This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for July 27–August 2, 2025

A new Minnesota law will require social media to warn users about possible adverse mental health effects. Modeled after cigarette and alcohol labels, the pop-up messages will state that using social media for long periods of time has proven links to anxiety, depression, and other negative mental health conditions. Users will have to acknowledge they've read the warnings before using the sites. The Latin word adversus, "turned against, hostile," is the root of adverse.

The urban astronomy group #popscope, which hosts pop-up stargazing events, has expanded from Ottawa to other locations in Canada, the U.S., Ireland, Malawi, and India. The organization was formed 11 years ago and recently celebrated its 500th pop-up. It provides city dwellers with free opportunities to peer at the stars and planets through a telescope. The founders of #popscope, all amateur astronomers, rely on donations and volunteers to keep their stargazing operation running smoothly.

Cambodia and Thailand capitulated to political pressure from China and the U.S. to agree to a ceasefire. The countries have clashed for decades over their shared border, with both claiming possession of an ancient Hindu temple. China used its powerful position as both countries' biggest trading partner to press for a peace deal, and President Trump threatened new tariffs if fighting continued. The disputing nations gave in to this economic pressure, grudgingly accepting the ceasefire.

A report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a U.N.-backed organization that tracks food security, says that people in the Gaza Strip are facing acute malnutrition. Since Israel's invasion in response to the Hamas attacks in 2023, more and more of Gaza's population has gone hungry. The IPC report said that over 20,000 children have been treated for malnutrition since April and warned that without humanitarian access, there will soon be widespread starvation.

A Chuck E. Cheese mascot was arrested in Tallahassee, Florida, for credit card fraud. Jermell Jones, whose job at the pizza restaurant and entertainment center involved wearing a costume with a gigantic mouse head, was charged with three felonies. After Jones was searched and found to have a customer's credit card, he was handcuffed and led away while still in his mouse costume. Mascot comes from the provincial French mascotte, "faerie friend."

After reports that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will dismiss the members of the Preventive Services Task Force, U.S. Senators Angus King and Elizabeth Warren introduced a resolution to protect the group. The task force's medical experts make recommendations, such as cancer screenings and prenatal supplements, to help guard against illnesses and birth defects. This advice helps determine which preventive care is covered by insurance.

A bill in Congress would make it illegal in all 50 states to own captive primates. Animal experts agree that when spider monkeys, chimpanzees, and other primates are kept as pets, they almost always experience illness, stress, and malnutrition. These intelligent, emotional animals need to be among their own families in order to be healthy. Several states have laws outlawing primate ownership, but it's still legal in many places to keep and breed them.

On an island in Barbados, researchers found a tiny, sinuous creature that was later determined to be the Barbados threadsnake, thought to be extinct. The curvy little reptile — as thin as a piece of spaghetti and just four inches long — was found coiled up alongside an earthworm. The last sighting of the wriggly, wormlike serpent was 20 years ago. Conservationists worry about the survival of the tiny, sinuous reptile, as its habitat has been nearly obliterated due to deforestation.

Fans celebrated wildly as England's women's soccer team ensured its place as the country's standard-bearer for the sport. Their hard-fought win over Spain in the European championship final marked the first time an English soccer team has won a major trophy in another country. The team, nicknamed the Lionesses, stand at the forefront of the sport in England; the men's team hasn't won a soccer championship since 1966.

Archeologists in Spain found evidence that a site previously thought to be a Roman-era church was actually an ancient synagogue. Excavations in the Ibero-Roman town of Cástulo revealed pieces of oil lamps decorated with menorahs and the lid of a jar with Hebrew writing on it. These relics suggest the presence of a 4th-century gathering place for Jewish worshippers. The word synagogue is derived from the Greek roots sun, "together," and agein, "bring."