Downward spiral: theme park firm Six Flags bankrupt  One of the
US's top operators of theme parks, Six Flags, declared itself
bankrupt over the weekend after struggling to refinance $2.4bn
(£1.5bn) of debt, posing the prospect of a financial roller-
coaster ride for major shareholders including the Micro­soft
billionaire Bill Gates.  Six Flags operates 20 parks in the US,
Canada and Mexico including Los Angeles's Magic Mountain,
Chicago's Great America and Montreal's La Ronde. The company
filed for chapter 11 protection with a repayment of $287m to
creditors due in August.  Chief executive Mark Shapiro was
anxious to reassure visitors that the company's parks will stay
open over the peak summer season. "This isn't a liquidation," he
said. "The summer is here – all the parks are open at full
throttle."  He said Six Flags' debt problems date back a decade
to a period when the company expanded aggressively, buying parks
as far afield as Belgium, Germany and France and investing
heavily in state-of-the-art rides.