A Swedish couple had to scrap their plans to travel to Germany because the name they want to give to their six-month-old daughter is unacceptable by the State's tax board and the family can not travel without a registered first name on the kid's passport. Although the couple finds the name "Metallica" really befitting for their obstinate daughter, the tax board contends it as gross and unflattering. According to The Local reports, the tax board has refused to register the name on the grounds that the name may be derived from an American heavy metal band and is too closely related to the word "metal. "

A 16-year-old high school student was ejected from a Continental Airlines flight because she was coughing. Rachel Collier's mother, who was eagerly awaiting her daughter's return in Hawaii, was infuriated when she got a call from one of the trip supervisors telling her that Rachel was not allowed to travel from New York because she was coughing. Stephanie Collier, Rachel's mom thought that it was some kind of joke as April Fools Day is round the corner, but was shocked to discover the truth. Rachel, who was returning home to Honolulu after a class trip to Washington, D. C. , and New York boarded the nonstop flight to Hawaii with 40 classmates and two teachers.

A British couple is embarking upon a year-long planned journey around the world Monday without traveling by any planes and would stick only to the ground journey. According to the Daily Mail, Ed Gillespie, 34, and girlfriend Fiona King, 28, plan to travel 40,000 miles in their journey across 20 countries without boarding a single plane.

he city manager of a small Florida town announced his decision to pursue a sex-change operation, citing his life-long desire to become a woman. Steve Stanton, who has been the city manager of Largo, a 76,000-resident town on the west coast of Florida for 14 years, says his decision to change genders will not affect his ability to perform his job as a civil servant.

Angela Bustillo, who was crowned Miss Catabria 2007, was debarred from the title after it was learned that she was the mother of a three-year-old boy. The incident has sparked the issue of sexism in the country since, according to Bustillo, no such limitations apply to contestants in the Mr. Cantabria contest. Bustillo, 22, said she knew the pageant's rules that bar pregnant women, or those who already have children, from taking part in the contest, but that she thought they were obsolete.