Paulette Jiles, a horse-riding poet and historical novelist who evoked the grit and grandeur of the American West in “News of the World,” died at 82. A fossil of a young carnivorous dinosaur fetched over $30 million at Sotheby’s. The auction house had estimated its value at $4 million to $6 million.

WASHINGTON − An ideologically divided Supreme Court on July 14 allowed the Trump administration to fire hundreds of workers from the Education Department and continue other efforts to dismantle the agency. The court's three liberal justices opposed the order, the latest win for President Donald Trump at the high court.

Lower-court judges have already blocked several Trump's policies including an asylum ban at the US-Mexico border.

The Supreme Court's ruling on universal injunctions brings Trump closer to changing how citizenship is granted to babies born to noncitizens in the U.S.

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to pause a lower court order that required the Department of Education to reinstate nearly 1,400 employees.

The case marks the Supreme Court’s first major ruling of Trump’s second term—though more are likely to follow.

Seven lawyers who spoke with Reuters cited a punishing workload and the need to defend policies that some felt were not legally justifiable among the key reasons for the wave of departures.

The Education Department has pledged to carry out required functions, but questions remain about its plan for contending with the loss of staff.