Return Fire: Israel has warned up to 100,000 residents of Gaza to leave their homes in advance of airstrikes. And Israel reports its first death in more than a week of fighting with Hamas militants in Gaza. The victim was a 37-year-old man distributing food to Israeli soldiers who was killed by rocket fire near the border. He was fatally wounded soon after Israel had accepted the terms of a ceasefire proposed by Egypt. Hamas militants rejected the deal, launching up to 100 rockets, and Israel went back to hitting Gaza. Hamas claims Israel targeted the homes of four of its senior leaders. Close to 200 Palestinians, both civilians and combatants, have been killed so far in a pyrrhic fight for the militants.

Bananistan: At least 89 people were killed yesterday when a car bomb exploded in a busy marketplace in mountainous western Pakistan south of Kabul. Many of those killed were women and children shopping for Ramadan, the month-long Muslim observance. The Taliban denied being behind the attack, leaving the immediate suspect as the Haqqani Network, Muslim extremists who are allied with the Taliban.

Big Buy: Rupert Murdoch’s media empire 21st Century Fox made a play last month to buy Time Warner. Murdoch offered $80 billion, which was turned down by Time Warner. He says the two companies are not talking right now, but Murdoch is not known to give up easily. The combined companies would include Fox, Fox News, FX, TNT and TBS, HBO, and the 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. movie studios.

Borderline: Jose Antonio Vargas, an illegal immigrant and immigration activist who won journalism’s Pulitzer Prize, was detained then released yesterday after trying to board a plane from Texas to Los Angeles. He was in Texas to draw attention to the plight of thousands of unaccompanied minors detained coming over the border. The Philippine-born journalist came to the US at age 12 and went public with his illegal status three years ago. He says he has since travelled to 40 states. He won the Pulitzer as a reporter with the Washington Post covering the Virginia Tech shootings.

Dry Up: As the state’s drought deepens, California water regulators approved a $500 fine for the wasteful use of water. Mostly voluntary conservation measures failed to bring the 20 percent reduction in water use called for by Gov. Jerry Brown. The state’s notion of “wasteful” includes watering the lawn until it runs into the street, washing the car without a nozzle on the hose, and hosing down the driveway. Californians just love to hose down their driveways.

The Big Give: Multi-billionaire Warren Buffett announced he’s giving $2.8 billion worth of stock to five charities as part of his plan to eventually give away most of his wealth. More than $2 billion goes to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on health and education. The 83-year-old Buffett better get cracking if he wants to give it all away. He’s worth $65.5 billion.

Your Call is Important: Comcast has apologized for one of its employees who was recorded belligerently dodging a customer’s request to cancel his service while demanding to know why. The recording went on for at least 10 minutes as the service rep repeatedly asked why the customer wanted to cancel the best television and Internet service in America. “Because that’s what I want,” the customer said. But the really amazing thing about the story is that the customer got a human being on the phone at Comcast.

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