WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ground-breaking on new U.S. family homes rose for a fifth month in a row and producer prices tumbled, keeping hopes for economic recovery alive.

Aug. 18 - An Argentine rally driver evades injury after ramming straight into a herd of horses that had wandered on to the track, sending one of them flying into the air.

MIAMI (Reuters) - The United States is building criminal cases against more than 150 American clients of Swiss bank UBS as part of a crackdown on tax evasion now made easier by a deal over access to secret account information.

Aug. 18 - A big forest fire is raging out of control for a second day in central Greece.

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co said on Tuesday it is increasing production for the second half of 2009 after a surge in sales ignited by the U.S. government’s “Cash for Clunkers” incentives program.

Aug.18 - In a period of eight hours, 17 people are gunned down in Ciudad Juarez in Mexico’s ongoing drug war.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Robert Novak, a conservative political columnist known as the “Prince of Darkness” and who unleashed a political firestorm by publishing the name of an undercover CIA operative, died on Tuesday. He was 78.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A senior Iranian official said Tehran was ready for negotiations with the West on its disputed nuclear program based on mutual respect and without preconditions, state television reported on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama, looking to jump-start the stalled Middle East peace process, will hold talks Tuesday with Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, who Washington hopes can help to get things moving.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi accused “establishment agents” of raping and abusing detainees imprisoned after Iran’s June presidential vote and urged the powerful clerics to do their duty and speak out.