Your noon Briefing

Welcome to your noon digest of what’s been making news and what to watch for.

Hello readers. Here is your noon round-up of today’s top stories so far and a long read for lunchtime.

Radio broadcaster Alan Jones arrives at the Supreme Court in Brisbane, Monday, May 21, 2018. The Toowoomba-based Wagner family are suing the talkback radio host over comments he made during 32 broadcasts in 2014 and 2015. (AAP Image/Glenn Hunt) NO ARCHIVING

Jones backs Joyce

Radio host Alan Jones has backed Barnaby Joyce and slammed Malcolm Turnbull for delivering a “moral sermon” about the former deputy prime minister’s conduct earlier this year. Media editor Darren Davidson, meantime, reports that Mr Joyce and Vikki Campion’s much-hyped $150,000 interview has received disappointing ratings.

“If I was given the choice of going to war and I was given the choice between an adulterer and a backstabber, I would choose the adulterer every time.”

Alan Jones

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Former PM Kevin Rudd attending a breakfast to mark the 10th Anniversary of the National Apology to AustraliaÕs Indigenous Peoples at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

Rudd: safety first

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has told a court he would have insisted safety risks with the Home Insulation Program be fixed before it was rolled out, had he been aware of them.

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Serena Williams meets Maria Sharaopva.

Paris grudge match

The Serena Williams-Maria Sharapova feud looks set to ignite again tonight during their first encounter since the Russian tested positive for meldonium.

“She’s probably a favourite in this match, for sure. She has been playing for over a year now. I’ve just started, so I am just really trying to get my bearing, trying to feel out where I am and see where I can go.”

Serena Williams

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AT SEA, CHINA - APRIL 12: A PLA Navy fleet including the aircraft carrier Liaoning, submarines, vessels and fighter jets take part in a review in the South China Sea on April 12, 2018 in At Sea, China. Chinese President Xi Jinping reviewed the fleet on Thursday morning and delivered a speech after the review. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

The long read: China seals sea supremacy

The contest for supremacy in the South China Sea is over and now demands a quick response, writes Paul Maley.

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Comment of the day

“I have been in the audience of Q&A and can tell you it is stacked. I found the audience was left and the panel was stacked to the left.”

Lesley, in response to ‘Media diary: It’s a no to Q&A’.