Ripped from the Headlines: January 2025: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for January 26–February 1, 2025

Burglars stole a 2,400-year-old helmet and other artifacts from a Dutch museum. The thieves used explosives to blast a hole in the side of the Drents Museum in Assen, then snatched four valuable relics with connections to ancient Romania. Along with the golden helmet of Cotofenesti, they took three gold bracelets worn by royalty around 50 CE. Museum officials described the stolen artifacts as "archaeological masterpieces."

Colombia agreed to accept deportation flights after the Trump administration threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all Colombian goods entering the U.S. The country had earlier denied entry to two military planes with about 200 migrants aboard. Colombian officials stated that the migrants, none of whom had criminal records, must be removed from the U.S. with "dignity and respect." In 2024, there were more than 120 deportation flights to Colombia on chartered civilian planes.

A Brazilian nonprofit is teaching favela residents to build their own green garden roofs to stay cool without electricity. The technique is popular in Brazil's wealthy neighborhoods, but it's been assumed that the flimsy rooftops in the poorest communities couldn't support gardens. The solution is lightweight, hydroponic plots grown without soil. Favela comes from a story about soldiers living under favela trees as they built Rio's earliest makeshift settlements.

On January 27, Auschwitz held observances marking the 80th anniversary of the camp's liberation. The site in southern Poland was the largest Nazi death camp; 1.1 million people were murdered there during World War II. Survivors who were freed by Soviet soldiers in 1945 attended the memorial, along with relatives of those killed in the camp. The youngest of those liberated that day are now in their 80s. The Latin root of liberation means "free."

Millions of people around the world celebrated the start of the Lunar New Year, a festival observed in East Asian countries including China, Korea, and Vietnam, and by the Asian diaspora. January 29 was the first day of the Year of the Snake, and festivities included fireworks, parades, and feasts. The observance's timing is based on a traditional calendar following the cycles of the moon. Lunar derives from the Latin lunaris, "of the moon," from luna, "moon."

Volunteers in Northern California are working to protect thousands of six-inch salamanders as the amphibians migrate to their spawning ground. Rough-skinned newts move slowly as they make their way from a forested hillside to nearby Laguna Lake, crossing a rural road in between. The Chileno Valley Newt Brigade has organized nightly patrols during migration season to stop traffic while the tiny amphibians are crossing. The group also raises money to preserve native species.

Rent in L.A. County rose 20 percent after the recent wildfires, despite a law capping increases at 10 percent. In recent weeks, the monthly cost of houses and apartments doubled in several cities and tripled in the Valley Village and Sherman Oaks neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Over 10,000 homes were destroyed in the fires, and many say landlords are taking advantage of evacuees who need to rent new ones. Rent is from the Old French rente, "payment or profit."

For the first time ever, a skier and snowboarder completed 2340s during competition — in other words, six and a half rotations. Hiroto Ogiwara of Japan achieved the daunting feat first, during the Pacifico Snowboarding Big Air event. He was followed by Italian skier Miro Tabanelli, at the next day's ski event. Both won gold for pulling off the trick, in which they launched into the air, spun around six and a half times, and landed. The Latin root of rotation means "wheel."

Swedish authorities began investigating possible sabotage after an undersea communications cable was damaged. The cable, which runs between Sweden and Latvia, is one of many that have been severed in recent weeks. NATO officials suspect Russia may be involved in deliberately damaging the cables, and a Bulgarian vessel was seized in connection with the suspected vandalism. In French, sabotage originally meant "to bungle or walk noisily," from a root meaning "wooden shoe."

A recent EU report found that solar energy overtook coal in 2024. It was the first time in EU history that more electricity was produced by the sun's power than by burning coal, and sustainability experts consider it to be a major step in the union's transition to clean energy. The use of gas also declined for the fifth year in a row. Solar comes from the Latin solaris, "of the sun," and its root sol, "sun."

The authors of a new study claim to have created the perfect recipe for cacio e pepe, a pasta dish, using the laws of thermodynamics. Eight Italian physicists grated more than 11 pounds of pecorino cheese as they tested techniques using the scientific principle that explains the effects of heat energy — in this case, on starch. The group reached the conclusion that adding a precise amount of cornstarch in lieu of pasta water produces the ideal creamy, peppery pasta, with no gluey lumps.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has pledged to create the largest protected tropical reserve in the world. The Couloir Vert, or Green Corridor, will conserve peatland and lush forests across an area as large as France. This equatorial region is warm and humid, and it's home to endangered animals including three species of gorillas and the African forest elephant. Environmentalists are praising the project and its goal of preserving tropical biodiversity.