Trucefire: A 72-hour ceasefire that started at 8am local time in Gaza collapsed hours after it began. An Israeli infantry officer appears to have been captured by Hamas gunmen who emerged from a tunnel and a suicide bomber killed two other soldiers.

Negotiators for the Palestinians and for Israel were supposed to go to Cairo during the ceasefire to talk about how to end the 28-day conflict. Secy. of State John Kerry said during an overnight announcement of the ceasefire in New Delhi, “This is a respite. It’s a moment of opportunity, not an end; it’s not a solution. It’s the opportunity to find the solution.” The respite was brief.

Econ 101: The Dow Jones dropped 317 points yesterday, giving up all of its gains for the year. It has stabilized this morning. The economy added 209,000 jobs but unemployment ticked up slightly from 6.1 percent to 6.2 percent. The market likes that because it means the Fed is less likely to raise interest rates.

Wish You Were Here: Facing a potential revolt by their most conservative members, House Republicans yesterday withdrew a $659 million emergency spending bill to deal with the flood of unaccompanied minors crossing the border from Central America. What this means is that House Speaker John Boehner along with his new majority leader and whip are unable to herd the cats in their own party. It also poses dismal prospects for immigration reform this year, and for the 113^th Congress to accomplish anything of substance.

Early Departure: Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, whose last day as House Majority Leader was yesterday, announced that he’s resigning Congress early to give his appointed successor a chance to take part in the lame duck session that convenes after the summer break, Cantor had his eyes on a presidential nomination but lost to a Tea Party opponent in his state’s Republican primary.

Disasters: Fifty people are missing and presumed dead after a landslide in India; Twenty-four people are dead after a gas explosion in Taiwan.

Philly Cheese Steak: Six Philadelphia police officers have been arrested on charges that they threatened, beat, and extorted criminals, ultimately making off with half a million dollars worth of cash and goods. The indictment says the cops hung one man over a balcony until he gave up money and drugs. The charges say the accused cops held another man prisoner in a hotel and beat still another with an iron bar. The Philadelphia police chief said he was shocked that this kind of behavior was going on in his department.

We Knew That: The CIA has found that some of its own people hacked into the Senate computer system while the Intelligence Committee was investigating the detention and treatment of terror suspects. A statement by the CIA said Director John Brennan had apologized to a furious Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia. Brennan had previously denied that such hacking had occurred.

Literature: The diaries of British war poet Siegfried Sassoon are being released online today, revealing the writer’s thoughts, observations, and drawings about life in the World War I trenches. A drawing titled “The Soul of an Officer” shows an officer flanked by caricatures of “Death” on one side and “Fear” on the other. Sassoon’s journal describes being shot by a sniper and says the first day of the Battle of the Somme was a “sunlit picture of hell.”

Die Another Day: “The Killing”, the acclaimed television series that was killed twice by the AMC Network, returns today for a six episode run on Netflix. Tense and well acted, the series died once when AMC failed to tell the audience it would take two seasons to solve the first mystery. Viewing plummeted. The series was revived for a third season then died again. So the series gets one more life. Whatever happens, it will be bleak and raining in Seattle.

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