In a modest but significant step towards liberalising its currency, China loosened the trading limits for the yuan, allowing prices against the dollar to fluctuate by up to 1% either side of the reference rate set each day by the Chinese central bank.
The term "foreigners" was widely interpreted as a thinly veiled reference to the chairman of Premier League side Mathare United, Bob Munro, who is a Canadian national.
On the Senate side, Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray made her own joking reference to the papal decision as the panel began considering the first full Democratic spending plan in recent years.