Ripped from the Headlines: April 2026: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for April 12–April 18, 2026

Three California men were arrested and charged with cargo theft after stealing two box trucks filled with Legos. The men allegedly absconded with at least $1 million worth of the toys, which have increasingly been targeted by thieves due to their high resale value outside of stores. As the culprits made off with the toys in the trucks, they were pursued by sheriff's deputies and were soon placed under arrest. Abscond derives from the Latin abscondere, "to hide."

University of Calgary students broke a world record this week with an assemblage of 682 people wearing dinosaur costumes. The school, whose sports teams are known as the Dinos, was determined to have surpassed the previous record of 468 people gathered together while dressed as the extinct reptiles. The assembled "dinosaurs" were celebrating the university's 60th anniversary, as well as its entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.

After a decisive loss in Hungary's general election, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán conceded to his rival, Péter Magyar. Orbán's concession came just three hours after polls closed, when Magyar's Tisza party looked likely to win a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Observers were surprised at how quickly the five-term, far-right leader admitted defeat; many had feared he would refuse to give up power. The Latin root of concede is concedere, "give way or yield."

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sought to debunk rumors about his poor health by doing jumping jacks in front of reporters. Reports claiming Marcos was dying — or had already died — began to circulate after he vanished from public view in January. He later stated he'd been treated for a minor ailment. Annoyed by continuing queries about his health, Marcos hoped his vigorous activity would disprove the claims. Debunk is from American slang bunk, "nonsense."

As part of a larger project to restore native fauna to the Brazilian rainforest, four blue-and-yellow macaws were moved to an urban park in Rio de Janeiro. It's been 200 years since the giant, colorful parrots have lived in the city; deforestation in the 18th and early 19th centuries made them locally extinct. Along with the birds, ecologists are returning other native animals to the 10,000-acre, forested park, including howler monkeys, red-rumped agouti, and yellow-footed tortoises.

The Federal Aviation Administration may cut flights at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport this summer to avoid anticipated gridlock. The plan was spurred by fierce competition between United Airlines and American Airlines, which have both added hundreds of scheduled flights, increasing traffic at what's already the busiest airport in the U.S. The FAA wants to avoid runway traffic jams by capping the number of takeoffs and landings at O'Hare to 2,600 per day.

After the Artemis II spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, Navy divers began the mission's final stage, locating the capsule and recovering its discarded hardware. The spacecraft jettisoned objects including the forward bay cover and the three main parachutes. While some divers worked to extract the four astronauts, others collected the ejected debris from the water. Jettison, originally "throw overboard from a ship," derives from a Latin word meaning "to throw."

A long-term study of the world's largest chimpanzee community documented what scientists describe as the primate equivalent of a "civil war." Researchers followed the chimps for 30 years, starting when they were a cohesive colony of about 200 living peacefully together. By 2015, the community started showing signs of polarization, gradually dividing into two hostile groups. This division grew over time until the opposing sides began engaging in violent, sometimes deadly, clashes.

A study in Alberta, Canada, showed that thermal drones can help farmers pinpoint the location of wild boars. Researchers tested automated drones equipped with sensors that could detect the body heat radiating from the giant nocturnal swine in the dark. AI programs helped them analyze the results and accurately record how many boars were present. The animals, which weigh up to 250 pounds, are a destructive, invasive species that devours crops and contaminates water sources.

Renowned topiary gardener Pearl Fryar died at the age of 86. He was a self-taught artist who used living plants as his medium, shaping shrubs and trees into spectacular forms over time. Fryar's creations included a bush in the shape of a giant fishbone, towering Cubist shrubs, and trees resembling whimsical, storybook inventions. Topiary is from a Latin word meaning "ornamental gardening" and the Greek root topia, "a field."