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    Small Protests Against the U.S. Attack in Iran Sprouted Up Over the Weekend

    The last-minute demonstrations drew hundreds of people in some cities, fewer in others. Many expressed displeasure with the Iranian leadership but were against any more U.S. involvement in another war.Protesters in more than a dozen U.S. cities demonstrated on Sunday against the Trump administration’s airstrikes on Iran.Some rallies attracted hundreds, while others drew dozens. The overall turnout was far less than last weekend’s “No Kings” protests against the president that were held in all 50 states. Many of Sunday’s demonstrations, held in cities including New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles, were arranged late Saturday and had been described by organizers as “emergency mobilizations.”Demonstrators at several locations carried Iranian flags, and some held signs and placed banners across fences and buildings that read “No War in Iran!”U.S. Marines stand guard as a demonstrator protests in Los Angeles.David Swanson/ReutersOutside the gates of the White House in Washington, at least 200 demonstrators condemned the president, including some veterans. “He’s trying to become a king,” said Ron Carmichael, 78, who flew helicopters in the Vietnam War.In Chicago, more than 200 people attended a rally downtown. Ali Tarokh, a resident who said he immigrated from Iran 12 years ago after being imprisoned for political activities for two years, described the news of the airstrikes as “the worst thing that could have happened.”Although he opposes the Iranian leadership, Mr. Takokh said slow change was the only way to reform the government. “Regime change is kind of impossible over there,” he said, adding that President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel have only impeded any transition to a democratic society.Some protesters said that the escalating conflict with Iran would further the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza.In Los Angeles, Noor Abdel-Haq, a 26-year-old nurse, said she came out because of her personal ties to the tensions in the Middle East. Most of her family lives in Gaza or the West Bank, she said. “We don’t want more murder and destruction.”Ms. Abdel-Haq was among the scores of people who assembled in the Westwood neighborhood in a peaceful demonstration. Nearby, a small contingent of Marines and federal agents stood wearing tactical gear and carrying rifles.In 98-degree heat in Richmond, Va., Violeta Vega, 23, an in-home care worker and a leader of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Richmond, led protesters at Abner Clay Park in chants that included “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation.”The crowd numbered in the dozens. After the rally, her voice raspy, Ms. Vega said the gathering was necessary.“I felt empowered knowing that this was a day of action around the country,” she said.Robert Chiarito More

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    The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century

    More than 500 influential directors, actors and other notable names in Hollywood and around the world voted on the best films released since Jan. 1, 2000. Here is how their ballots stacked up. More

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    Vote for Your 10 Best Movies of the Century

    <!–> [–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–>In the space below, please list up to 10 titles that you consider to be the best films released since Jan. 1, 2000. Each movie should be feature length and released commercially. If you need a starting point, we have compiled our critics’ favorites from the last 25 years on one handy […] More

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    Judge Orders Abrego Garcia Released on Smuggling Charges Before Trial

    The order to release Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from criminal custody as he awaits trial was a rebuke to the Trump administration. But he is likely to remain in immigration custody.In a sharp rebuke to the Justice Department, a federal judge said on Sunday that Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia should be freed from criminal custody as he awaits trial on smuggling charges after his wrongful deportation to El Salvador and return to the United States.In a scathing order, the judge, Barbara D. Holmes, ruled that Mr. Abrego Garcia was neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community. The decision undermined repeated claims by President Trump and some of his top aides who have described the Salvadoran immigrant as a violent gang member, even a terrorist.But the decision by Judge Holmes, filed in Federal District Court in Nashville, was likely to be a short-lived victory for Mr. Abrego Garcia and his defense team. The judge acknowledged that he would probably remain in the custody of immigration officials, as his charges of smuggling undocumented immigrants across the United States moved through the courts.Judge Holmes’s ruling was the first judicial evaluation of the charges filed against Mr. Abrego Garcia since he was suddenly brought back to U.S. soil last month after prosecutors indicted him in Nashville. The decision to get him out of Salvadoran custody came as the Justice Department was under mounting pressure in a separate civil case. The judge in that case has threatened to hold administration officials in contempt for their serial evasions and delays in complying with her order to free him from El Salvador.Federal prosecutors immediately asked Judge Holmes to put the decision to free Mr. Abrego Garcia on hold, even as his lawyers hailed it.“We are pleased by the court’s thoughtful analysis and its express recognition that Mr. Abrego Garcia is entitled both to due process and the presumption of innocence, both of which our government has worked quite hard to deny him,” Sean Hecker, one of the defense lawyers, said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    How Trump Decided to Strike Iran

