NEWS HEADLINES
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At least 132 killed in Colombia's largest earthquake in years
The magnitude 7.4 quake had its epicentre in Chocó province, near the Pacific Coast, but could be felt in cities hundreds of kilometres away. read more
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Canada flight cancelled after child refuses to wear seat belt
The incident has sparked a debate over child safety and discipline on commercial planes. read more
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At least 13 killed in Ukrainian drone strike deep into Russia
Russian officials say another 75 people were injured by the attack - one of the deadliest Ukrainian drone attacks since Moscow's full-scale invasion. read more
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Netanyahu's rejection of Trump's 15-point Gaza plan unlikely to be final word
The Trump administration is said to be unbothered by the Israeli prime minister's rejection of the deal, viewing it as campaign rhetoric ahead of a general election. read more
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'We've had a lot of close calls': Canada wildfire evacuees wonder if they still have homes
More than 12,000 people have been forced to evacuate and some homes have been lost after a wildfire tore through Canada's picturesque Okanagan region. read more
BIOGRAPHY
Stephen Jay Gould was born and raised in the community of Bayside, a neighborhood of the northeastern section of Queens in New York City. His father Leonard was a court stenographer, and his mother Eleanor was an artist whose parents were Jewish immigrants living and working in the city’s Garment District.[6] When Gould was five years old his father took him to the Hall of Dinosaurs in the American Museum of Natural History, where he first encountered Tyrannosaurus rex. “I had no idea there were such things—I was awestruck,” Gould once recalled.[7] It was in that moment that he decided to become a paleontologist.
Raised in a secular Jewish home, Gould did not formally practice religion and preferred to be called an agnostic. Biologist Jerry Coyne, who had Gould on his thesis committee, described him as a “diehard atheist if there ever was one.

