Breaking news – Kenneth Lay, the recently convicted founder, former-CEO, and Chairman of Enron, died today of an apparent heart attack while spending time in Aspen, CO.

The fallout from North Korea’s missile launch yesterday continues to grow. The tests involved the firing of 7 missiles, including the Taepodong-2, an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to reach as far as Alaska or the West Coast of the United States. The U.S. has downplayed the launch, highlighting the fact that the Taepodong-2 test was a failure, as the missile did not complete its phase 1 burn. Japan has requested a closed session meeting of the UN Security Council, and implemented a number of sanctions against the North.

While the North Koreans were launching missiles into the Sea of Japan, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Florida after two delays over the weekend. The launch was the first such take-off on the Fourth of July and proceeded without incident. Astronauts from the Discovery will conduct repairs and work on the International Space Station and possibly experiment with new techniques to repair the craft while in space.

In New Jersey, the battle between Gov. John Corzine (D) and the state Legislature continues for a fifth day, as more and more state services have shut down. The latest victims of the fighting in Trenton are the casinos in Atlantic City. They were shut down this morning because state inspectors were barred from working unpaid. The shutdown comes as part of a disagreement over the state budget. Corzine wants to raise the state sales tax from 6% to 7% in order to cover a large deficit. The legislature, also controlled by Democrats, has refused to meet his demand, missing a July 1 deadline to work out a compromise.

George W. Bush celebrated his 60th birthday two days early, spending the morning with troops at Fort Bragg, NC, and the evening with a small group of friends at a party organized by the First Lady. In the morning, while speaking to soldiers, Bush made an impressive rhetorical effort to link the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the Revolutionary war, describing the conflicts as a progression "from Bunker Hill to Baghdad, [and] from Concord to Kabul." The troops gave him a cake.

In World Cup news, Italy beat Germany yesterday in the final minute of overtime. I would not want to be the German keeper.