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There may be international sanctions against Iran, but not in Afghanistan's border provinces with the Islamic Republic where trade and money-laundering are thriving. Every day, millions in Iranian currency are brought in by taxis ferrying passengers. The Iranian money is exchanged for dollars, which are then shipped back to Iran. American officials recently ordered the Afghan banks to crack down on this phenomenon and it appears to be having some effect.

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Apple's new mapping software for the iPhone has become an embarrassment for the company. It misplaced major landmarks and erased entire towns. So, today, Apple's CEO Tim Cook issued a public apology, saying the company was doing everything it could to make maps better.

NPR's Steve Henn reports.

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On Monday, the Republic of Georgia holds a crucial parliamentary election. It will decide whether the government of President Mikheil Saakashvili will keep its hold on power. It's been nine years since the pro-democracy movement known as the Rose Revolution. Saakashvili was once a favorite of U.S. lawmakers, who saw him as one of a new breed of reformers in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Since then, though, his government has been accused of repressive tactics and corruption.

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Today at All Things Considered, we continue a project we're calling NewsPoet. Each month, we bring in a poet to spend time in the newsroom — and at the end of the day, to compose a poem reflecting on the day's stories.

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This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

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And I'm Robert Siegel. Last night, football fans heard a rare sound - fans cheering referees. The National Football League's real refs returned to the field in Baltimore, after three weeks of turmoil and embarrassment in America's richest and most popular professional sport. Sports writer Stefan Fatsis joins us now, as he does most Fridays. Hi, Stefan.

STEFAN FATSIS, BYLINE: Hey, Robert.

After inadvertently airing live coverage of a car chase that ended with a man's suicide, Shepard Smith of Fox News has issued an apology to viewers of his show. The incident occurred as the cable network carried a live feed of a man fleeing police on the interstate west of Phoenix.

In the footage, the man abandoned his vehicle and began running across a field, before pulling out a gun and shooting himself in the head. Despite being filmed from a helicopter hovering above the scene, the footage was graphic enough to prompt immediate yelling in the Fox News studio.

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Today, China announced that a prominent politician will be expelled from the Communist Party. Bo Xilai will also face wide-ranging criminal charges. NPR's Louisa Lim has this story from Beijing, on the latest developments in China's most sensational political scandal in decades.

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