June began Saturday in the nation’s capital, with one of those days so warm and dry, and atmospherically wonderful that it might have seemed like a dream — if Washington had not had an almost identical day Friday.
Washington
Wagner head offered to reveal Russian troop locations to Ukraine – Washington Post
May 14 (Reuters) – Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary force, offered to reveal the position of Russian troops to the Ukranian government, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing leaked U.S. intelligence documents.
Wagner’s soldiers have been at the forefront of a bloody Russian offensive to take the city of Bakhmut. In exchange for Ukraine withdrawing its soldiers from the area, Prigozhin in January offered to tell its intelligence service the positions of Russian forces, the Post reported.
The paper said Ukraine rejected the offer.
Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has publicly threatened to withdraw his mercenaries from the area around Bakhmut, where they are at the vanguard of the Russian offensive, unless they receive much-needed ammunition.
He said Tuesday in an audio message that he and his men would be regarded as traitors if they abandoned the area.
The Post reported Prigozhin’s offer came through his contacts with Ukraine’s intelligence service.
A White House spokesman declined to comment on the report, which was based on secret U.S. documents leaked to the group-chat platform Discord.
Reporting by Brad Heath; Editing by Lincoln Feast.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Washington
June starts in D.C. as May ended, with a day of delight
The 81 degrees was a temperate sort of temperature, marking a day that seemed content to grant to barbecues to possess the undisputed right to sizzle, and to confine to food preparation any noticeable steaminess.
Saturday seemed a dry day in the most obvious sense, meaning that it did not rain, at least not through early evening. In the seeming absence of showers, or of their apparent likelihood, Saturday departed from a tradition established in May. Last month it rained on every Saturday, and on a couple of them it rained a lot.
But by early evening, D.C.’s first Saturday in June seemed to revoke the weekly permits for rain and clouds. Moreover, to the untrained eye, Saturday gave scarcely a sign that it would allow precipitation at night.
Clouds were indeed there on Saturday, but they seemed to be high clouds, perhaps five miles up, and thin, almost gauzy, as if made of some fragile fabric with strands that had been carefully teased apart.
Humidity, the unwelcome guest on many a warm day in Washington, seemed to make itself scarce. Such quantities as dew points and heat indexes often are cited as numerical explanations of warm weather discomfort. Although these quantities could be computed Saturday, they could readily be factored out of the comfort equation.
For example, at 2 p.m., with the mercury at 80 degrees, the dew point was recorded at more than 30 degrees below that. It was an almost absurdly low 49 degrees. In practice, it meant that no way existed to wring raindrops out of the uncharacteristically dry air.
East is east, and west is west, it is often said. But on Saturday, Washington seemed to show similarities to conditions often experienced near the other side of the continent. It seemed to display an uncommonly strong resemblance to sections of Southern California, at least in terms of meteorology.
In all of this, Saturday seemed to show its kinship with Friday, a day similar in so many ways. With a high temperature in the 70s, Friday was often described as an example of the sort of weather that should be summoned to the Washington area more often.
Washington
QB Sam Howell Admits ‘I Was a Little Too Aggressive’ With Washington Commanders
Quarterback Sam Howell filled his backup role as best he could while learning behind Washington Commanders quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke.
At the end of the Commanders’ 2022 season he got his first start against the Dallas Cowboys and immediately showed flashes of the talent that once had him projected to be a first-round pick in the NFL Draft.
READ MORE: Years Later Trent Williams Trade Still Haunts Washington
While Washington got Howell in the fifth round and waited 16 regular season games before giving him his first shot, the quarterback eventually started all 17 games in a four-win 2023 campaign that saw Howell sacked a league-high 65 times while throwing 21 interceptions.
“I think I could play some smarter ball. I think there were times where we were down big in some games, I was a little too aggressive just trying to make something happen trying to get us back in the game,” Howell said according to Jon Alfano of All Seahawks. “The turnovers are just way too high for what I wanted and what the team needed.”
“In this league to be able to play, you’ve got to compete and that’s what I’m willing to do, no matter what the situation is, no matter who the starter is.”
– Sam Howell, Seattle Seahawks Quarterback
It’s classic Howell to not let the blame land anywhere else but himself, but those who watched the Commanders closely last year know that it’s not all on the young quarterback. Perhaps more blame is owed to the coaching staff that has since departed, and then there’s some that needs to live with the roster around him.
Most of us here witnessing the launch of quarterback Jayden Daniels’ career still believe there’s a future NFL starter waiting in the wings in the Pacific Northwest. Even if Howell has to sit behind yet another more veteran quarterback while he waits for his next chance.
“In this league to be able to play, you’ve got to compete and that’s what I’m willing to do, no matter what the situation is, no matter who the starter is. If I’m the starter, I’m coming to compete every single day,” Howell told reporters Thursday . “Geno has been great. I’ve learned a lot from Geno and he’s a great player. I have a lot of respect for him and everything he’s been through in his career.”
Smith is almost the perfect quarterback to take a cast-out starter under his wing because he knows a thing or two about that situation. Even though Smith’s fall came from much higher heights, and is considered to be more about him than Howell’s departure from Washington is.
READ MORE: Logan Paulsen’s Early Takeaways from Quarterback Jayden Daniels
After being drafted No. 2 overall in the 2013 NFL Draft out of West Virginia, Smith spent four seasons with the New York Jets before eventually heading to the New York Giants, Los Angeles Chargers, and finally the Seattle Seahawks where he got his second chance at being a franchise quarterback.
Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.
Washington
Man slain, teen and second man wounded in Anacostia, police say
The juvenile female who was wounded was described by Carew as an older teenager.
No name was available for the man who was fatally wounded. The latest report on the two who were wounded indicated that both were conscious and breathing when taken to a hospital.
No information was immediately available about suspects or motive in the gunfire. Any connection between the three who were shot could not be learned immediately.
In another development, the death earlier this year of a man who was shot two years ago is being investigated as a homicide, police said Friday.
Cesar Barrera, 40, was shot May 10, 2022, in the 2500 block of Pomeroy Road SE and died of his wounds on Feb. 7 this year, the police said. An autopsy determined in May that he died of complications from gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, police said.
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