T O D A Y ' S     H E A D L I N E S

Six Flags to feature
new Wii video game

---

Six Flags Inc. is expanding its partnership with Nintendo to prominently feature the new Wii Sports Resort video game.


RI town boasts USA's
longest-running July 4th fest

---

In July 1785, the citizens of this waterfront town assembled to heap praise on their newly minted nation and to thank God for helping them survive a fierce assault by the British during the Revolutionary War.


MySpace, Web servers not
liable for assaults: court

---

Internet servers like MySpace cannot be held liable when minors are sexually assaulted by people they first meet on a website, a California appeals court ruled.


Five corporate promotions
that ended in predictable disaster

---

So you need to create some instant excitement for your company, or product. You need to shake things up. You need to create buzz. And really, what creates "buzz" better than some kind of riot, or stampede? Or people running screaming away from fires? That's the lesson we've learned from these fine examples.


The cheapest places to live
in the world. $500 a month

---

Are you tired of busy cities, crowded streets, high rents and almost non-affordable mortgage? Well...there are places in the world where you can live well for less.

Bandits stopped by grates

---

A high-end Midtown clothing boutique hit by smash-and-grab bandits twice in May was able to withstand a third assault Thursday, thanks to a reinforced metal grate installed by the owner.

Body found near Turner Field
may be hit and run

---

Atlanta police are investigating a body found Friday morning in southeast Atlanta as a possible hit and run.

Plant disease hits eastern
US veggies early, hard

---

Late blight -- the same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s -- occurs sporadically in the Northeast, but this year's outbreak is more severe for two reasons: infected plants have been widely distributed by big-box retail stores and rainy weather has hastened the spores' airborne spread.

Iranian cleric: British Embassy
staff to be tried

---

A top Iranian cleric said Friday that some of the detained Iranian staffers of the British Embassy in Tehran will be put on trial, and he accused Britain of a role in instigating widespread protests that erupted over the country's disputed presidential election.

Jackson memorial set for
Tuesday in Los Angeles

---

The question of when and where a public memorial service will be held for Michael Jackson has finally been answered. But how city officials will handle the likelihood of a massive crowd remains to be settled.

Syria's Assad offers informal
invitation to Obama

---

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has issued an informal invitation to President Barack Obama to visit Damascus for talks, in a sign that relations between the two countries may gradually be thawing.

Georgia ranked 14th fattest state

---

Georgia ranked 14th in a nationwide study of adult obesity -- flat with last year. In the study, “F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009” compiled by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Atlanta builder Beazer
admits mortgage fraud

---

Federal prosecutors in North Carolina have filed criminal fraud conspiracy charges against Beazer Homes USA. But they've agreed to dismiss the case if the company accepts responsibility for certain wrongdoing and pays millions to victims.

Georgians invited to 120th
Anniversary of capitol

---

Georgians are invited to celebrate the state Capitol's 120th anniversary next week at a celebration in the building's rotunda.

Obama to tell Putin: Time
to move past Cold War

---

Days from his first Moscow summit, President Barack Obama declared Thursday that former Russian President Vladimir Putin "still has a lot of sway" in his nation and needs an in-person reminder the Cold War is over.

Fifth blast hits Canada
gas pipeline: police

---

A gas leak at a pipeline owned by EnCana in Canada's western British Columbia province was caused by a blast that police said Thursday is the fifth act of sabotage in the region since October 2008.

SC gov's wife says husband
must earn back trust

---

South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford says her husband's affair with an Argentine woman broke a trust that he must earn back -- first from his family, then his constituents.

SoCal-to-Vegas rail route
wins federal designation

---

The clogged tourist travel route between Southern California and Las Vegas has been designated a federal high-speed rail corridor, in a move that officials hope would signal increased cooperation between the regions on building speedier train travel.

Ruth Madoff evicted
from penthouse

---

U.S. Marshalls changed the locks and evicted Ruth Madoff from her luxury Penthouse apartment today, six months after her husband, Bernard Madoff, confessed to running the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

Growing concern that Sanford has gone off deep end

---

Gov. Mark Sanford is acting like a love-struck teenager. Or, maybe he has a deeper personality disorder, some experts speculate.

Debbie Rowe claims
she wants the kids

---

"I want my children," Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson's ex wife and the estranged mother of his oldest two children, told KNBC-TV in Los Angeles today.

Washington Post cancels
lobbyist event amid uproar

---

Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was cancelling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where for as much as $250,000

AG has emergency
oral surgery

---

Attorney General Eric Holder is having emergency oral surgery to remove a tooth he cracked.

