BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary on Wednesday signed a declaration of intent to buy air defence missiles from U.S. arms manufacturer Raytheon Technologies, Hungarian state news agency MTI reported, citing the defence minister.

The deal, worth about $1 billion, will be managed through the Foreign Military Sales programme and will be concluded by the end of September, MTI added.

Hungary has long vowed to increase its military spending, which as in many NATO countries remains far short of the alliance’s goal of 2 percent of

(Updates prices)

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 12 (Reuters) - The South African rand extended its gains against the dollar on Wednesday, as political wrangling over a stimulus package for the U.S. economy halted the U.S. currency’s rebound.

At 1500 GMT, the rand was 0.73% firmer at 17.3675 per dollar, continuing its recovery after suffering steep losses in the past two weeks.

The rand has been under pressure from shifts in

(Reuters) - A modern but unique signed baseball card featuring Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels has been put up for auction - with bidding starting at a cool $1 million.

Vintage baseball cards have long been

LONDON, Aug 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Nearly 50% of British people plan to fly less even after the easing of coronavirus restrictions as concerns over climate change rise, according to survey data released on Wednesday.

Researchers at Cardiff University and the University of Manchester said they were surprised to concern over climate change continued to rise even at the height of the pandemic, when the survey was conducted.

“When there are other really big threats or big issues facing society, usually we see environmental concern take a

On August 25, Reuters will host a virtual Newsmaker event with Former Vice President Al Gore. Since leaving office two decades ago, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore has become one of the world

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday said Democrats and the Trump administration remained far apart regarding any

* Britain’s economy shrank by a record 20.4% in Q2

* Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser (Updates prices)

By Sumita Layek

Aug 12 (Reuters) - Gold recovered on Wednesday after dipping below the key $1,900 level earlier and a day after registering its worst fall in seven years as bleak economic data underscored concerns over a pandemic-led slowdown.

Spot gold climbed 1.4%

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click or type LIVE/ in a news window)

* Tesla up after announcing stock split

* Moderna jumps after $1.5-bln U.S. contract

* Benchmark S&P 500 about 0.5% below record high

* Indexes up: Dow 0.99%, S&P 1.32%, Nasdaq 1.86% (Adds quote, details; updates prices)

By Medha Singh

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s suspended athletics federation said on Wednesday it had paid a multi-million-dollar fine to World Athletics in a move that could help it avoid expulsion by the sport’s global governing body.

Last month World Athletics said the federation would be expelled if it failed to pay $6.31 million, a sum that includes a fine for breaching anti-doping rules, before Aug. 15.

The expulsion, which would have to be approved by the World Athletics Congress