    Standing at the lectern in the White House briefing room on Thursday afternoon, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, read a message she said came “directly from the president.”Because of the “substantial chance of negotiations” with Iran that could bring the United States back from the brink of jumping into the war in the Middle East, President Trump’s statement said, he would make a decision about whether or not to strike Iran “within the next two weeks.”Mr. Trump had been under pressure from the noninterventionist wing of his party to stay out of the conflict, and was having lunch that day with one of the most outspoken opponents of a bombing campaign, Stephen K. Bannon, fueling speculation that he might hold off.It was almost entirely a deception. Mr. Trump had all but made up his mind to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, and the military preparations were well underway for the complex attack. Less than 30 hours after Ms. Leavitt relayed his statement, he would give the order for an assault that put the United States in the middle of the latest conflict to break out in one of the world’s most volatile regions.Mr. Trump’s “two weeks” statement was just one aspect of a broader effort at political and military misdirection that took place over eight chaotic days, from the first Israeli strikes against Iran to the moment when a fleet of B-2 stealth bombers took off from Missouri for the first American military strikes inside Iran since that country’s theocratic revolution in 1979.Journalists watching as President Trump addressed the nation after American bombs were dropped on Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday night.Anna Rose Layden for The New York Times More

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    Fred Smith, Billionaire Founder of FedEx, Is Dead at 80

    His vision for how to ship packages overnight led to not just a new company, but also a new sector of the world economy and a now-familiar English verb.Frederick W. Smith, who bet everything he had on a plan to revolutionize freight transport, courting disaster early on but ultimately winning vindication in the form of power in Washington, billions in personal wealth and changes in how people all over the world send and receive goods, died on Saturday. He was 80.His death was announced by FedEx in a statement that did not provide further details.FedEx was conceived in a paper that Mr. Smith wrote as a Yale University undergraduate in 1965. He argued that an increasingly automated economy would depend on fast and dependable door-to-door shipping of small packages containing computer parts. He got a C.Today, FedEx employs more than half a million people and operates the world’s largest fleet of cargo aircraft. On an average day, the company ships more than 16 million packages in about 220 countries and territories.Like Google, FedEx created a new service that came to be seen as so essential that the corporate name is now a widely recognizable verb.Mr. Smith was celebrated as one of the great business minds and executives of his time.He was well prepared for the industry he helped create. He flew planes as a teenager and then served two tours of duty in Vietnam as a Marine Corps pilot. His father, formerly chairman of the Dixie Greyhound Lines, was known as the Bus King of the South.Aside from seeing the need for national overnight delivery, Mr. Smith’s greatest innovation was a hub-and-spoke system of routes. He based the sorting of packages in Memphis, where he found an unused airplane hangar. He flew his planes at night, when the skies were relatively empty.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Pedro Almodóvar, Sofia Coppola and 117 Other Famous Names Share Their Top Movies of the Century.

    <!–> [!–> <!–> –><!–> –>and 73 more ballots from the over 500 voters who determined our list of the century’s best movies<!–> –> 100 Best Movies And more ballots from … actors  Naomi Ackie, Uzo Aduba, Casey Affleck, Joel Kim Booster, Daniel Brühl, Jemaine Clement, Richard Gadd, Tony Hale, William Jackson Harper, Naomie Harris, Sally […] More

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    Around Military Bases in the U.S., Unease Over What Comes Next

    Service members, veterans and their families expressed differing views on the airstrikes but shared concern over the safety of American troops.For some families who gathered this weekend at Fort Benning in Georgia, the past few days have served as a solemn reminder of the unsettling emotions military service can bring. On Friday, a group of Army enlistees graduated from basic training. On Saturday, President Trump bombed Iran. On Sunday, service members and their loved ones pondered an uncertain future.“People can lose their life, so I’m worried,” said Michele Bixby, 24, of upstate New York, whose brother had just graduated. “But it’s what he wanted to do; it’s what he loves to do. He’s going to move forward with it no matter what.”One day after the administration announced it had carried out airstrikes at three nuclear sites in Iran, the mood in some communities around military bases on U.S. soil varied from firm support to bitter disagreement. But one sentiment stood out among those interviewed: concern for the safety of America’s troops everywhere.No one knows how the strikes on Iran could affect service members. Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, emphasized on Sunday that the administration did not want an open-ended war. But Iranian leaders have vowed to retaliate, and U.S. military installations in the Middle East, with more than 40,000 active-duty troops and civilians employed by the Pentagon, are already potential targets.That reality, along with the potential repercussions for the entire military, was on the minds of many people around U.S. bases at home, even as service members accepted that reality as part of the job.“A lot of the families around here are quickly realizing this is a real threat; this is something we need to be worried about,” said Meghan Gilles, 37, a self-described military brat who works in the Army Reserve’s human resources division at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, a training site and home to the 101st Airborne Division.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More