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.

No Labor levy

Labor has fallen in line with the government’s decision to drop plans for a 0.5 percent hike in the Medicare Levy to fund the NDIS. Chris Bowen today confirmed Labor wouldn’t pursue the rise for those on incomes above $87,000 - the only limit it had been willing to accept.

“They’ve now dropped the entire policy so obviously the effort to compromise is now null and void as well.”

Chris Bowen

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views of cranes building high rise apartment blocks on the South Brisbane skyline .

Loan limits ease

The banking regulator has moved to junk strict limits on property investor borrowing, claiming lenders have improved their standards. But the move the scrap the 10 per cent annual growth cap on lending to investor borrowers also comes amid fierce criticism from smaller banks that have claimed the prudential regulator has stifled competition and locked in the entrenched market position of the major lenders.

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DNA match ... the Golden State Killer.

Golden State Killer caught

After a 42-year investigation that included leads stretching as far away as Australia, US authorities have announced they have captured the rapist and serial killer dubbed the Golden State Killer and East Area Rapist. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr, a 72-year-old former police officer, was arrested in a dawn raid in California’s capital, Sacramento. DeAngelo Jr’s alleged reign of terror began in 1976 and appears to have ended in 1986.

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Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks during a press conference with Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, April 20, 2017. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull insists citizenship must reflect Australian values as he unveiled tighter requirements for new applicants. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING

Libs can’t top Turnbull

At the risk of driving the boutique band of Turnbull haters into a frenzy of the DTs (delconic tremens), which is as easy these days as finding a dishonest broker, the fact is that Malcolm Turnbull remains the Liberals’ best leadership option, writes Niki Savva.

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A member of the Iraqi Special Forces stands wearing a skull mask stands guard in a northeastern district of the city of Mosul on November 24, 2016. Elite forces gained new ground in east Mosul, looking for fresh momentum as stiffer-than-expected IS resistance threatened to bog down the five-week-old offensive against the jihadists' last major stronghold in Iraq. / AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX

The long read: Battle over the art of war

Iconography has been important to armed forces around the world for centuries, but one man might be about to change that. Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, who will take over as chief of defence when Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin steps down in July, has decreed that it is no longer acceptable for Australian Army units to involve death and destruction in their symbols.

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Comment of the day

“As if anyone who isn’t a meddling, fussy-britches, finger-wagging busy-body is going to apply for the job! The whole commission is a make-work exercise for nanny-staters. Get rid of it.”

Jason, in response to ‘Cartoon haters out of the race for race discrimination commissioner’s job’.