Speeches

The U.S. has “concerns that freedom of expression is being stifled” in Egypt after the questioning of an irreverent television satirist frequently compared to American comedian Jon Stewart, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday. Comedian Bassem Youssef appeared Sunday for questioning before a government prosecutor on charges of defiling Islam and defaming President Mohamed Morsi. He was released the same day on bail. “This, coupled with recent arrest warrants issued for other political activists, is evidence of a disturbing trend of growing restrictions on the freedom of expression,” Nuland said at a news briefing.

The airline industry thinks it's just plain unfair that they have to disclose the total cost of a ticket to passengers. The U.S. Supreme Court begs to differ. The justices have left intact Transportation Department rules requiring airlines to prominently feature the total cost of air travel in ads and online, rather than lower -- and misleading -- pretax prices. The airlines had shamelessly argued that the rules violate their free-speech rights by preventing them from illustrating how fees and taxes drive up passenger costs.

Signaling a desire to return to public life, retired Gen. David H. Petraeus offered an apology Tuesday for the scandal that led to his resignation as director of the CIA and brought an illustrious career to an abrupt end. Petraeus has kept a low profile since admitting to an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, in November. The speech, at a USC dinner honoring veterans and ROTC students, is the first step in what appears to be a carefully choreographed comeback bid. Before about 600 guests in a hotel ballroom in downtown Los Angeles, a contrite Petraeus acknowledged that he is "regarded in a different light now" than he was a year ago. "I am also keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing," he said.

Almost exactly 20 years ago, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead wrote a controversial essay for the Atlantic titled "Dan Quayle Was Right. " In case you forgot (or never knew), let me fill you in on what Quayle was right about. There once was a popular sitcom called "Murphy Brown. " The title character, played by Candice Bergen, was a news anchor. The show had its moments, but it was also insufferably pleased with itself and its liberalism. At least until the arrival of the Aaron Sorkin oeuvre ("The West Wing," "The Newsroom")

Wichita State became one of the feel-good stories of the first week of the NCAA men's basketball tournament after knocking off Gonzaga, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region and the top-ranked team in the country, on Saturday night. And don't expect the Shockers' postseason run to end any time soon. You see, it just so happens that the team's plane just happened arrive back home at Mid-Continent Airport at the exact same time former Heisman Trophy winner and current New York Jets backup quarterback Tim Tebow's jet stopped off to refuel.

A former Sierra Madre police union official whose pay raise was delayed after he led a no-confidence vote against the police chief may sue for retaliation in violation of his free speech rights, a federal appeals court decided Friday. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously overturned the dismissal of a lawsuit by Officer John Ellins, who headed the Sierra Madre Police Assn. from 2006 to 2010, against former Police Chief Marilyn Diaz. The police chief should have known that "depriving Ellins of salary in retaliation for his protected speech was unconstitutional," Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote for the court.

JERUSALEM - Evoking the Jewish people's biblical struggle for freedom, President Obama called upon Israelis Thursday to sweep aside deep skepticism and embrace a Palestinian state as the only way to guarantee their nation's future. In a soaring speech in Jerusalem that was billed as the main event of his three-day Holy Land trip, Obama said in an auditorium of cheering university students that as the generation of Israel's founding fathers fades, it falls to them to write the young nation's next chapter.

FORT WASHINGTON, MD -- High-profile speeches by a pair of Republican presidential possibilities suggested that noneconomic issues are likely to emerge as 2014 and 2016 campaign themes as the economy continues to recover. Beyond pocketbook concerns, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky touched on American exceptionalism, civil liberties, guns, marriage and abortion, among other topics, in back-to-back appearances Thursday before several thousand conservative activists.

Dave Grohl has been class president of rock 'n' roll since the '90s, and Thursday he gives his "state of the union" for the genre. Grohl gives the centerpiece talk at SXSW Thursday, and it's streaming at NPR Music . The 44-year-old Foo Fighters frontman has most recently been busy with with his "Sound City" documentary and the Sound City Players live project, and prepping work on a new Foo Fighters record. Last year's keynote was a well-received career-spanning talk wth Bruce Springsteen.

Workers in California's beleaguered visual effects industry were left fuming Monday after a speech by Oscar-winning supervisor Bill Westenhofer was cut short -- by the ominous music of "Jaws. " Westenhofer, who led the team at Rhythm & Hues that won a visual effects award for their work on Ang Lee's "Life of Pi," had intended to talk about the plight of his industry, which has hit close to home.  The El Segundo visual effects company recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors and laid off about 250 workers from its Los Angeles operation amid mounting losses.