Baltimore

Four injured as balloon gets stuck over city

A balloon ride turned into a scary ordeal for 20 people Saturday when the aircraft got stuck high above the city, then was tossed around by high wind like a pinata for an hour and a half.

Four people suffered minor injuries in the mishap, which authorities said occurred when wind from an approaching storm caused a winch to fail as it retracted a cable attached to the balloon, authorities said.

The balloon was stuck 350 feet in the air near Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Rescuers were able to get the winch to work slowly to lower the balloon.

Florida

Boyfriend charged with using alligator in fight

A man hit his girlfriend with a 3-foot alligator and threw beer bottles at her during an argument in the couple’s mobile home, authorities said.

David Havenner, 41, was ordered held without bond Saturday on misdemeanor charges of battery and possession of an alligator.

The alligator, which Havenner had been keeping in his bathtub, was turned over to Florida wildlife officials.

Nancy Monico, 39, told investigators that Havenner beat her with his fists, then grabbed the alligator and swung it at her as she tried to escape, sheriff’s spokesman Gary Davidson said.

Havenner’s version of the story differed. He told investigators that Monico bit his hand because she was upset that they had run out of alcohol.

Egypt

Videotape of beheading posted on Internet

Images of an American hostage being decapitated surfaced Saturday on an Internet site known for carrying the statements of Islamic militants.

The gruesome videotape appeared three days after U.S. authorities announced the search for the body of Paul M. Johnson Jr. had been called off.

Still photographs of Johnson’s beheading had been posted June 19 on some of the same militant Islamic forums that on Saturday provided links to the video footage.

Johnson, a 49-year-old engineer for U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin, was kidnapped June 12.

The video, which ran almost two minutes and included images of tanks and destroyed homes apparently in Iraq, carried the title “The Voice of Jihad: Get the infidels out of the Arabian Peninsula.”