Chicago

CHICAGO — Thousands of protesters marched through downtown Chicago on Sunday in one of the city's largest demonstrations in years, airing grievances about war, climate change and a wide range of other complaints as world leaders assembled for a NATO summit. The protest, which for months had stirred worries about violence in the streets, drew together a broad assortment of participants, including peace activists joining with war veterans and people more focused on economic inequality.

U.S. Attorney Peter Fitzgerald seemed perfectly suited for his job: Relentless in going after corruption and seemingly oblivious to the politics of the public figures, government officials and business leaders his office prosecuted and sent to prison. On Thursday, the man who held the job of U.S. attorney of the Northern District of Illinois longer than anyone else is scheduled to talk about his decision to leave at the end of June. In a written statement Wednesday, Fitzgerald only said that he would take the summer off before considering other job possibilities.

CHICAGO -- This is not ideal, not easy, and most definitely not healthy -- for them or you -- but this is what the Red Sox know, and that, it seems, is where their hope and faith lie. Down two games to none to Cleveland in the 1999 Division Series. Down two games to none to Oakland in the 2003 Division Series. Down three games to none to the Yankees in the 2004 Championship Series. Revived, and resplendent, in all three. "We've been down this road," the composed spokesman, Johnny Damon, said last night in the visiting clubhouse at US Cellular Field, where his teammates quietly ate after allowing five unanswered...

Chicago Police say they arrested 15 protesters who were blocking traffic during a demonstration in the city's financial district Wednesday. Protesters were demanding that CME Group Inc. return tax breaks granted by the state of Illinois to keep the futures trading company in the state. Their demonstration was near the Chicago Board of Trade building. CME is the parent company of the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. A CME spokesman says the Illinois tax breaks weren't an incentive but a solution to a tax code disparity.

CHICAGO - The Sears Tower, one of the world’s iconic skyscrapers and the tallest building in the United States, was renamed the Willis Tower yesterday in a downtown ceremony, marking a new chapter in the history of the giant edifice that has dominated the Chicago skyline for nearly four decades. Mayor Richard Daley unveiled the tower’s new name on a large black sign in the lobby with the help of Joseph Plumeri, the chairman and chief executive of Willis Group Holdings, the London-based insurance broker that secured the naming rights as part of its agreement to lease 140,000 square feet of space...

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff The Chicago Tribune has an eyewitness who claims that Theo Epstein was in Chicago yesterday . In a fun detail, the man spotted in Chicago picked up a banana. Maybe that will go with the gorilla suit he wears to sneak out of Fenway Park for the last time.

Brett Morgen's absurdly engaging docudrama "Chicago 10" has a specific mission: to jolt inert young audiences of the early 21st century into fresh outrage and activism. If the movie has to be entertaining to do the trick, OK. The result is Grade-A agitpop, a mixture of archival footage and cheeky, creative animated reconstruction that's funny and frightening in equal measure. Forget the R rating; if your kids want to know what the '60s were about, here's a start. You might welcome the refresher course, too. In August 1968, antiwar protesters and...

CHICAGO — An ordinance allowing Chicago residents to own handguns took effect yesterday, two weeks after the US Supreme Court made the city’s handgun ban unenforceable — but people may still be four months and a couple hundred dollars away from having one legally. Police Superintendent Jody Weis said that those who want guns must be fingerprinted, submit to a background check, pay a $100 application fee plus $15 for each gun they register. Police also said they are initially giving themselves 120 days to process applications.

A college student was arrested yesterday on charges he made a false threat claiming that a Muslim man would conduct a suicide-bomb attack on the Sears Tower in Chicago, authorities said. Adam Hart, 21, of Georgetown, pleaded not guilty in US District Court to a one-count indictment charging him with maliciously conveying false information. He was released on $10,000 bond, the US attorney's office said. Hart was a student at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on April 22 when he sent an e-mail to the National Security Agency, authorities said.

