Communist China’s “breathtaking” nuclear build-up came into the spotlight during a public Senate hearing last week. But some of the most explosive details were revealed in a closed-door session between lawmakers and top Pentagon officials. National Security Correspondent Bill Gertz has an exclusive look at the details.

Gen. Anthony Cotton, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, told lawmakers privately that China is developing a new generation of mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles. Mobile ICBMs complicate the U.S.’s ability to deter a nuclear attack because the weapons are easily hidden and difficult to track, Mr. Gertz reports.

Threat Status is closely monitoring the growing concern in Washington over China’s military build-up and the dangers its nuclear capabilities pose to the region and the entire world.

Lawmakers have their eye on other threats emanating from Beijing. The Times’ Ryan Lovelace reports on a bipartisan coalition in the House pushing legislation to force TikTok’s China-based owner ByteDance to choose between divesting the platform or facing a ban in the U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, says the bill is the only vehicle to protect personal privacy and guard U.S. national security while also maintaining the popular video-sharing platform’s availability in America.

Washington Times Asia Editor Andrew Salmon has another tech-centric story, albeit a much different one. Mr. Salmon sat down for an exclusive interview with Myong Oh, who helped guide South Korea’s IT revolution through four presidential administrations. One key insight Mr. Oh offers about managing Seoul’s rise as an economic and tech global leader: An effective leader is a “lazy” one who gives subordinates room to work.

President Biden on Thursday evening will deliver his final State of the Union address before the November presidential election and his historic rematch with former President Donald Trump. Mr. Biden faces a tall task amid heavy criticism of his immigration policies and a host of other issues.

But Mr. Biden’s speechwriters were thrown a curveball Wednesday after Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched another attack on Red Sea cargo ships — this time killing three crewmembers. The incident marks the first fatalities of the Houthis’ monthslong campaign of havoc against commercial maritime traffic in the strategically vital regional waterway. And it also confirms what many national security insiders already knew: The administration’s expensive, open-ended military campaign in Yemen hasn’t stopped the Houthi reign of terror in the Red Sea.

The president will face a delicate balancing act Thursday night as he will be forced to explain how America will respond to the deaths while also facing the reality that, under his watch, the U.S. has been sucked into another Middle East war.

Hope for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas before the looming start of Ramadan looked highly unlikely Thursday as negotiations between the Palestinian militant group and Egyptian mediators ended without a deal. That means fighting in Gaza will continue, even as Israel faces soaring international criticism for the dire humanitarian conditions inside the Palestinian enclave. Israeli “War Cabinet” member Benny Gantz, a rival to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is hearing that criticism first-hand on a Thursday visit to Britain.

In the U.S., some key lawmakers say that the Biden administration needs to take a much stronger position in defense of Israel, one of its closest allies. Military Correspondent Mike Glenn reports on growing calls for the U.S. to formally intervene and help thwart an International Court of Justice case brought by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide. Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote a letter to the president urging that the U.S. offer “all appropriate support” in opposing South Africa’s effort.

Russian troops are making gains in eastern Ukraine despite keeping one of their key tanks in the garage. Mr. Glenn reports on why Russian military leaders have decided against deploying the T-14 Armata tank to the front lines of the war. The bottom line: Kremlin officials fear “potential reputational damage” if the tank proves vulnerable or ineffective on the battlefield.

The war in Ukraine is just one of the many conflicts raging around the world. And the United Nations has proven itself to be mostly ineffective at stopping them, containing them, or negotiating their end.

That’s the argument from former CIA official Joseph DeTrani, who contends that when it comes to wars all across the globe, “The logical assumption is that the United Nations is responsible for helping to prevent and resolve these … issues. But unfortunately, the United Nations and other international organizations have not been able to live up to this expectation.”

And speaking of failing to live up to expectations, Mr. Biden’s border policy by virtually all accounts has been a disaster. In a piece for The Times, Stephen Moore argues that the president’s immigration policies have wreaked havoc on the country and that if Mr. Trump wins in November, it will be in no small part due to anger and frustration with the situation on the southern border.