National News from NPR

Alabama farmers are facing a labor crisis because of the state's new immigration law as both legal and undocumented migrant workers have fled the state since the strict new rules went into effect last month.

So far, piecemeal efforts to match the unemployed or work release inmates to farm jobs are not panning out, and farmers are asking state lawmakers to do something before the spring planting season.

Home prices across the U.S. have dropped 30 percent from their peaks, a downturn that has sapped trillions of dollars in wealth from Americans. Not surprisingly, it's a hot topic for presidential candidates this campaign season. But so far, new ideas about how to fix the crisis have been scarce.

On Monday, President Obama is visiting Nevada, where he's expected to announce his administration's latest proposals on housing. The state is at the epicenter of the downturn, with the latest reports showing home prices and sales numbers continuing to slip.

President Obama is on a campaign swing through the West this week, making stops in California, Nevada and Colorado — all states where Hispanic voters will play a pivotal role in next year's election.

Obama has lost popularity with Latinos recently, mostly due to the economy. But Hispanic voters looking for alternatives find problems with the Republican slate as well.

GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain recently said he'd "electrify" the U.S.-Mexico border fence "with a sign on it on the other side that says it can kill you."

Rescue workers in eastern Turkey pulled a handful of survivors Monday from the rubble of Sunday's powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake, which killed at least 270 people and injured hundreds more.

As aftershocks continued to rock the area, four people in worst-hit Ercis were extracted from the mounds of debris left by Sunday's quake. Dozens more were thought trapped but still alive.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has just returned to the U.S. after a weeklong trip through Central Asia. Most of her stops were associated with two issues: the war in Afghanistan, and frayed relations with Pakistan. Clinton described her talks with U.S. and Pakistani military leaders as very comprehensive.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, host: The Texas Rangers beat the St. Louis Cardinals four to nothing in Arlington, Texas last night. The win evens the series at two games apiece. The keys to the Rangers' victory were a single swing to the bat on offense and 112 pitches from their starter, Derek Holland. NPR's Mike Pesca was at the ballpark and filed this report.

MIKE PESCA: Mike Napoli - Napoli. It's fun to say. Napoli.

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Napoli. Napoli. Napoli. Napoli.

Libya's liberation was declared over the weekend, and residents of Sirte, Moammar Gadhafi's battered hometown, are beginning to return to their homes.

The magnitude-7.2 quake killed scores of people and sparked widespread panic as buildings collapsed.

Top European finance officials met again Sunday in Brussels to try and prevent a financial collapse and save the continent from its debt crisis.

Europe's debt situation differs from what happened in 2008 in the U.S., where banks lent money to fuel an unsustainable housing boom. Still, a default in Europe could have serious consequences on Wall Street and on global markets.

As the European markets get closer to a meltdown and the echoes of the 2008 banking crisis still resonate in the U.S., has anything changed on Wall Street in the past few years?