Axios

President Trump attacked the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies in a pair of Wednesday tweets, criticizing their assessment of Iran's compliance with its nuclear deal.

"The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong! When I became President Iran was making trouble all over the Middle East, and beyond. Since ending the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, they are MUCH different, but.... They are testing Rockets (last week) and more, and are coming very close to the edge. There economy is now crashing, which is the only thing holding them back. Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!"

Background: The U.S. intelligence community released its annual worldwide threat assessment this week, which said that Iran is not currently working to develop its nuclear capabilities and remains compliant with the Iran nuclear deal, undercutting Trump's fiery rhetoric on the topic.

1. Chinese investment in Europe and the U.S. dropped a whopping 73% in 2018, per the Economist.
2. And China's net purchases of U.S. real estate last year plummeted to their lowest since 2012. All told, Beijing spent $2.68 billion on U.S. properties in 2018, compared with $19.1 billion in 2016, reports WSJ.

Go deeper: A new era of hostility in the U.S.-China fight

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May says she'll demand changes to the Brexit deal she reached with the EU, but the EU has long said it's unwilling to renegotiate — and a series of votes in Parliament today didn't make the picture any clearer.

The bottom line: May says the votes indicate there's a majority out there for a revised deal. That's an optimistic interpretation. Two months ahead of the date the U.K. is set to leave the EU, it's unclear what's going to happen.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has scheduled attorney general nominee William Barr's confirmation vote for Feb. 7, hours after the panel delayed the vote due to concerns over how Barr will handle special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

The big picture: Under current rules, Barr will only require a simple majority of senators’ votes, meaning he likely won't need any support from Democrats to be confirmed. The day after the vote, acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker is due to appear before the House Judiciary Committee to answer questions about his oversight of the Mueller probe.

U.S. intelligence officials say Russia made a secret proposal to North Korea last fall —dismantle its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in exchange for a nuclear power plant, the Washington Post reports.

The big picture: This marks yet another example of an emboldened Russia intervening publicly and privately in key global hotspots, often in direct conflict with U.S. interests. Earlier Tuesday, Russia doubled down on its criticism of the Trump administration's latest round of sanctions against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, for whom Russia has expressed continuing support.

Go deeper: Coats contradicts Trump: North Korea unlikely to give up nukes

The U.S. intelligence community said Tuesday that Iran is not currently working to develop its nuclear capabilities and remains compliant with the Iran nuclear deal, an assessment that stands in contrast with President Trump's assertion when withdrawing from the deal, which he called "defective at its core," last year.

The state of play: CIA Director Gina Haspel told the Senate Intelligence Committee that "the most recent information" from the CIA indicates that Iran is "considering taking steps to lessen [its] adherence" to the deal as it fails to realize promised economic and trade benefits following the U.S. withdrawal.

Go deeper: Russian proposal linked Iran sanctions relief with Syria withdrawal

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Senate Intelligence Committee today that North Korea "is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities" because its leaders believe doing so would endanger the regime.

Why it matters: President Trump has downplayed the nuclear threat from North Korea since his Singapore summit with Kim Jong-un, who the president insists has committed to full denuclearization. With Trump set to hold another summit with Kim next month, Coats says the U.S. intelligence community has concluded Trump's stated goal in negotiating with Kim is "unlikely" to be achieved.

A newly detailed espionage group is breaching the telecom and travel industries in a likely attempt to surveil individuals, according to a new report by FireEye.

Why it matters: FireEye, which has dubbed the group APT 39, believes the group is Iranian. This would be the first Iranian hacker group to focus on personal information. Others have conducted destructive attacks on industry, along with general espionage or influence campaigns.