This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for June 8–June 14, 2025

Animal advocates in South Africa have increasingly been dehorning rhinoceroses to protect them from poachers. A new study found that trimming rhinos' horns every few years reduces poaching by almost 80 percent. Conservationists say that the practice is painless for the rhinos, and it removes the main reason for killing the endangered animals — their valuable horns, which are used in traditional medicines or kept as trophies.

A 160-pound loggerhead turtle that had been rescued and treated for injuries was released minus one flipper. Dilly Dally, an adolescent sea turtle, was maimed by a predator before rescuers found her on a Florida beach. Veterinarians examined her wounds and decided to amputate her front flipper. Despite the loss of a limb, Dilly Dally was able to walk and swim well enough to return to her Atlantic home. The Latin root of amputate means "to lop off or prune."

Getty Images is suing Stability AI for what it's calling "brazen infringement" of Getty's photography collection. A British High Court trial will decide whether the artificial intelligence company's image-making tool violated legal copyright protections. Getty argues that training the AI system on Getty's entire catalog without paying for the photos is a breach of intellectual property law.

King Charles will knight British soccer star David Beckham later this month. Beckham's path to the royal honor began years ago when his winning goal qualified England for the 2001 World Cup, and an announcer cried, "Give that man a knighthood!" Two years later, Beckham was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire, a first step toward becoming a knight. His new title will be Sir Beckham, and his wife Victoria (formerly Posh Spice of the Spice Girls) will be Lady Beckham.

Protests against immigration raids rattled Los Angeles this week. The demonstrations began after Immigration Customs Enforcement raids across the city resulted in hundreds of arrests. Though the protests were largely peaceful, there were some violent incidents, property destruction, and looting. California officials reacted angrily after the White House deployed the National Guard and mobilized 700 marines. Governor Gavin Newsom said the response could inflame a volatile situation.

This year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia had extra safety measures designed to manage the extreme heat and large crowds. Millions of Muslim pilgrims make the journey every year, traveling to Mecca from around the world, many of them walking for hours to get there. Islamic law says everyone who is physically able must make the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime.

Some communities are making plans to recycle sewage to bolster their water supplies as the climate grows hotter and drier. In parts of the American West where the population is increasing, water is becoming increasingly scarce. Treating wastewater is one possible solution; the process takes used water from bathrooms and kitchens and purifies it using screens, ultraviolet light, and bacteria. Initially, this cleaned-up sewage will only be used to irrigate lawns and farmland.

Scientists found the first concrete evidence to support the accepted theory that long-necked dinosaurs were vegetarians. A team of paleontologists discovered fossilized plants inside a sauropod's stomach, a rare find since leafy plants don't fossilize as well as the prey eaten by carnivores. Analysis showed that the fossils included material from tall coniferous trees and low-growing flowering plants. It also confirmed that these dinosaurs didn't chew, but instead swallowed plants whole.

Archaeologists in northern Michigan were surprised to find vestiges of ancient Native American agriculture on a massive scale. Using a drone and a laser instrument, researchers discovered remnants of raised beds in parallel rows. Long before colonizers arrived in North America, people were growing beans, squash, and corn; this new evidence shows that Native Americans cultivated these crops in vast fields. Vestige comes from the Latin vestigium, "footprint, trace."

A pet zebra named Ed was captured after more than a week on the run in Tennessee. The large black-and-white striped animal, which spent eight days evading pursuers, had been briefly spotted running along a highway and trotting through a neighborhood. After authorities caught up to Ed, they used a helicopter to airlift him to an animal trailer and returned him to his owners, who say they plan to relocate the African equine to a wildlife refuge.