The English language has almost reached the one-million-word mark, according to an expert running a website that tracks the language's development. Paul Payack of the Global Language Monitor says that the English language's expansion was greatly aided by the addition of email and Internet lingo. These technology-based means of communication, according to Payack, have resulted in the rise of now-common phrases at a significant speed.

A yearlong study by Spain's Health Ministry reveals that the standard for clothing sizes for women may need to be adjusted to more accurately reflect the body type of a normal person, and not a fashion model. By measuring over 10,000 female volunteers aged between 12 and 70 years old using laser scans, the study cited that Spanish women fall into three main body types namely hourglass-shaped, pear-shaped, and cylinder.

An unconventional artist who became notorious for turning the Trevi Fountain in Rome into a surreal pool of blood two weeks ago, mounted another protest action, this time using more than a million multi-colored plastic balls which he released from the top of Rome's famous Spanish Steps. "This was an artistic gesture to demonstrate the problems we have in Italy and to do so, I used art," Graziano Cecchini said of his latest stunt. "Both the Left and the Right are telling us so many lies and I and the Italians have had enough. They have broken our balls and hence this live art display. "

It was a festive and rich Christmas for 1,850 Spaniards holding the winning number 06381 for Spain's lottery. With a $3. 1 million jackpot, the winners received $430,000 each. The jackpot money was spread across 11 Spanish provinces where the tickets were sold, including Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante. In contrast, ticket holders of the second prize all came from Barcelona.

A ten-year-old boy has been described as a lingo genius after it was learned he could speak 10 languages aside from his native Hindi. Arpan Sharma, a primary pupil from Oldbury, West Midlands taught himself using CD-Rom, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Swahili, Mandarin, Polish, Thai and the Lugandan language of Uganda.