National and World News from NPR

New York has its first million dollar parking spot. The 12 by 23 foot space in lower Manhattan's East Village comes with its own deed and maintenance fees just like the luxury condo it's attached to. The New York Post calculates the investment this way: It's the same as paying $115 parking ticket every day for the next 24 years.

Brandon Arnold of Arizona was camping this month when a rabid mountain lion leaped out of the bushes. It attacked his dog. Arnold chased the big cat and hit it with a frying pan.

Prosecutors say Rajat Gupta, a former member of the board of Goldman Sachs, passed on information about Goldman to billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, who is in prison for insider trading. Jury selection gets underway Monday.

Astronomy buffs in the western U.S. were treated to an eclipse known as the Ring of Fire over the weekend. Technically, it's an annular solar eclipse, during which time the moon passes between the earth and sun. The moon blocks out much of the sun's light and casts a giant shadow on the earth.

The chairman of Nasdaq issued a public apology after a glitch delayed the start of Facebook trading Friday. And over the weekend, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg married his longtime girlfriend.

The TV show House is airing its final episode Monday night on FOX, Desperate Housewives on ABC ended last week and NBC has announced that 30 Rock will have its final episodes this fall. TV and media critic Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times explains why choosing to end a show, rather than getting canceled, presents a creative opportunity for the producers.

Members of Congress are often criticized for what they do — or rather, what they don't do.

But what about what they say and, more specifically, how they say it? It turns out that the sophistication of congressional speech-making is on the decline, according to the open government group the Sunlight Foundation. Since 2005, the average grade level at which members of Congress speak has fallen by almost a full grade.

The shock waves of the Arab Spring continue to reshape countries like Egypt and Syria. But the kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains largely unaffected. King Abdullah and the Saudi ruling family are in firm control of the country's massive oil wealth and Islam's two holiest sites — Mecca and Medina.