WASHINGTON - The Chicago Fire's curse on D.C. United lives on. Barely. The Fire got the better of United in the MLS playoffs yet again last night, scoring two first-half goals and surviving a thrilling D.C. comeback in a 2-2 tie that sent Chicago to the Eastern Conference final. The result gave the Fire a 3-2 aggregate win in the two-game first-round series, following their 1-0 win at home last week. Chicago improved to 5-0-2 against United in the playoffs. Chad Barrett and Chris Rolfe stunned the RFK Stadium crowd of 19,438 by splitting the middle of the defense...

J.D. Martinez had three hits and three RBIs to lead the Houston Astros to a 5-1 win over the Cubs on Wednesday night to complete the series three-game sweep and give Chicago its longest losing streak in more than a decade. The Cubs have lost nine straight for the first time since dropping the same number of games from May 8-18 2002. Houston starter Wandy Rodriguez (4-4) allowed eight hits and a run with five strikeouts in seven innings. The victory is the 77th of his career, moving him into sole possession of second place in franchise history for wins by a left-hander.

CHICAGO - The sight of Chicago police raising billy clubs against demonstrators was the kind of image that has dogged the city's police force longer than most of those who clashed with protesters have been alive. But after Sunday's clash during the NATO summit played out on television, virtually no one was talking about a "police riot," as they did in 1968 when baton-wielding officers waded into crowds of demonstrators during the Democratic National Convention. Nor was there the kind of criticism that was leveled at the Seattle police after a...

Chicago police officers will get free tickets to a White Sox game as a thank you for their service during the NATO summit. Chicago White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf announced Tuesday that all sworn Chicago officers will receive two complimentary tickets to one of ten select games this season. The team also plans to honor Chicago police officers during Wednesday's game at U.S. Cellular Field against the Minnesota Twins. Reinsdorf says Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel asked the White Sox to help the city honor the police officers.

CHICAGO - Police clashed with scores of protesters Sunday after more than 2,000 demonstrators marched peacefully to the edge of the NATO summit where President Obama is meeting with world leaders. Protesters shouting "Shut down NATO" threw bottles at officers wearing riot helmets and wielding batons. A city permit allowed protesters to march until 4:15 p.m. About 30 minutes after that, police began forcibly dispersing the crowd by driving the demonstrators from streets near the McCormick Place convention center, where the summit convened.

CHICAGO - President Obama was struggling to balance the United States' relationship with two crucial but difficult allies Sunday, after a deal to reopen supply lines through Pakistan to Afghanistan fell apart just as Obama began talks on ending the NATO alliance's combat role in the Afghan war. As a two-day NATO summit meeting opened in Chicago, Obama remained at loggerheads with President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, refusing even...

Thousands of protesters marched through downtown Chicago on Sunday in one of the city's largest demonstrations in years, airing grievances about war, climate change and a wide range of other complaints as world leaders assembled for a NATO summit. The protest, which for months had stirred worries about violence in the streets, drew together a broad assortment of participants, including peace activists joining with war veterans and people more focused on economic inequality. But the diversity of opinions also sowed doubts about whether there were too many messages to be effective.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff Now it's clear why Theo left Boston. We weren't willing to worship him like a deity.

A postcard mailed from Chicago in 1958 has finally reached its intended recipient, but not without a little help from Facebook. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a postcard depicting Shedd Aquarium recently arrived at Scott McMurry's Virginia home, more than five decades after his mom mailed it. The 71-year-old says he immediately recognized his mother's handwriting. The postcard was addressed to Clairmont Lane in Decatur, Georgia, where McMurry grew up. But it recently arrived in Elizabeth Fulcher's mailbox on Clairmont Lane in South Daytona,...

Three men were accused of terrorism and possession of explosives charges in Chicago on Saturday, including one with ties to the Boston area. Prosecutors say the men were plotting to attack President Obama's campaign headquarters, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home, and other targets with Molotov cocktails. The men were arrested during a nighttime raid on a Chicago apartment Wednesday, which occurred in advance of this weekend's NATO summit in the city. Heavy security has so far deterred protesters this year, but major demonstrations are planned for Sunday, the start of the...