* Dollar recovers from multi-year low

* India gold imports rise in August

* Platinum slips to near two-week low

* Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser (Recasts, adds comments, updates prices)

By K. Sathya Narayanan

Sept 2 (Reuters) - Gold fell over 1% on Wednesday as the dollar strengthened and a strong rebound in U.S. manufacturing sector fuelled hopes of a recovery in the coronavirus-hit economy.

Spot

SINDELFINGEN, Germany (Reuters) - Mercedes-Benz engineers are striving to meet every definition of comfort in the new S-Class sedan as they try to steal a march on rival Tesla, which wowed audiences with its “fart mode.”

The German automaker, the inventor of the modern car, is

LONDON (Reuters) - More than 45,000 people have signed up to run the first “virtual” London Marathon in October after the actual race, already postponed from April, was cancelled last month due to the risk of coronavirus spread.

A multi-lap elite race, headlined by Kenyan world record holders Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei, will take place on a closed course in a central London park on Oct. 4 but, along with the rest of the world’s major races, the

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said a Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ) unit won bids worth nearly $1.9 billion in an auction of a key spectrum block in the 3.5 GHz band.

In total, 228 bidders won bids worth nearly $4.6 billion for

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will now require senior Chinese diplomats in the country to receive approvals from the State Department before visiting U.S. university campuses and holding cultural events with more than 50 people outside the mission grounds, the Department said on Wednesday.

Washington cast the new moves as a response to what it said was Beijing’s restrictions on American diplomats based in China. In a statement, the agency also said it was going to take action to help ensure all Chinese embassy and consular social

(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC.N ) agreed to pay $2.12 million in fines and restitution to settle U.S. regulatory charges its brokers failed to properly account for the costs of switching customers who owned variable annuities to new investments.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) said Wells Fargo failed to supervise

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Bisexual British boxer Nicola Adams will become the first person to compete with a same-sex dance partner in the hit show ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, the BBC announced on Wednesday, in a coup for LGBT+ representation on primetime television.

“It’s amazing to be a part of the movement for change, diversity and breaking boundaries in the entertainment industry,” the double Olympic gold medal winner said in a statement.

The long-running show pairs celebrities with professional dancers who

BERLIN/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who is in intensive care in a Berlin hospital, was poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent in an attempt to murder him, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.

She said Berlin now expected Moscow to explain itself and that Germany would consult its NATO allies about how to respond, raising the prospect of new Western sanctions on Russia.

Moscow has denied involvement in the incident. The Russian foreign ministry said Germany’s assertion was not backed by