Defense official denies she helped crashers get in

Defense official denies she helped crashers get in

WASHINGTON — The couple who crashed the Obama administration’s first state dinner communicated with a senior Pentagon official about going to the event, but the official denies that she helped the couple get in.

Michele Jones, a special assistant to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said in a written statement issued through the White House on Monday evening that she never said or implied she would get Michaele and Tareq Salahi into the Nov. 24 White House dinner.

“I specifically stated that they did not have tickets and, in fact, that I did not have the authority to authorize attendance, admittance or access to any part of the evening’s activities,” Jones said. “Even though I informed them of this, they still decided to come.”

Also on Monday, a House committee chairman asked the couple, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan and White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers to testify at a hearing Thursday on the incident.

World’s largest atom smasher breaks record

GENEVA — The world’s largest atom smasher broke the world record for proton acceleration Monday, firing particle beams with 20 percent more power than the American lab that previously had the record.

The power of the Large Hadron Collider’s proton beams is essential to the project’s ultimate goal: smashing particles into each other with enough force to shatter them into the smallest building blocks of matter.

The early-morning test continues a recent sequence of successes that have elated scientists who were disappointed by the $10 billion machine’s collapse last year during its opening in a 17-mile tunnel under the Swiss-French border. The breakdown required extensive repairs and improvements.

Hurricane season ends on an extremely mild note

SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Atlantic hurricane season ended Monday with barely a whimper: Not a single hurricane came ashore in the United States.

Since June, when the season began, just nine named storms developed. Only three of them became hurricanes, and those stayed out at sea or weakened before passing over land.

Two tropical storms made landfall in the U.S., causing little more than rain and some beach erosion.

Iran detains 5 from UK after yacht is intercepted

LONDON — Iran is holding five British sailors after stopping their racing yacht in the Persian Gulf, the British government said Monday. The move could heighten tensions between Iran and major world powers, including Britain, that are demanding a halt to its nuclear program.

Oil prices rose 2 percent to $77.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as the news broke before settling slightly at $77.28.

The yacht, owned by Sail Bahrain, was stopped on its way from the tiny island country to the Gulf city of Dubai on Wednesday when it “may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters,” Britain’s Foreign Office said.

German accused of making false threat at Disney World

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida judge on Monday issued the German tourist accused of making a bomb threat at Walt Disney World a $10,000 bond.

The judge said the bond is normally set at $5,000, but it is doubled in this case because the suspect, Jochen Naumann, 37, is from out of the country.

Orange County sheriff’s deputies said Naumann, of Leipzig, on Sunday morning told Disney employees at the security checkpoint for the Magic Kingdom entrance that he had two bombs in his backpack.

The Disney employee questioned Naumann and he repeated the bomb threat, authorities said.

A deputy sheriff at the Disney checkpoint secured Naumann and called a bomb-sniffing dog to check Naumann’s bag. The dog did not find explosive devices in the bag.

Chelsea Clinton engaged

NEW YORK — Chelsea Clinton, the 29-year old daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, has become engaged to her longtime boyfriend, 31-year old investment banker Marc Mezvinsky.

The couple sent an e-mail to friends Friday announcing the news, saying they were looking at a possible wedding next summer. Matt McKenna, a spokesman for the former president, confirmed the engagement Monday.

Mezvinsky is a son of former Pennsylvania Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky and former Iowa Rep. Ed Mezvinsky.

Combined dispatches