PRAGUE — When the global demand for consumer goods tumbled, production and assembly line jobs here evaporated. The consequences for some migrants from the developing world have been catastrophic. With jobs scarce, the Czech government decided to try to send some of the migrants home. But for some, the way they came here makes it financially impossible to take advantage of the offer. In one of this city's largest outdoor markets, merchants, many of them from Vietnam, hawk clothes, furniture, food and an assortment of gadgets.

HANOI — Senator John McCain returned Wednesday to Hoa Lo Prison, the place known to the American prisoners of war who spent time there as the “Hanoi Hilton.” If the jail where he once sweated out months in solitary confinement still had any emotional power for him, it was not immediately apparent. McCain kicked off his jaunt to Vietnam Monday with a relaxing night on a luxury cruise ship on Vietnam’s beautiful Ha Long Bay. He later spent his hour at the prison playing tour guide to fellow senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Nga and her husband have decided to buy a house in Las Vegas in Nevada, which is now offered at  $350,000, or $150,000 cheaper than the level offered the same period of the last year. Nga said that she is planning to make another trip to the U.S. to fulfill the formalities to purchase the house, hoping that she can get it at less than U.S. $300,000. Nga related that a friend of hers, after three trips to the U.S., had successfully purchased a good house in California. “It will take her two or three more trips to fulfill formalities,” Nga said.