UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Swedish state pharmacy to sell dildos

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 6 (UPI) -- A state-run pharmacy chain in Sweden has announced it will begin carrying sex toys after many customers requested the items.

A survey conducted for state pharmacy Apoteket by the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education found a majority of Apoteket shoppers asked what they would like the pharmacy to begin carrying chose dildos and massage oils, The Local reported Thursday.

"We are aware that sex is a very important part of everyone's life. It is important to help people in this area, and there is a certain demand for the products," said Apoteket spokeswoman Elisabet Linge Bergman.

Linge Bergman said the store has not yet decided what additional sex toys it will stock in the near future.

"We will sell massage oils and dildos. We can't say anything more yet," she said.

City offers meter parking by cell phone

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, March 6 (UPI) -- The city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, has launched a new service where drivers can top up their parking meter time from anywhere using a cell phone.

A four-month pilot project worked successfully, and the city rolled out the high-tech plan citywide on Wednesday, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., reported.

Users must create an account with the city with their personal and credit information, along with the vehicle description. Once parked, users dial a number and enter a location code and leave.

When the time is down to a few minutes, the system text messages the driver, who can then punch in a payment extension without having to return to the vehicle, said Colin Stewart of the Winnipeg Parking Authority.

"It's very hard to leave that meeting and go ... buy another receipt and put that on your dash," Stewart said.

Construction worker survives cave-in

NINGBO, China, March 6 (UPI) -- A 52-year-old Chinese construction worker says he survived being buried for two hours by a wall of mud by positive thinking and Buddhist meditation.

Wang Jianxin was digging a ditch in the eastern China coastal port of Ningbo when a wall suddenly collapsed on him. He had nothing to protect himself except his plastic safety helmet and that, plus a calm, thoughtful approach to his predicament, was all he needed.

"I had my back to the wall and didn't know it was falling until it was on top of me," he told The Times of London. "It was suddenly dark and I realized what had happened and found that there was a small air pocket in front of me (in his helmet)."

That was when the Buddhist turned to meditation to control his intake of oxygen. "I knew it would not last, so I made myself relax and concentrated on slowing down my breathing by meditation," he told The Times.

It took his fellow workers two hours to get him out. Doctors called his survival a miracle, saying a person normally couldn't live longer than five minutes in a similar sealed space.

Daughter stops funeral by stealing body

HAMILTON, New Zealand, March 6 (UPI) -- As a 76-year-old New Zealand woman was about to be buried by nine of her children, the 10th offspring stole the body from the hearse and ran off with it.

Now, the rest of the family is trying to find a way to get Ivy May Ngahooro back.

Ngahooro said in her will she wanted to be buried in Hamilton, where she died, but her stranged daughter Joanne learned her mother was ill and came to see her.

Her mother however was already dead so Joanne came back with four carloads of supporters and snatched the body, reports said, and made for Taumarunui, where Joanne lives.

Police say they can do nothing, the New Zealand Herald said.