story is a powerful testament to the fact that it’s never too late for miracles to happen, and sometimes, they come in pairs.
Odd News
Message in bottle floats from Canada to Ireland in 13 years

A message in a bottle launched by visitors to Newfoundland’s Bell Island was found washed up on an Irish beach nearly 13 years later, after apparently crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
Kate Gay said she was walking a Dingle Peninsula beach this week when she spotted the wine bottle with a sheet of paper inside.
Gay showed the bottle to members of Creative Ireland NeartnaMacharaí during a meeting at her house that evening, and they broke the bottle open.
The note, written by a couple named Brad and Anita, was dated Sept. 12, 2012. The letter described the couple’s day trip to Bell Island.
There was a phone number on the letter, but there was no answer when group members tried to call.
The Maharees Heritage and Conservation group posted photos of the bottleto social media on Monday, and within an hour group members were messaging with Anita.
Group member Martha Farrell said Anita reported that she and Brad had married in 2016 and are still together to this day. -upi.com
Odd News
Woman earns world record for collection of 15,485 egg cups

A Spanish woman who has been collecting egg cups for over 50 years earned a Guinness World Record when her collection was tallied at 15,485 items.
María José Fuster recruited two witnesses to help her tally her collection at a community center in her hometown of Campo, Spain.
Fuster’s collection includes multiple patterns, colors, designs and even novelty cups bearing the images of characters including Superman, Betty Boop and Garfield.
Fuster maintains two blogs related to her hobby — one to catalog each piece, and one to list the names of the people who have donated egg cups to her collection.
Some of her most prized egg cups, about 1,143 of them, are currently on display at a local museum.
-upi.com