Front Lines

Sitting down to watch “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders,’’ I was prepared for a feature-length canonization and call to arms. The documentary follows four workers for Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) in Congo and Liberia. But rather than spending an hour and a half preying on the guilt of First World viewers, director Mark Hopkins focuses his gaze on the doctors’ motivations. At the beginning of the film we learn how selective MSF is when choosing its staff — it is not for lack of volunteers but an understanding that not everyone is meant...

ANAHEIM, Calif. - There is no plan for injured winger Nathan Horton to pull on a Bruins uniform in the immediate future, but the team Sunday night welcomed another of its key offensive performers, right winger Rich Peverley, back to the front lines. Peverley, out of the lineup since wrenching a knee Feb. 15, returned in Boston's 3-2 win over Anaheim after being out 19 games. "I've never been through anything like this," Peverley said outside the dressing room about 90 minutes before puck drop against the Ducks.

BOSTON (AP) — US Senator Scott Brown is urging top defense officials to let women serve in front line combat, saying barring women from those units could make it harder for them to rise up the military ranks. The Massachusetts Republican pressed US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to adopt the changes in a letter today. Brown, a 32-year member of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, praised Panetta for creating more opportunities to women in uniform by allowing them to serve closer to the front lines.

BOSTON (AP) — US Senator Scott Brown is urging top defense officials to let women serve in front line combat, saying barring women from those units could make it harder for them to rise up the military ranks. The Massachusetts Republican pressed US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to adopt the changes in a letter today. Brown, a 32-year member of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, praised Panetta for creating more opportunities to women in uniform by allowing them to serve closer to the front lines.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says he thinks it would be wrong to allow women to serve in combat. As one reason, Santorum cites "the emotions of men. " The White House hopeful says there is the potential that men will not be focused on their combat mission but on what he calls a "natural instinct" to protect a woman. Santorum also questions having women in combat roles because of what he says are "all sorts of physical issues" relating to the capabilities of men and women.

MOSCOW -- Soviet-era composer Nikita Bogoslovsky, who wrote more than 300 musical scores, has died, according to Russian news reports yesterday. He was 90. His wife, Alla Sivashova-Bogoslovskaya, told the ITAR-Tass news agency that her husband died overnight. Mr. Bogoslovsky composed music for 120 films and 80 shows, becoming one of the Soviet Union's most beloved composers, ITAR-Tass said. During World War II, he gave concerts near the front lines and at military hospitals.

EAST BRIDGEWATER - East Bridgewater put 20 first-quarter points on the board in defeating Hull in its South Shore League - and home - opener, 28-7, last night. The Vikings (4-0) won the coin toss, but opted to kick off. The decision paid off for East Bridgewater as the return was fumbled by the Pirates (2-2) and recovered by sophomore Nick Gagnon on the Hull 25. Four plays later, quarterback Tim O'Brien faked a handoff and took the ball up the right hash for a 4-yard score.

TORONTO -- Dwight Wilson, one of the last two Canadian veterans of World War I, died yesterday, officials said. He was 106. Mr. Wilson's death leaves one known surviving Canadian veteran of the war -- 106-year-old John Babcock of Spokane, Wash. Born Feb. 26, 1901, in Vienna, Ontario, Mr. Wilson enlisted in 1916 at the age of 15 after telling the army he was older. He was diverted from the front lines after his age was discovered. He managed to re-enlist in 1917 but four months later he was discharged again because of his age. Mr. Wilson was one of...

KERRVILLE, Texas — The 1,000th American service member killed in Afghanistan was born on the Fourth of July. He died several days before Americans honor fallen troops on Memorial Day. Marine Corporal Jacob C. Leicht was killed Thursday when he stepped on a land mine in Helmand province. It was the 24-year-old Texan’s second deployment overseas. Leicht had begged to return to the battlefield after a bomb took out his Humvee in Iraq. He spent two painful years recovering from face and leg injuries, all the while pining for combat in letters from his...

