Ripped from the Headlines: August 2024: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for August 17–August 23, 2024

On August 19, the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution supporting a U.S. cease-fire plan for Gaza. The proposal includes a six-week pause of all fighting, during which Hamas would release most Israeli hostages and Israel would withdraw its troops and allow humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians. The initial period of peace would be used to negotiate a permanent cease-fire. Israeli and Hamas officials have both expressed reservations about the plan.

The Democratic National Convention in Chicago featured rousing speeches by party luminaries including former president Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, Senator Bernie Sanders, and vice presidential nominee Tim Walz. Other speakers who addressed an enthusiastic assembly of Democratic Party delegates included Oprah Winfrey and NBA coach Steve Kerr. Convention comes from the Latin conventionem, "meeting or assembly," and a root meaning "come together."

Thailand's new prime minister, the country's youngest-ever leader, is the latest member of a political dynasty. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is 37, is the head of the Pheu Thai Party, which was founded by her father, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Her aunt and uncle also served as prime ministers; the family's populist party has controlled Thailand's government for decades. The Greek source of dynasty is dynasteia, "power, lordship, or sovereignty."

The Burning Man festival is facing unusually slow ticket sales. The gathering, which celebrates art, community organizing, and self-expression, normally sells out months in advance. Burning Man typically attracts 70,000 participants to Nevada's Black Rock Desert for a week in August. The ticket cost of $575 may seem prohibitive to some potential festival attendees — and last year's event, when rain and muddy conditions put a damper on festivities, may have cooled some enthusiasm.

A live groundhog was discovered among a heap of stuffed animals in an arcade game in Pennsylvania. Owners of The Meadows frozen custard shop and arcade aren't sure how the stowaway marmot found his way into the claw game, where he was spied among the prizes. The large brown rodent was released in a nearby field by Pennsylvania game wardens. Other regional terms for a groundhog, whose name comes from its habit of burrowing underground, include woodchuck and whistlepig.

New research suggests that the monolith at the center of Stonehenge may have come from Northern Scotland, 450 miles away. The prehistoric monument is made up of enormous vertical and horizontal pieces of stone encircling a 16-foot slab of sandstone known as the Altar Stone. This six-ton block appears to have originated from much farther away than its neighbors. Moving it during Neolithic times would have taken years, and experts aren't sure how it was done.

A new statue honoring the civil rights leader John Lewis replaced a Confederate monument in Georgia. For over 100 years, a 30-foot obelisk memorializing the Confederacy stood in front of the DeKalb County Courthouse. The pillar was removed in 2020, and this week workers installed a 12-foot bronze statue of the late congressman in its place. Obelisk comes from the Greek obeliskos, "small spit or pillar," a diminutive of obelos, "spit, pillar, or needle."

Japan's high inflation rates have hit its beloved ramen shops particularly hard. The restaurants are widely considered a cultural institution. Most of them charge less than seven dollars for a warm bowl of broth and noodles, making the dish an affordable staple. As the cost of labor, ingredients, and electricity have increased, ramen restaurants have had to raise prices, or in the case of 49 shops, shut down. Ramen is from a Mandarin word meaning "pulled noodles."

Over the past two weeks, the anonymous street artist Banksy has stenciled zoo animals throughout London. The designs were painted in public areas around the city, all but one created using spray paint and stencils. The shape of a goat, painted in black, was the first to appear, followed by elephants, monkeys that seemed to swing across the side of a bridge, a pelican on a fish and chips shop, and more. Banksy's art has long taken the form of quickly stenciled graffiti.

As a powerful storm hit the coast of South Korea, it was downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm. Earlier, Typhoon Jongdari had reached maximum winds of 109 miles per hour; all piers, ports, beaches, and hiking trails on Jeju Island were evacuated as the swirling cyclone approached. Despite the downgrade, torrential rain and dangerous wind caused severe flooding around the capital city, Seoul. The Greek root of typhoon is typhon, "whirlwind."

Deep sea explorers discovered a British Navy ship that had been sunk in the North Sea by a German U-boat during World War I. More than 500 troops died when the HMS Hawke was torpedoed by the German submarine. Divers found that many of the sunken warship's guns were still intact, as well as some of its wooden deck. U-boat, coined during the First World War, is from the German U-Boot, short for Unterseeboot, or "undersea boat."

At least six people died and one remained missing after a luxury yacht sank in a storm off the coast of Italy. The 180-foot sailboat belonged to British technology entrepreneur and billionaire Mike Lynch. Reports suggest he was one of the victims of a sudden, violent storm that quickly submerged the vessel and trapped some of its 22 passengers and crew. Yacht derives from the Middle Low German jachtschip, "fast pirate ship" or "ship for chasing."