For numerous years, scholars have argued over what the definition of fascism is. Roger Griffen, a widely cited political theorist on the topic and professor of modern history at Oxford Brookes in the United Kingdom, offers one explanation. Griffen states, according to NPR News, that fascism is a “revolutionary form of extreme nationalism,” continuing with, “Fascists themselves want to overthrow either a communist or a traditional conservative or a liberal state to create a new order.”

It has been confirmed that North Korea has deployed troops to aid Russia in its ongoing war with Ukraine. The Kursk border has been Russia’s weak zone, and as of Monday, Oct. 21, that is where North Korea’s soldiers have been located. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has stated that this allocation of troops represents “a dangerous expansion of Russia’s war.”  Rutte has also argued that Russia utilizes this aid the way they exemplify “a sign of Putin’s growing desperation.”

A Florida man who was accused of tying his dog to a fence and abandoning it as Hurricane Milton approached the state is now charged with aggravated animal cruelty, authorities announced on Tuesday, Oct, 15. Giovanny Aldama Garcia, 23, of Ruskin, Florida, was arrested Monday, Oct. 14, on felony charges of aggravated animal cruelty, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said on X. The 23-year-old could face up to five years in jail if found guilty of the animal cruelty charge.

On Oct.16, the United States (US) carried out a round of strikes in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthis, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, targeting five underground weapons storage facilities using B-2 stealth bombers. While it wasn’t immediately clear how much damage the strikes caused, the attack appeared to be the first use of the B-2 in combat in years, and the first time the flying wing targeted sites in Yemen. The facilities housed advanced conventional weapons used to target military and civilian vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. 

Former One Direction star Liam Payne died at the age of 31 on Wednesday, Oct. 16, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after falling off a balcony at the CasaSur Hotel, where he had been staying. 

Fighting will continue between Palestine and Israel, even after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar’s death occurred while Hamas forces fought the Israeli military on Wednesday, Oct. 16, in the city of Rafah, Palestine.

Hurricane Helene hit the southeast region of the United States in late September, hitting the Carolinas especially hard. The storm hit land as a category four and immediately started destroying the land. Even now, thousands are without power, and the death toll is at 95, with many still missing. Unfortunately, the effects of Helene are now manifesting into a nationwide emergency.

On Sept. 20, 2024, the recently shut down Three Mile Island, Pennsylvanian, nuclear power plant resurged into the media spotlight as the corporation Microsoft gained the rights to the facility, stating plans for “powering the tech giant's cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) programs.”

On Oct. 1, 2024, the two vice presidential candidates, Republican Senator of Ohio JD Vance and Democratic Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz, met for the first time to take the vice presidential debate stage.

One of Hollywood's longtime sensations, Sean “Diddy” Combs, was arrested on a count of multiple charges on Sept. 16. The original indictment reads that he is being investigated for racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. It is believed that the crimes began in 2008 and continued up until his arrest. 

Over 80 flights were canceled at Miyazaki airport after a buried World War II-era bomb detonated on Wednesday, Oct. 6, on one of the airport's taxiways. The bomb, weighing five hundred pounds and creating a seven-meter by one-meter wide and deep crater, led to no casualties.

Republican former first lady Melania Trump last Thursday appeared to express strong support for abortion rights, potentially exposing a stark division with her husband, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, on a key election issue. Melania Trump seems to have joined a long line of Republican former first ladies who have come out in support of abortion rights, putting them at odds with their husbands' public views. This announcement comes a day after an excerpt of her soon-to-be-released memoir, in which she reportedly takes an even clearer pro-choice stance, was published in a newspaper report.

On Tuesday, Oct. 8, 14 attorney generals, led by officials in New York and California, filed lawsuits claiming that social media platforms such as TikTok, are damaging young individuals' mental health and “collecting data without their consent.” according to NBC News. 

Police are investigating what appears to be gunfire damage occurring overnight on Sept. 23 at a Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign Office for Vice President Kamala Harris in Arizona. “We can confirm that on 9/23/24, what appears to be damage from gunfire at…a DNC Campaign Office, was discovered,” Tempe police said in a statement to NBC News last week. The incident occurred just a few days before Harris visited Arizona as she campaigns for the upcoming presidential election. 

It has been revealed that New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. Adams claims he is innocent of the charges and urges New Yorkers not to give up on him until he can prove his innocence. 

After major attacks against the Hezbollah party just earlier this month by Israeli forces, another large-scale strike from Israel has decimated Hezbollah’s current leadership and caused further chaos within Lebanon.

In the second issue of this semester's copy of The Lamron, the Sustainability Corner talked in depth about the damaging effects of “climate breakdown.” For a quick understanding of this article and term, this means “...the wide-scale deterioration of a biome—a region’s native weather, animal, and plant life—resulting from human-caused emissions known for region-wide changes in months…climate breakdown is the accelerated, sudden shift towards devastating biome changes…but drastically more brutal form[s]: Wildfires, floods, and systematic breakdowns [infrastructure collapse]...even been cited as affecting processes like thermohaline circulation…” 

As former President Donald Trump was golfing near his country club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, there was a second attack on his life. The individual suspected is Ryan Wesley Routh, who was documented in court camping outside of the golf course, reportedly waiting nearly 12 hours for Trump to appear. 

Last month, Denise Battles, President of SUNY Geneseo, issued a statement declaring, "We cannot and will not take positions on political campaigns or parties." This statement has seemed to have sparked frustration among the student body, many of whom view it as hypocritical given the college's previous political involvement. Many students also believe this statement to have been put out as a response to students encouraging the college to divest from Israel as a show of support towards the Palestinian people harmed and killed as a result of the current conflict.

As news about environmental issues begins to take a backseat for the upcoming Presidential Election, one keenly prevalent issue has been cited multiple times in recent months: Climate breakdown.