import re
regex = re.compile(r"(\{-\})|([\w\s]+)|\W")
test_str = ("{-}Lake Havasu City{-}Kingman-area{-}Lake Ha/vasu City{-}North Pointe-by-Read Homes{-}hola{*e}s!fsd3$^gdfg% \n")
subst = "\\1\\2"
result = regex.sub(subst, test_str)
if result:
print(result)
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Python, please visit: https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html