THE NEWS WRAP: Northern Territory appoints Adam Giles as new chief minister

Adam Giles has been appointed the new Northern Territory chief minister, following a party room coup against Terry Mills.

Giles, from the Country Liberal Party, is the first Indigenous person to become the head of an Australian state or Territory government.

Mills found out he had been rolled by his party over the phone while on an overseas trade mission to Japan, with the move coming less than a week after Ted Baillieu stood down as premier of Victoria.

Catholic Church names Francis I as new pope

The Catholic Church has appointed its first Latin American pope, with Argentinian cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio taking the papal name Pope Francis I.

Tens of thousands of Catholics gathered in the Vatican Square cheered as white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimneys, marking the first non-European pope in over 1,200 years.

Pope Francis I becomes the 266th pope in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history.

Google and Apple to come under increased ATO scrutiny

Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan has revealed the tax minimisation schemes of tech giants, including Google and Apple, are set to come under increased scruitiny from the ATO.

Google is believed to have paid just $74,000 in tax off revenues of over $2 billion by channelling sales through offshore subsidiaries in Singapore.

“Is it legitimate for the businesses to be left alone to adopt very aggressive structures? Part of my role is to ensure businesses operate within the law. I want business to clearly know, if they choose questionable or very aggressive practices, there will be consequences,” Jordan said.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.04% to 14,455.28. The Aussie dollar is down to $US103.10 cents.