大象传媒

The world's largest coal-miner, Peabody Energy of the United States, has filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors.

It's been hit by a sharp fall in the price of coal, which has left it unable to pay its debts. Several of its domestic rivals have already filed for bankruptcy.

Regulators in the United States say plans prepared by some of America's biggest banks on how they would wind down their operations in the event of a crisis are insufficient. Five banks - including the giants JP Morgan and Bank of America - have outright failed the tests.

The Venezuelan government has built one million new homes for low-income families. The Venezuelan opposition says the occupants ought to own these homes and wants to give property titles to all residents, but the government disagrees. The 大象传媒's Grace Livingstone has visited a housing estate in the capital Caracas

Jon Bithrey is joined throughout the programme to discuss these topics and more by Peter Morici from the University of Maryland and also from Beijing by a new friend of the show, China correspondent for the DPA press agency Joanna Chiu.

(Image: Coal hoppers in front of a coal tower. Credit: Luke Sharrett/Getty Images)