In a new setback for Japan today, Japan Airlines, the country's top carrier, filed for bankruptcy protection. The company is staggering under almost $26 billion in debt. It will cut almost 16,000 jobs, reduce pensions and cut routes. Here's how Deutsche Welle covered the demise of a Japanese giant.

China has spent 3.5 billion dollars to purchase a huge copper mine in Afghanistan -- the largest foreign investment project in that country. Roben Farzad, a senior writer for BusinessWeek, joins Martin Savidge to discuss China's increasingly assertive role on the world stage and the state of the global economy as the year 2009 draws to a close.

Chile is among Latin America's most prosperous nations. Some analysts partially attribute the success to a group of economists from Chicago. Worldfocus special correspondent Edie Magnus traveled to Chile earlier this year to explore the lasting legacy of the "Chicago Boys."

Stocks sank in Asia, Europe and the U.S. this week after reports that the government-owned investment arm of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates cannot pay back its loans to banks in Europe and Asia. Marcus Mabry, international business editor of The New York Times, joins Martin Savidge to discuss the ripple effects on the global economy.

Worldfocus regulars Marcus Mabry of The New York Times and Roben Farzad of BusinessWeek join Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss the implications for the Obama administration of the U.S role as a debtor nation to China. They talk about whether the Chinese may influence U.S. policy on issues ranging from Afghanistan to health care because of this new reality.