>Our interpreters (vs compilers :-), i.e. people who make a living of
>translating text between languages), illiterate as they appear to be
>more often than not, still do correctly translate US 'billion' into
>'milijarda' (which is the Serb pronunciation). So, I think it's rather
>European vs American usage of the word, not just UK. What do the people
>of other continents say?

It may well be a European vs American usage. I only know about the UK usage for certain. My mother is British and I learned about the Millard and their Billion from her. The observations on UK television are from some vacation trips to the UK. They never used the term Millard on television. It was either the American Billion or, more rarely, the number was given as so many Thousand Millions.