Business & Financial News, U.S & International Breaking News

U.S. stocks opened near record highs on Wednesday, as Joe Biden prepared to take charge as U.S. President, while Netflix jumped after saying it will no longer need to borrow billions of dollars to finance its TV shows and movies.

Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma made his first public appearance since October on Wednesday when he spoke to a group of teachers by video, easing concern about his unusual absence from the limelight and sending shares in the e-commerce giant surging.

Morgan Stanley boosted both its short and long-term operating targets on Wednesday after coronavirus-induced volatility in financial markets helped the Wall Street bank post a quarterly profit that sailed past estimates.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the incoming U.S. administration on Wednesday to return to a 2015 nuclear agreement and lift sanctions on Tehran, while welcoming the end of "tyrant" President Donald Trump's era.

An American woman and self-described digital nomad will be deported from Indonesia after posting tweets that sparked a social media backlash over perceived western privilege and lack of cultural awareness, after she said Bali was "LGBT friendly".

An ultra royalist group in Thailand launched a new political party on Wednesday to defend King Maha Vajiralongkorn, amid unprecedented calls for reform of the monarchy by a youth-led protest movement.