The big picture: It's the first such incident since a 2014 war in the Palestinian enclave and comes ahead of the anniversary of Gaza border protests at the weekend, Reuters reports.

The backdrop: There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Mishmeret blast, but it comes 10 days after rockets were fired toward Tel Aviv. That caused the Israeli military to launch retaliatory strikes. The situation was defused when Gaza’s Hamas leaders said the rocket was fired by mistake, the Associated Press reports. "[I]t would seem to be much harder to dismiss the latest incident as another misfire," the AP noted.

Why it matters: China regards the self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province and the USS Curtis Wilbur and U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bertholf ships' passage through the strait that divides Taiwan from the Chinese mainland comes as Washington holds key trade talks with Beijing.

The backdrop: It's the 5th time in 6 months that United States warships have made the voyage, according to Stars and Stripes . The action could be seen as a show of support for Taiwan. China has previously expressed anger at such moves. In March, 2018, the U.S. signed the Taiwan Travel Act, encouraging "visits between officials of the United States and Taiwan at all levels," and sent 2 senior officials to the island nation.

The details: Graham said after it was announced the investigation found no evidence of a Trump campaign conspiracy with Russia it was time to move on and "get ready to combat Russia and other foreign actors ahead of 2020."

The big picture: In December, Comey told congressional investigators the FBI opened investigations into 4 Americans connected to Trump when he was a 2016 candidate to examine whether they played a role in Russian interference in the election. They were later identified as Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos and Carter Page.