Russia

• The Russian ruble hit a 16-month low against the U.S. dollar and the Russian central bank reacted by pausing its purchases of foreign currency for the rest of 2023 "to reduce volatility."
• Separately, Russia launched Luna-25, an unmanned lunar lander that will explore the south pole of the moon for a year of research. The Luna-25 project began long before Russia invaded Ukraine as a Putin vanity project.

• ECOWAS leaders ordered a "standby force" of about 2,700 troops to be ready to reverse the coup in Niger.
• It won't actually be deployed to Niger yet, and it may never be: its deployment could lead the junta to carry out its threat to kill Pres. Bazoum if any foreign forces intervene.

• The U.S. and Iran agreed to a prisoner swap that will see five U.S. citizens released from Iranian jail - and around $6 billion in Iranian oil revenue released from South Korean banks that froze funds because of U.S. sanctions - in exchange for the release of several Iranians in U.S. prisons.
• The U.S. says the unlocked oil revenues are only supposed to be spent for humanitarian purposes, but Iran claims it never agreed to any such restrictions.
• The Americans due to be released have already been moved to house arrest ahead of the swap. At least three of them were being held on suspicion of spying for the U.S.

• Fast-moving wildfires killed at least 55 people on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
• Ecuadorean police arrested six people suspected of involvement in the assassination of a presidential candidate last week. All six are Colombian, which suggests a drug trade nexus.