Commodity Prices

• Aluminum: $2,176/ton
• Antimony (ingot min. 99.65% fob China): $11,850/ton
• Cobalt: $33,420/ton
• Copper: $8,295/ton
• Gold: $1,913/toz
• Lead: $2,109/ton
• Natural Gas (Nymex): $2.77/MMbtu
• WTI Crude Oil (Nymex): $83.19/barrel
• Zinc: $2,398/ton

• Russia says it thwarted a Ukrainian missile and drone attack on the Crimean (aka Kerch) Bridge linking Crimea with Russia, and criticized Ukraine for putting civilian lives at risk. Then Russia vowed to retaliate, which will put more civilian lives at risk.
• Separately, Russia announced plans to arm its new Yasen-M nuclear submarines with hypersonic Zircon missiles.

• ECOWAS plans to send a parliamentary committee to Niger in another effort to get the junta to stand down and return power to Pres. Bazoum's civilian government.
• It seems to have paused its plan to send a military force for now, which is prudent since the junta has threatened to execute Bazoum if a foreign military force enters Niger.
• The ECOWAS committee won't be the first foreign delegation to meet with junta-appointed (but unrecognized) leader Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine: a group of religious leaders from Nigeria met with Zeine on Saturday.
• The Nigerian Islamic scholars walked away from that meeting hopeful and said the junta was open to dialogue and diplomacy...but just hours later the junta announced plans to prosecute deposed president Bazoum for "high treason." If convicted - and if his captors haven't already starved him to death by then - Bazoum could face the death penalty.

• Iran's central bank director seemed to confirm that there are indeed restrictions on how it can spend the $6-10 billion in funds currently frozen in South Korea and Iraq that will be released as part of the prisoner swap deal agreed last week: the money can only be used to buy "non-sanctioned" items.
• A third country - widely thought to be Qatar (though Oman and Switzerland were mentioned too) - mediated the swap deal and will receive the frozen funds for disbursement.
• The NYT said this deal has been in the works for over two years. Iran's main interest is in securing much-needed cash; the release of Iranian prisoners is an added bonus.

• Pakistani militants from the Baloch Liberation Army attacked a convoy of Chinese engineers in Balochistan. Security forces intervened, killing two militants.