The West must prepare for a long war in Ukraine as Russia makes incremental gains in a furious battle to control the country’s east, the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have both said.

…read more

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/19/europe/ukraine-russia-war-stoltenberg-johnson-intl-gbr/index.html

Hundreds of British paratroopers were banned from a NATO deployment after videos surfaced of an orgy with a civilian woman in the barracks that had some soldiers watching on, according to reports. …read more

https://nypost.com/2022/06/19/uk-troops-barred-from-nato-deployment-after-video-of-orgy/

Valeri Nichushkin and Cale Makar each scored twice as the Colorado Avalanche crushed the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-0 for a 2-0 series lead.

     

…read more

http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~/699719484/0/usatoday-newstopstories~Colorado-Avalanche-overwhelm-Tampa-Bay-Lightning-take-lead-in-Stanley-Cup-Final/

Voters in Colombia are deciding between leftist Gustavo Petro and businessman Rodolfo Hernandez, whose sudden rise prompted comparisons with Donald Trump. …read more

https://www.dw.com/en/colombia-elections-ex-guerilla-leader-faces-off-against-outsider-millionaire/a-62182308?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

The U.S.-China relationship, hobbled by bitter feuds over tariffs and Taiwan, is facing new tensions as family members urge the Biden administration to get tough with Beijing to win the release of unjustly imprisoned Americans.

The nonprofit prisoner release advocacy organization Dui Hua Foundation estimates that there are up to 200 Americans arbitrarily detained in China and as many as 30 who are subject to unlawful exit bans.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan told China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in a June 13 meeting that releasing Americans wrongfully detained or subject to exit bans is a “personal priority for both himself and for the President,” a senior administration official said.

But lawmakers and family members of U.S. citizens wrongfully detained in China say Sullivan and the State Department are pursuing a prisoner release approach that’s likely to fail because it’s hinged to quiet engagement. They urge the Biden administration to play diplomatic hardball by brokering the release of Beijing’s American prisoners through prisoner swaps or by explicitly linking their freedom to progress on key bilateral issues, including tariffs and trade.

“I want them to do whatever it takes [even] if it takes trading him for Chinese nationals we have here,” said Katherine Swidan, mother of Mark Swidan, a Texan detained in China for more than nine years. “I know [Biden] can’t send in the Marines … but stop trade, don’t give [China] any leeway on tariffs or on trade until they release Mark.”

Swidan is one of three Americans imprisoned in China, including Kai Li and David Lin, whom the State Department’s office of the special presidential envoy on hostage affairs (SPEHA) designates as “wrongful detainees.” The designation authorizes Roger D. Carstens, the special envoy, to seek their release. But family members and prisoner release advocates say SPEHA is hitting a brick wall in Beijing and that Swidan, Li and Lin are suffering serious health problems caused by their imprisonment.

“[Carstens] and his team are working very hard [but] they’re not making any progress,” said John Kamm, founder of the Dui Hua Foundation. “What I see is growing frustration on the part of the administration about the complete failure on the part of the Chinese to respond — [there’s] no progress whatsoever on any of these cases.”

Neither Carstens’ office, the National Security Council nor the White House responded to POLITICO’s requests for comment about Sullivan’s prisoner release initiative or the number of Americans deemed wrongfully detained in China. It’s a topic the Chinese government also wants to avoid. Yang’s readout of his meeting with Sullivan made no mention of the initiative and the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., didn’t respond to a request for comment.

But the State Department recognizes there’s a problem. It adjusted its China travel advisory in April to a level …read more

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/19/families-biden-administration-americans-china-00040706

Three men were shot Sunday morning — one fatally — by a gunman firing what appeared to be an assault rifle during a dispute outside a Queens catering hall, cops said. …read more

https://nypost.com/2022/06/19/3-shot-1-killed-by-gunman-firing-assault-rifle-in-nyc/

“We must prepare for the fact that it could take years. We must not let up in supporting Ukraine,” Secretary-general of the military alliance Jens Stoltenberg said. …read more

https://nypost.com/2022/06/19/nato-warns-of-long-ukraine-war-as-russian-assaults-follow-eu-boost-for-kyiv/

Republican and Democratic strategists sound off on whether Biden has the ability to represent his party in a positive light and outshine political opposition should he seek a second term in the White House in 2024. …read more

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democratic-republican-strategists-bidens-viability-2024-election

Yesli Vega, a law enforcement officer and a Republican candidate to represent Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, says she is the candidate who can defeat Abigail Spanberger in November. …read more

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-candidate-touts-record-says-spanberger-worst-kind-politician-virginia-gop-primary

Phil Mickelson explained what happened during his first two rounds of the US Open that caused him to miss the cut. …read more

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/phil-mickelson-explains-rough-us-open