Ripped from the Headlines: April 2026: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for April 5–April 11, 2026

The Hershey Company announced that going forward, it will only use real chocolate in its candy. The statement followed a backlash over revelations that the brand had replaced milk chocolate in some of its products with a chocolate-flavored substitute. Brad Reese, a grandson of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups inventor, ignited the widespread criticism in February with a public letter that drew attention to the substitution.

India began a yearlong process of counting its population, the country's first census since 2011. In 2023, the United Nations estimated that India had become the most populous country in the world, with about 1.4 billion people. The process of tallying them is logistically daunting — census workers will visit homes in 640,000 villages and 9,700 towns and cities to collect data on residents. The Latin root of census is censere, "to assess."

A crowd of clowns and their supporters marched through the streets of La Paz, Bolivia, to protest a recent government decree that limits holiday parties in schools. The mandate increases the number of "lesson days" each year, limiting events that feature entertainers to weekends. Bolivian clowns are familiar cultural figures, commonly hired to entertain children at school. Decree derives from the Latin decernere, "pronounce a decision."

A worldwide fertilizer shortage caused by the war in Iran is provoking panic among Indian farmers. These growers mainly use synthetic crop-enhancing material that is produced using natural gas and imported via the Strait of Hormuz. High energy prices and the shipping corridor's blockade have made access to fertilizer less reliable. Without it, agriculture would be incapacitated in the world's most populous country, reducing crop yields and causing food insecurity for many Indians.

Mayors in several German cities and towns are calling for a nationwide ban on nighttime use of robotic lawn mowers in order to protect nocturnal animals. Scientists say hedgehogs, which are most active after the sun goes down, are particularly vulnerable because they curl up in a ball when threatened and often aren't detected by the automated mowers. Nocturnal is from the Latin nocturnus, "belonging to the night," and the root nox, "night."

NASA's Artemis II made its closest approach to the moon on April 6, allowing its four crew members to make observations never before seen by humans. The spacecraft was most proximate to the moon, within 4,067 miles of its surface, just before reaching its peak distance of 252,756 miles away from Earth. Being so close to the lunar surface allowed the astronauts to capture detailed photos of craters and lava flows. The Latin root of proximate is proximus, "nearest."

A mayoral candidate in Johannesburg, South Africa, snorkeled through a deep, muddy trench in a suburban road to publicize what she describes as years of mismanagement by city authorities. Politician Helen Zille donned a mask, snorkel, and wet suit before swimming through the water-filled ditch, which was caused three years ago by a burst water pipe that has never been properly repaired. Snorkel was coined from German navy slang Schnorchel, "snout."

Japan’s prohibition on married partners having different surnames inspired a dating agency to hold matchmaking events for people with the same last name. The rule specifies that spouses must share a family name and may only use that name on legal documents. The Tokyo matchmaker has brought together singles who share the country's most common surnames, including Suzuki, Ito, Tanaka, and Sato. Participants said they were reluctant to change their last names if they got married.

A new study suggests that a protein found in sweat, tears, and saliva may help explain why up to 35 percent of people aren't vulnerable to the flu virus. In an effort to understand why some individuals have a reduced susceptibility to influenza, researchers zeroed in on an amino acid chain produced by the body. People whose sweat contained more of this protein were less likely to be affected by the virus, indicating that it acts as a natural antiviral.

After a widespread online hoax claimed that the world's oldest tortoise had died, officials in the British island territory of St. Helena rushed to confirm that Jonathan was alive and well. Fans of the venerable reptile, who is at least 193 years old, were distressed by the rumor and relieved to learn he was living out his days in comfort at the governor's residence. The Latin root of venerable means "worthy of reverence or respect."