The Iranian flag flutters near the Milad Tower, part of the International Trade and Convention Center of Tehran, in the capital on May 25, 2026. File
| Photo Credit: AFP

A couple in the United States defrauded the government of nearly $500,000 (approximately Rs 4.2 Crore) to take dozens of lavish vacations to Walt Disney World while claiming they were travelling for work. According to the New York Post, 61-year-old Thomas Bouchard, who is an Army contractor, used his government connections to get his girlfriend, 53-year-old Cantelle Boyd, hired for a “no-show” job as his assistant so they could take numerous vacations, including 31 trips to Walt Disney World in Flordia. Their elaborate scheme cost the Department of Defence more than $490,000, prosecutors said. 

Citing the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, the Post reported that the couple claimed that they were travelling for work. Mr Bouchard, who was in charge of the US Army Natick Contracting Division in Massachusetts, reportedly used his “long-standing relationship with government contractor Evolution Enterprise Inc., to have Ms Boyd hired as an assistant to support him. She was paid a government salary of $487,658 and performed “little if any useful function” from 2014 to 2018, costing the government an extra $75,583 in travel expenses, prosecutors said. 

The couple reportedly booked vacations ranging from two to 15 days, and their travels – which were done during business hours – included staying a hotels, lounging by the pool and visiting Disney parks. In addition to this, the couple also travelled to Virginia and other Florida locations. Prosecutors said that the 61-year-old concealed the nature of their trips and sought reimbursement by falsifying and then approving expense records. 

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Federal authorities arrested the couple in July 2020. They each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and 10 counts of theft of government funds and false declarations. The 61-year-old was sentenced in August to one year and one day in prison and is required to pay $487,658 in restitution.

“Those of us who are privileged to work in public service owe a duty to the taxpayers to act with integrity at all times,” said Acting US Attorney Joshua S. Levy. 

“This defendant clearly failed in adhering to this solemn oath and abused his position of trust to line his own pockets, hire a friend into a phantom position and enjoy junkets all on the taxpayer’s dime. He will now pay the price for his inexcusable conduct,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Ms Boyd was sentenced to six months of home confinement on October 2. Prosecutors said she is required to pay restitution “at a later date”. 

The US Army is testing robot dogs mounted with AI-enabled guns at a military facility in the Middle East, according to Military.com. Photos shared by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) show one such robot dog undergoing “rehearsals” at the Red Sands Integrated Experimentation Center in Saudi Arabia in mid-September as part of a recent counter-unmanned aerial system exercise. The four-legged robot can be seen mounted with what appears to be an AR-15/M16 pattern rifle on a rotating turret and resembles the robot system that the US Army tested at Fort Drum, New York in August. 

The US Army describes the robot dog as a four-legged unmanned ground vehicle (UGVs) armed with an artificial intelligence-enabled rifle – contributing to innovative unmanned capabilities. Notably, DVIDS is an operation run by the US Department of Defence to provide media on its activities across the world.

Speaking to Military.com, a US Army Central spokesman said that the armed robot dog was one of several “non-counter-sUAS” systems tested alongside 15 counter-drone platforms at Red Sands during the September test. The gun engaged several static ground targets, the official said without elaborating on its potential applications. 

Meanwhile, the US Defence Department has been incorporating robot dogs and other autonomous ground vehicles in its formations over the last few years. Additionally, the Pentagon has increasingly experimented with mounting weapons systems on robot dogs. 

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The Marine Corps, in particular, has tested quadrupedal robots outfitted with both Onyx Industries’ SENTRY remote weapon system and the M72 LAW anti-tank rocket launcher, while the Army has considered outfitting mechanized canines with the new 6.8mm XM7 rifle the service recently fielded under its Next Generation Squad Weapon program to replace the M4 carbine, the outlet reported. 

Notably, the US military isn’t the only country pursuing four-legged weapon combat robots. In May, the Chinese military debuted its own robot dog armed with an assault rifle during a training exercise in Cambodia. The video of the robot dog was released by state broadcaster CCTV.

“It can serve as a new member in our urban combat operations, replacing our (human) members to conduct reconnaissance and identify (the) enemy and strike the target,” a soldier named Chen Wei said in the video. 

Washington:

The US Army on Thursday took aim at Donald Trump’s staff over a visit by the Republican presidential candidate to the country’s most hallowed resting place for its war dead.

The incident has mushroomed into an uncharacteristically public dispute between the military and a former US commander in chief, with Trump lashing out and accusing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of having “killed” American soldiers through “gross incompetence” in Afghanistan.

Trump went to Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington with family members of some of the 13 service members killed in a 2021 bombing during the last hours of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

His campaign posted photos from the visit, including one showing him giving a thumbs-up gesture while standing with relatives at the grave of one of the US Marines killed.

The Army said an Arlington employee was “abruptly pushed aside” when she sought to ensure a law prohibiting political activity on cemetery grounds was followed.

“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the (Arlington National Cemetery) employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked,” an Army spokesperson said in a statement.

Going on the offensive, Trump’s campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita has described the employee as a “despicable individual,” while campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said she was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode.”

Doubling down, LaCivita later reposted video of Trump’s presence at Arlington and said he hoped it would “trigger the hacks” at the US Army secretary’s office.

Trump has made criticism of Biden’s handling of the retreat from Afghanistan a key note of his campaign ahead of November’s election.

The US withdrawal was made as part of a peace deal signed by the Trump administration with the Taliban.

At a Thursday rally in Michigan, Trump defended his gravesite visit and savaged Biden and Harris, his 2024 White House rival, over Afghanistan.

“They asked me to go yesterday to Arlington and I did,” Trump said of the families, adding that “bad people” accused him of inappropriate political activity.

“Joe Biden killed their children, by incompetence… Kamala killed their children — just as though they had a gun in their hand — by gross incompetence,” Trump told supporters.

“Not one general or incompetent bureaucrat was fired,” over the deadly pullout, he added. “And then they accuse me of having a picture taken at the tombstone with the family.”  

Uproar over the incident at Arlington on Monday is the latest controversy in Trump’s troubled relationship with the military.

While often touting his support for the armed forces, he privately mocked the war dead while he was president and did not want to be seen near military amputees, according to his former chief of staff.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

The US Army has charged a military doctor with sexual misconduct, a spokeswoman said Thursday, in a major case that reportedly involves more than 20 alleged victims.

Major Michael Stockin — an anesthesiologist who joined the Army in May 2013 and is stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the state of Washington — was charged earlier this week, Lieutenant Colonel Jennifer Bocanegra said.

“The general nature of the charges include abusive sexual contact and indecent viewing in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” she said.

“The charges will now be reviewed for legal sufficiency by an independent officer at a pretrial preliminary hearing pursuant to federal law.”

The Washington Post, which first reported that Stockin was under investigation, said this could be one of the military’s largest sexual abuse cases in years, and that it involves at least 23 alleged victims.

Stockin’s attorney Robert Capovilla told the Post, prior to charges being filed, “I would simply ask that everyone simply reserve judgment until he has the right to be heard, until his defense team is given all of the evidence, and until due process plays its course.”

According to Pentagon data, there were 8,942 reports of sexual assault involving military personnel as either perpetrators or victims in fiscal year 2022 — an increase of one percent from the year before.

Last month, President Joe Biden signed an order changing the way the US military investigates sexual assault cases by shifting power away from unit commanders to independent prosecutors.

Among the powers that now fall exclusively to prosecutors is deciding whether or not to lodge charges of serious crimes.

The White House called it the “most significant transformation of the military justice system” since it was established in 1950, ensuring that cases will be “fully independent” from the chain of command.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)