1. NO WAR
The Russian journalist who interrupted a state TV news bulletin and denounced the war in Ukraine has been fined 30,000 roubles ($US280) by a Russian court. Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at Russian-owned Channel One, burst onto the set of a live broadcast of the nightly news on Monday evening, holding a sign protesting the invasion while shouting “stop the war”.

“It was my anti-war decision. I made this decision by myself because I don’t like Russia starting this invasion. It was really terrible,” Ovsyannikova told the BBC after the hearing. She told reporters that she had gone two days with no sleep, and had been questioned for over 14 hours.

2. Russia-Ukraine update
Ukraine and Russia will resume talks on Wednesday as a key adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the negotiations “difficult” but said there is room for compromise. 

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine’s leadership was not “serious” about resolving the conflict as a besieged Kyiv entered an extended curfew from 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday. 

President Joe Biden will travel to Europe to take part in NATO and European Union summits to discuss the war with allies on March 24. The UN said that 3 million people have now fled the fighting in Ukraine. US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken has announced a further $US186 million in US aid to help refugees and displaced citizens of Ukraine.

3. Lowy Institute predicts slowing Chinese growth
The head at one of Australia’s leading think tanks, Roland Rajah spoke on ABC Radio about how the Lowy Institute’s latest research paper predicts slowing Chinese growth.

“We still think China will become the largest economy in the world by sometime around 2030, measured in US dollar terms. But we don’t see them going much further above where the United States is today. That means they’ll basically be an equal to the United States and that has implications. But they’ll never be able to match the broader West, more generally,” Rajah told RN Breakfast.

“If, we say, that China’s future economic growth is going to be slower than otherwise, that has negative implications for the demand, in particular, for Australian exports.

“Chinese demand, particularly for commodities and things for us things like iron ore, is going to remain huge. We don’t see that going down. We see it levelling off.

“We always knew, for a long time, that China was going to eventually shift away from this kind of commodity intensive growth model that it’s had. And it’s stuck with it for longer than people thought. But we always knew that shift was coming.”

4. Oil continues its decline, now 27% below recent high
Oil registered heavy losses Tuesday, building on Monday’s decline, as myriad factors weighed on sentiment, including talks between Russia and Ukraine, a potential slowdown in Chinese demand and unwinding of trades ahead of the Federal Reserve’s expected rate hike on Wednesday. (CNBC) WTI ended the day at $96.44, for a loss of 6.38%. During the session it traded as low as $93.53. Brent settled 6.54% lower at $99.91 per barrel, after trading as low as $97.44.

5. ASX to rise as Wall St rallies on falling oil prices
ASX futures were up 41 points or 0.6% to 7138 near 7am AEDT, with the AUD +0.1% to 71.95 US cents. On Wall St: Dow +1.8% S&P 500 +2.2% Nasdaq +2.9%. 2-year yield: US -- (1.85%) Australia -- (1.31%). 10-year yield: US +0.02% (2.15%) Australia +0.06% (2.51%).