of the global economy given so many countries do so much trade with china. chinese government data shows that the value of exports fell 14.5% compared to the same month a year ago. that suggests the rest of the world is buying less stuff. the value of imports also fell by more than expected, down 12.4% onjuly a year ago. but that partly reflects a fall in the price of commodities such as crude oil. the figures will concern china s government, who are grappling with economic growth. the quarterly growth figure was just 0.8% in the april tojune period, as the country continued its post covid recovery. and last month, china s struggles were cited as a key concern for the global economy when the international monetary fund updated its global growth forecast for this year to 3%. david woo is a former imf economist and wall street strategist and has been telling me what he makes of the numbers. you know, like some people are going to say, well, this is just basically a reflection
9:00 am on the east coast, 6:00 am out west. marathon talks lead to a new debt deal. at least in theory. the president backs it. so do leaders of both parties. still, no reason to celebrate just yet. in syria, a violent crackdown on anti-government protests. more than 7 0 people killed and counting. and new this morning, a big change to health coverage. the federal government will require insurers who provide birth control without co-payments. now, in just a few hours, we could see the beginning of the end of the debt crisis. it s been the issue in washington for weeks. and you re probably tired of the finger pointing and doomsday predictions. today, that could all come to an end if the house and senate approve a compromised plan. the deal identifies about $1 trillion in spending cuts over ten years and raises the debt ceiling by about the same amount. bipartisan committee must find ways to trim another trillion a, a so-called deficit posse. the president and house spea