Angry crowds in the main rebel stronghold fired into the air and chanted for revenge against Moammar Gadhafi’s regime Friday as militiamen killed in an accidental NATO airstrike were carried for burial. “The martyrs’ blood is not shed in vain!’’ cried some of the thousands of people gathered in central Benghazi to pray and mourn some of the dead from the attack on rebel tanks and vehicles. On the front lines, meanwhile, rebel fighters sent scouts toward the contested oil port of Brega to assess whether pro-government forces took advantage of...

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says he thinks it would be wrong to allow women to serve in combat. As one reason, Santorum cites "the emotions of men. " The White House hopeful says there is the potential that men will not be focused on their combat mission but on what he calls a "natural instinct" to protect a woman. Santorum also questions having women in combat roles because of what he says are "all sorts of physical issues" relating to the capabilities of men and women.

The following is the text of the victory speech Mitt Romney delivered at a rally tonight in Southern New Hampshire University after winning the New Hampshire primary: --- "Thank you, New Hampshire! Tonight, we made history! "This state has always been a special place for our family. Ann and I made a home here and we've filled it with great memories of our children and grandchildren. And this Granite State moment is one we will always remember. "Tonight, we celebrate.

North Korea says its leader Kim Jong Il has rallied troops at a front-line military base. State television said Saturday that Kim grabbed the hands of each commanding officer as he visited the base near disputed waters with South Korea. The report recalled last year's shelling of South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island that killed four people and said the troops were ready for a similar attack. North Korean media did not say when Kim made the visit. South Korea conducted large-scale military drills on Wednesday near the maritime border to mark the first anniversary of the...

EAST BRIDGEWATER - East Bridgewater put 20 first-quarter points on the board in defeating Hull in its South Shore League - and home - opener, 28-7, last night. The Vikings (4-0) won the coin toss, but opted to kick off. The decision paid off for East Bridgewater as the return was fumbled by the Pirates (2-2) and recovered by sophomore Nick Gagnon on the Hull 25. Four plays later, quarterback Tim O'Brien faked a handoff and took the ball up the right hash for a 4-yard score.

Sheila Dillon is Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s housing adviser, charged with addressing the city’s foreclosure crisis. She recently spoke with Globe reporter Jenifer B. McKim about the challenges during her first eight months on the job. How has the foreclosure crisis changed since you started? We are having more success working with lenders to keep families in their homes — that has been a struggle, but has improved. We’ve seen prices of foreclosed properties go up. And we’ve seen more investors interested in purchasing bank-owned properties.

The numbers are ugly. When have we heard that about the NFL before? Certainly not since its last labor stoppage, a players strike in 1987. Now, 10 weeks into the owners’ lockout of the players, the NFL is seeing the early signs of cracks in fan loyalty. “It currently has an impact. Fans want certainty,’’ Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday at the end of the league’s spring meetings. “I don’t think you can ever underestimate that fans are still going through difficult challenges just in the general economy.

The numbers are ugly. When have we heard that about the NFL before? Certainly not since its last labor stoppage, a players strike in 1987. Now, 10 weeks into the owners’ lockout of the players, the NFL is seeing the early signs of cracks in fan loyalty. “It currently has an impact. Fans want certainty,’’ Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday at the end of the league’s spring meetings. “I don’t think you can ever underestimate that fans are still going through difficult challenges just in the general economy.

JERUSALEM -- When Alice Miller petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court in 1995 to let her become an air force pilot, the country's president, himself a famous airman in his younger days, laughingly compared women flying planes to men darning socks. But the court ruled in her favor, opening combat jobs to women for the first time. One of them was Keren Tendler , a flight technician killed last summer when her helicopter was shot down by Hezbollah guerrillas over Lebanon. The fighting Israeli woman soldier may endure as a stereotype, but in reality, a...

Angry crowds in the main rebel stronghold fired into the air and chanted for revenge against Moammar Gadhafi’s regime Friday as militiamen killed in an accidental NATO airstrike were carried for burial. “The martyrs’ blood is not shed in vain!’’ cried some of the thousands of people gathered in central Benghazi to pray and mourn some of the dead from the attack on rebel tanks and vehicles. On the front lines, meanwhile, rebel fighters sent scouts toward the contested oil port of Brega to assess whether pro-government forces took advantage of a mistaken NATO strike that...