Vice President Biden
visits Baghdad

---

Vice President Joe Biden made a previously unannounced visit to Baghdad on Thursday to meet Iraqi leaders and U.S. military commanders just days after U.S. troops withdrew from Iraqi towns and cities.

Catholics, men turning
on Obama

---

Among independents, men, white Catholics, white evangelical Christians and Republicans, his numbers have fallen.

Gwinnett officer kills
suspect in drug raid

---

A Gwinnett County police officer shot and killed a man Wednesday during an early morning drug search in unincorporated Lawrenceville, a police spokesman said.

Collapse baffles experts

---

On the surface, designing a parking deck seems a simple business: four walls, some ramps, painted spaces and tons of concrete and steel.

Spill closes crossings

---

A freight train derailed in Union City on Wednesday afternoon, spilling its load of coal along a long swath of track, authorities said.

Atlanta Homeless Center
Builds New Wing

---

An Atlanta transitional program will use more than half a million dollars to create more space for homeless women.

UGA Public Health Program
Gets Accreditation

---

The University of Georgia's 4-year-old College of Public Health has gained full accreditation.

Sandy Springs Homeowner
Due in Court

---

A man is due in court Thursday, accused of letting a once beautiful Sandy Springs home turn to ruins.

Kaplan to move operations
to Alpharetta

---

Education and career services company, Kaplan Inc., signed a lease Wednesday for a nearly 100,000-square-foot building in Alpharetta.

Freddie Mac allows financing
of 125% of home value

---

Freddie Mac announced Wednesday that it would offer loan-to-value ratios on home mortgage refinancings of up to 125 percent for qualified borrowers.

N. Korea Fires 2
Short- Range Missiles: Reports

---

North Korea has test-fired two short-range missiles, according to South Korean media reports that could not be immediately verified. As the AP reports.

Teenage Air Crash Survivor
Reunited With Family

---

The young girl believed to be the only survivor of Tuesday's Indian Ocean plane crash flew back to Paris today, to the waiting arms of her father and siblings.

India Legalizes Gay Sex

---

An Indian court has struck down a colonial-era law that declared gay sex an "unnatural offense" and made it punishable by up to 10 years in jail, the BBC reports.

North Korea Not Preparing
Hawaii Missile Launch

---

North Korea shows no sign of preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile towards Hawaii, four US government officials tell Bloomberg.

200-Year-Old Presidential
Code Cracked

---

A code that stumped Thomas Jefferson and other cryptologists for over two centuries has finally been cracked, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Vatican Steps Up Scrutiny
of American Nuns

---

The Vatican has launched two major probes into the lives of America's 60,000 nuns, the New York Times reports.

DEA Joins Jackson Death Probe

---

Federal investigators are assisting local authorities with the probe into Michael Jackson's death, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Sanford Digs In as Calls
for Resignation Escalate

---

The vise is tightening around Mark Sanford's political career. South Carolina officials, including fellow Republicans, are lining up to urge the governor to resign, reports the State.

Eldest Jonas Brother Engaged

---

Sorry, girls, only two chances left to snag a singing Jonas Brother. The eldest, Kevin, popped the question to his girlfriend on her New Jersey doorstep this morning, and "she said yes, yes, yes like 500 times super fast in a row," he tells People.

Transformers Will Soon
Rule World Box Office

---

The Transformers juggernaut rolls on. The Revenge of the Fallen sequel is about to become the biggest grossing film of 2009 worldwide, reports Variety.

Ford, Toyota Say
Sales Slide Ending

---

A rare sentiment emerged from the auto industry today: cautious optimism. New sales figures show that Americans bought 860,000 vehicles in June, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Anderson vs. Gladwell:
The Battle Over Free

---

Chris Anderson's new book, Free, examining the repercussions the Internet trend of bringing costs to zero, triggered a mini-war with Malcolm Gladwell.

Fasten Seat Belt, and Please
Keep Your Clothes On

---

A US Airways flight to Los Angeles had to be diverted to Albuquerque this evening after a passenger removed all of his clothing mid-flight, forcing flight attendants to cover him with a blanket before he was arrested.

Marines Launch New
Afghan Strategy

---

US Marines today launched a major offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan that will serve as the first big test of a new American strategy.

Politico's Obsessive Focus
Is Future of News

---

If you want to see the future of news—and how it will be delivered—look no further than Politico as a reasonable guide, writes Newser founder Michael Wolff in Vanity Fair.