Blackmail and extortion schemes have existed for centuries, from 17th-century Scottish farmers paying off plunderers to David Letterman revealing he was targeted to keep his affairs quiet.

source https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/blackmail-vs-extortion-difference.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

From peaceful protests to resolutions condemning the fencing, communities along the United States-Mexico border are engaged in acts of resistance.

source https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/border-wall-states.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Sgt. Isaac Woodard Jr., a decorated veteran, was brutally beaten by the police in a small South Carolina town in 1946. Now the town is facing up to its past.

source https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/sergeant-woodard-batesburg-south-carolina.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Revelations about past racist behavior by top Virginia politicians are testing the state’s reputation as a progressive-minded beacon that backed Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

source https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/politics/virginia-scandal-racist-history.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Asked what had delayed her and Jared Kushner’s security clearances, Ms. Trump said it was “a backlog that exists of close to a million clearances across government.”

source https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/politics/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-security-clearance.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Five people have said Dr. Tyson told them of the episode over the last two years. Colleagues say she has used her personal story to inform her professional life as a political scientist.

source https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/politics/tyson-fairfax-sexual-assault.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Married with three children, she became a vigorous advocate after her wife died. Her name is on a new New Jersey law on gender identity.

source https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/obituaries/barbra-siperstein-dead.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Last week, a racist photo from the yearbook of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam surfaced online. Since then, it’s been chaos for the state’s top Democrats.

source https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/politics/virginia-scandal.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

The racial and sexual assault scandals that have roiled Virginia’s leaders are testing Americans’ views on failure, apology and when an act is unforgivable.

source https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/virginia-governor-scandal.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

President Trump shows new flexibility on his wall as House and Senate negotiators near a border security deal that would keep the government funded past Feb. 15.

source https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/politics/government-shutdown-deal.html?partner=rss&emc=rss