1. China lashes back on ‘lasering’ Australian military aircraft
Australian officials have been up in arms over a Chinese frigate patrolling the Arafura Sea that shone a laser pointer at an Australian military aircraft. However, the Chinese government has hit back, saying the Aussie spy plane flew within 4 kilometres of the ship, deeming it a “provocative” act. “Such malicious and provocative actions can easily lead to misunderstandings and misjudgments, posing a threat to the safety of ships, aircraft and personnel of both sides,” Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China’s Defence Ministry said in a statement posted online Monday night. The Defence Department has not confirmed how close the RAAF plane got to the warships, but a former senior pilot earlier told the AFR it was likely to be within two to five nautical miles.

2. Coalition pledges protectionist measure for Antarctica to the tune of $804 million
The Morrison government will pledge $804 million to improve research and development resources in its base in Antarctica to be rolled out over the next decade. Parts of the funding include $136 million for charting activities, mobile stations and traverse capability, and $109 million for a new drone fleet, autonomous vehicles and medium lift helicopters. “My government will continue to back our world-class scientists and expeditioners with the necessary funding and resources, because their research on the frozen continent and in the Southern Ocean is critically important to Australia’s future,” said Prime Minister Morrison. “The announcement comes amid a debate about how Australia should be protecting its interests in the Antarctic territories, where China has become increasingly assertive … A Lowy Institute paper published last year said that China ‘wants to benefit economically, and potentially militarily, from Antarctica’, and was pushing the terms of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), primarily over fisheries access, and was active on the ice,” The Guardian reports.

3. China rejects Nasa claim about not cleaning up its space rubbish
Debris that will soon crash into the moon’s surface has been hotly contested over its origin on earth, with Nasa claiming it traces back to one of China’s exploration programs. But according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, the debris from the expedition in question “entered into the Earth’s atmosphere and has already been completely burned up”. That contradicted a Nasa statement reported by the Washington Post last week that said “the object expected to impact the far side of the Moon March 4 is likely the Chinese Chang’e 5-T1 booster launched in 2014”. Nasa also said at the time that the debris wasn’t linked to a SpaceX rocket, as was earlier reported.

4. False start for Trump’s new social media app
Former US President Donald Trump is seeking to take on big tech companies and media conglomerates with his Trump Media & Technology Group and its flagship social media platform, Truth Social. However, upon launch, many users were unable to register or were met with error messages preventing them from gaining access. “Rumble, which is seen as a right-wing alternative to Google’s YouTube, is providing technology and cloud services to Trump Media & Technology Group. Rumble’s investors include well-known conservative venture capitalists J.D. Vance and Peter Thiel. Vance, author of the memoir Hillbilly Elegy, is also a Republican candidate for Senate in Ohio,” Bloomberg reports.

5. ASX remains on downward path
ASX futures down 48 points or 0.7% to 7111 near 5.12am AEDT, with the AUD -0.4% to 71.99 US cents. Markets were closed in the US due to a public holiday, while in Europe: Stoxx 50 -2.2% FTSE -0.4% DAX -2.1% CAC -2%. 2-year yield: US - - (1.47%) Australia -0.01% (1.16%). 10-year yield: US +0.01% (1.93%) Australia +0.04% (2.21%).