Ripped from the Headlines: July 2025: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for June 29–July 5, 2025

Russia struck Ukraine by air on June 29, dropping the most missiles in a single attack since the war started in 2022. The massive aerial bombardment targeted several cities, damaging infrastructure and injuring at least a dozen people. Despite ongoing peace talks, Russia has been increasing its attacks. Aerial is from the Latin aerius, "airy or high," and the Greek root aēr, "air."

Robots played a completely autonomous soccer match in Beijing, China, this weekend. Four teams of three humanoids faced off in games controlled by AI, with no actual human interaction. While the concept was impressive, the robots were less so: They had a hard time kicking the ball, and many, unable to remain upright, had to be carried off the pitch. Tsinghua University’s THU Robotics team managed to score five points in the final match to win the championship.

Assisted by a pitching machine, a rabbit named Alex the Great threw out the first ceremonial pitch at a minor league baseball game in Reno, Nevada. The 30-pound Flemish giant was rescued from a meat farm before being certified as a therapy rabbit. He became the first leporine animal to participate in the iconic baseball ritual — although dogs, cats, and a penguin have all thrown out the customary first pitch, with help from human handlers.

Thousands of Norwegians were notified that they had won big in a lottery, only to learn that the messages were erroneous. A "coding error" led to the mistaken notifications, which were sent to 47,000 people. Instead of dividing prize dollars by 100, the lottery company multiplied them, and winners who had actually won small amounts of money believed they'd hit the jackpot. Erroneous comes from err and its Latin root errare, "wander, go astray."

The WNBA announced that it will continue to grow, adding three more new teams by 2030. The expansion will increase the number of franchises in the women's basketball organization from 13 to 18, as Toronto, Canada, and Portland, Oregon, are already set to join the league next year. If the board of governors approves the plan, Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia will also have WNBA teams in the next five years. Expansion derives from a Latin word meaning "to spread out."

Scientists have developed brain implants for people who have disabilities that render them unable to speak or move. The devices are surgically inserted under the skin; they detect and decode signals coming from the person's brain and transmit them to a tablet or smartphone. The person's thoughts are turned into synthetically produced speech. The implants will allow patients who previously couldn't talk or type to communicate using their brain power.

The Department of Defense will no longer provide meteorologists with satellite weather data that scientists say is a critical linchpin in monitoring storms in real time. The satellites provide crucial information that hurricane forecasters depend on to predict when and where storms will make landfall. Without the information, it will be less clear when residents should evacuate. A linchpin, originally a literal "peg holding a wheel on an axle," is used metaphorically today.

Protesters demonstrated against the extravagant wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in Venice. Joined by 200 guests, Bezos married Lauren Sanchez on a Venetian island; the nuptials included three days of lavish parties. Venice is already strained by overtourism, and the billionaire's wedding infuriated many who said it stressed the city's fragile environment at the expense of those who live there. The Latin root of nuptials is nuptiae, "a wedding."

A new Florida law makes it illegal to add fluoride to public drinking water. The ban on fluoridation went into effect on July 1. Governor Ron DeSantis said the prohibition would end "forced medication," and that people could still choose to use fluoride toothpaste. Public health groups objected to the bill, arguing that regions without fluoridated water have significantly higher levels of tooth decay. Prohibition comes from a Latin root meaning "hold back or hinder."

The J.M. Smucker Company announced that it will remove all synthetic dyes from its jams and other products. While many of Smucker's food products are already free of artificial colors, its sugar-free jams and ice cream toppings currently contain them, as do many of its Hostess products, including Twinkies and Snoballs. The company said it will replace nonnatural dyes with natural versions by the end of 2027.