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.

06/05/2018. AMP chief executive Mike Wilkins, pictured at their headquarters in Sydney. Britta Campion / The Australian

AMP apology

AMP interim chairman Mike Wilkins has opened the troubled financial services company’s annual general meeting in Melbourne with an immediate apology to shareholders for the mounting scandals at the group, but has warned its “rebuild won’t happen overnight”.

“We have heard loud and clear you want change.’’

Mike Wilkins

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Deputy Leader of the Opposition Tanya Plibersek speaks during a press conference in Sydney, Sunday, April 29, 2018. Labor says it has come up with a new source of GST revenue that would allow the states to agree to cut the 10 per cent tax on female sanitary products.(AAP Image/Daniel Munoz) NO ARCHIVING

‘Sorry, not sorry’

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek has apologised for the “inconvenience” of by-elections but has defended Labor’s handling of the citizenship farce despite Bill Shorten’s repeated vow his MPs had no case to answer. Ms Plibersek echoed this morning’s half-baked apology from Manager of Opposition Business Tony Burke by claiming the party was caught out by a “new, stricter interpretation” of section 44 of the Constitution. Keep up with all the latest from parliament in our live blog, PoliticsNow.

“We are very sorry for the inconvenience of people having to go to by-elections but we acted on the best advice that we had at the time.”

Tanya Plibersek

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FILE - In this March 9, 2016 file photo obtained from the Iranian Fars News Agency, a Qadr H long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile is fired by Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard during a maneuver in an undisclosed location in Iran. President Donald Trump is weighing whether to pull the U.S. out of Iran's nuclear deal, a 2015 agreement that capped over a decade of hostility between Tehran and the West over its atomic program. (AP Photo/Fars News Agency, Omid Vahabzadeh, File)

Iran attacks

Iranian forces based in Syria fired 20 rockets at Israeli frontline military positions in the Golan Heights early today, the Israeli military said, triggering an Israeli reprisal and further escalating heightened tensions between the two bitter enemies in neighbouring Syria. The Israeli military said its Iron Dome rocket defence system intercepted some of the incoming projectiles, while others caused only minimal damage. There were no Israeli casualties.

“Israel views this Iranian attack very severely. This event is not over.”

Lt Colonel Jonathan Conricus

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Israel Folau, Clyde Rathbone and George Gregan.

‘Self-immolation’

Former Wallabies captain George Gregan wants Israel Folau to stop preaching and let his football do the talking and Clyde Rathbone is calling him a “religious lunatic bent on self-immolation” as Rugby Australia agonises over how to deal with the divisive superstar. RA boss Raelene Castle admits Folau’s provocative religious views opposing homosexuality and same-sex marriage are proving the biggest challenge of her decade-long sports administration career.

“In my career, this is singularly the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with. There’s no black and white answer.”

Raelene Castle

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A cleric and a woman walk past an anti-U.S. mural painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May. 8, 2018. President Donald Trump prepared to tell the world Tuesday whether he plans to follow through on his campaign threat to pull out of the landmark nuclear accord with Iran, as European allies braced for the potential fallout after a last-ditch persuasion effort. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The long read: Trump’s Iran gamble

The latest episode of Donald Trump’s wrecking-ball approach to the Middle East and his Western allies played out yesterday as he opted out of the multilateral ­nuclear agreement with Iran so painstakingly negotiated by his predecessor in partnership with the other permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany. There is little doubt that the authors of the agreement were one of his targets, writes Rodger Shanahan.

“Outside of petty vindictiveness there is little to be gained from Trump’s decision. Indeed the opposite is likely to be true.”

Rodger Shanahan

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Comment of the day

“So Shorten ... says that the High Court has applied a new test and set a new precedent when, according to the article, the court itself says they did no such thing. Is there no lie this guy won’t tell?”

Roger, in response to ‘Citizenship debacle: Bill Shorten to face leadership test’.