WORLDWIDE THREATS: The nation’s top spymasters brief Congress today on their annual assessment of the worldwide threats faced by the United States, and according to Sen. Angus King (I-ME), it’s a “sobering, but very clear-eyed” assessment, based on his reading of the unclassified 35-page report to be released along with this morning’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“My recommendation is don’t read it just before you go to sleep because it paints a pretty serious picture of exactly what the title implies — worldwide threats,” Angus told reporters on a conference call ahead of today’s 10 a.m. hearing. “It spends a lot of time on Russia and China but then talks about flashpoints in other parts of the world — Iran, North Korea continuing its nuclear ambitions, China dramatically increasing its nuclear force, and of course, we all know about what’s going on in Ukraine.”