THE NEWS WRAP: Barack Obama to address the Australian Parliament today

Barack Obama will address the Australian Parliament today, following a joint press conference with Julia Gillard yesterday in which the US/Australia alliance was reaffirmed.

The US President committed to strengthen the ANZUS alliance on its 60^th anniversary, despite concerns the move would alienate China, Australia’s key trading partner.

Obama will head to Darwin before concluding his brief visit to Australia.

Levinson named Apple chairman

Arthur Levinson, who has been an Apple director since 2005, has been appointed chairman of the tech giant, replacing the late Steve Jobs.

The boardroom reshuffle also sees Disney chief executive Bob Iger, who lead the purchase of Pixar from Jobs in 2006, join Apple’s board.

Branson backs Occupy protesters

Sir Richard Branson has lent his weight to the Occupy protest movement, saying that an “enormous responsibility” comes with wealth.

The Virgin Group founder, speaking in New Zealand, said: “In a sense it’s slightly like the Wall St protesters are basically saying that we are lucky bastards to have been successful in our professions.”

“An enormous responsibility comes with wealth – they have to get out and use that position to tackle a lot of the outstanding issues.”

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 18.69 points, or 0.2%, to 12,077.47. The Australian dollar rose to 101.53 US cents.