Axios

The New York Times reported today that Ezra Cohen-Watnick and Michael Ellis are Devin Nunes' sources at the White House who allegedly revealed incidental collection of Trump team communications by American intelligence agencies.

• Cohen-Watnick is the senior director for intelligence at the National Security Council. He was brought into the White House by now-fired National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Politico reported earlier this month that Flynn's replacement, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, attempted to move Cohen-Watnick to another position after the CIA "saw him as a threat," but was overruled by Trump himself after Cohen-Watnick appealed to Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner.
• Ellis is a lawyer in the White House Counsel's Office — his current titles include: Special Assistant to the President, Senior Associate Counsel to the President, and Deputy National Security Council Legal Advisor. He has a Nunes connection through his former position as general counsel to the House Intelligence Committee. The press release announcing his appointment to the White House stated that he is currently an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve.

House Speaker Paul Ryan told CBS' Norah O'Donnell on Wednesday that Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and he sent a letter before the election warning the secretaries of state to guard their data, and to "watch out" for Russian interference.

"We all knew this before the election. We all knew, Russia was trying to meddle with our election. And we already know right now they are trying to do it with other countries," said Ryan. "I think we have a special responsibility given our capabilities to make sure we help our allies guard against this meddling by Russia in their elections just like they tried to with our election."

Today, Brexit leader Nigel Farage celebrated the beginning of the Article 50 process by thanking Steve Bannon, Donald Trump's chief strategist, in an interview with Breitbart.

"I think actually on this great Brexit day I have to say a personal thank you and tribute to Steve Bannon for having the foresightedness of doing that with Breitbart, and I'm extremely grateful."— Nigel Farage to Breitbart London

U.S. Central Commander Gen. Joseph Votel appeared before the House Armed Services Committee today to address security priorities in Iran, Afghanistan, and Yemen. The highlights:

1. Russia probably helping Taliban in Afghanistan: "I think it's fair to assume they may be providing some kind of support to them…weapons." He added: "We are at a stalemate right now. It is generally in favor of the government of Afghanistan, but stalemates tend to decline over time."
2. Iran is the greatest threat to the U.S.: "Iran's objective here is to be the regional hegemon…there's no doubt about that."
3. US needs to deploy soft power in Yemen: "We will need the Department of State and others" to address the conflict.

Liang Xinjun, co-founder and CEO of Fosun International — one China's largest privately held conglomerates —has resigned from his post of 25 years, citing health reasons, reports the China Money Network. Vice President Ding Guoqi has also stepped down.

Fosun's fellow co-founder, Guo Guangchang, announced their departures in an internal email to staff, and explained that this was a joint decision made two months ago. Wang Quinbin, another co-founder whose businesses include Club Med and Cirque de Soleil, will replace Liang as CEO.

Fosun has expanded aggressively in recent years, spending billions on overseas assets including financial services groups. It has purchased properties including the former headquarters of Italian bank Unicredit in Milan, London's Thomas More Square development, and the 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza tower in New York.

On January 1, 1973, Britain joined the European Economic Community, which was incorporated into what is now the European Union. Here's a photo of the front page of the Daily Mail from that day, as tweeted by the Guardian's Anushka Asthana:

Today, 44 years later, the UK formally began the "Brexiting" process.