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Fla. county offers gas cards to tourists

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 9 (UPI) -- Officials in Broward County, Fla., say they are offering tourists $25 gas cards if they book at least two nights in certain local hotels.

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The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau said tourists who book stays at certain Broward County hotels will receive $25 gas cards during the summer, when gas is expected to hit more than $4 a gallon, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Thursday.

Bureau President Nicki Grossman said the organization is prepared to spend up to $100,000 on the gas cards.

"Having them in our hotel rooms is worth the investment in their gas tanks," Grossman said.


Man gets two months for pooping in store

GAVLE, Sweden, March 9 (UPI) -- A Swedish man was sentenced to two months in prison and a $143 fine for defecating on the floor of a sporting goods store.

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Authorities said the 46-year-old man, whose name was not released, admitted in court to defecating on the floor of the sporting goods store in Gavle as well as a theft charge for breaking into another business and stealing four bottles of alcohol a few days before the defecation incident, The Local reported Thursday.

The man, who also admitted to breaking his landlord's window, was fined $143 to cover the cleaning bill for the store and a pair of pants he smeared his feces on. He was also fined $637 to cover the cost of the pilfered alcohol and the broken window. He was sentenced to two months in prison.


German store changes name after protests

CHEMNITZ, Germany, March 9 (UPI) -- A German store selling clothing brands favored by neo-Nazis has changed its name from "Brevik" due to it being close to the name of an extremist.

A spokesman for Mediatex, the owner of the week-old store in Chemnitz, said the shop was named for the Brevik village south of Oslo, Norway, but they decided to change the name to Tonsberg after protesters pointed out the word "Brevik" is only one letter off from the name of Anders Behring Breivik, a far-right extremist responsible for the deaths of 77 people in Norway last year, The Local reported Thursday.

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Mediatex owns the Thor Steinar clothing label, which is sold at the store and often worn by neo-Nazis.

The Mediatex spokesman said the company names its stores after places in Norway and previously operated a Brevik store in Hamburg, Germany, but the location closed in 2008.

Hanka Kliese, a politician with the Social Democrat party, said she does not accept that the store's name was accidental.

"The name was consciously chosen to make the connection to Breivik," she said. "It is repellent, shocking and unmasks the firm."

"Behind the company there is a violent and inhuman ideology," Kliese said. "We don't want a shop like that here, whatever they call it."


Woman has twins after 75 days with legs up

WROCLAW, Poland, March 9 (UPI) -- A Polish woman who was instructed to lie with her legs in the air for 75 days successfully gave birth to twins, doctors said.

Professor Mariusz Zimmer, who oversaw the birth in Wroclaw, said Joanna Krzysztonek was expecting triplets when she went into labor in the fifth month of her pregnancy and lost one of the fetuses, thenews.pl reported Thursday.

Doctors were able to stop the woman's contractions with medication and she was instructed to lie still with her legs up to give the remaining two babies the best chance of survival.

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Zimmer said Krzysztonek followed the instructions for 75 days and twins Iga and Ignacy were born healthy.

"Joanna took a risk, and following great dedication gave birth to two wonderful children," Zimmer told the daily Super Express.

Krzysztonek said she was happy she followed the doctors' instructions.

"It was only three months," she said.

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