Unrest in Egypt continues as President Morsi refuses to step down; The joys and difficulties of becoming an American citizen; SCOTUS rulings open green card doors binational same-sex couples; Anaheim City Council adopts new election model; #ProjectCitizen: Jury duty is one of the few requirements of citizenship, plus much more.
Unrest in Egypt continues as President Morsi refuses to step down
We begin today with Egypt, where just an hour ago, the military's ultimatum calling for President Mohamed Morsi to step down expired. Morsi says he will defend his presidency to the death. So far, at least 39 people have died in clashes since Sunday.
For more on what happens next, we're joined by the Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, Tamara Wittes.
Anaheim City Council adopts new election model
Last night, the Anaheim City Council voted to change how its members are elected, but the contentious four-hour meeting left many feeling unsatisfied with the outcome. Even Anaheim's own mayor said the changes will do nothing to solve the city's problem of unequal representation of minorities.
RELATED: UPDATE: Anaheim approves new hybrid model for city council; rejects district elections
KPCC's Ben Bergman was at the council meeting and joins us with more.
#ProjectCitizen: Jury duty is one of the few requirements of citizenship
This is one part in a new KPCC series looking at the rights, responsibilities, traditions and privileges that come along with being a citizen. Let us know what you think.
Fireworks, parades, barbeques — they're all popular traditions associated with the Fourth of July. But the holiday is also an occasion to consider what it means to be an American citizen.
To answer that, KPCC is launching a new series called "Project Citizen." Our stories will look at the responsibilities, traditions, and privileges that citizenship entails. Like jury duty.
KPCC's Rina Palta says getting people to perform this important task can be problematic.
SCOTUS rulings open green card doors to binational same-sex couples
Immigration reform and gay marriage have dominated the headlines recently, overlapping with the Supreme Court's decision on the Defense of Marriage Act last week.
In recognizing same-sex unions, the federal government opened a path for bi-national couples to petition for citizenship. One of those couples waiting for a green card is right here in Redondo Beach.
Shaun Stent is from the UK, and his husband John Catuara is an American. They had been friends online, but met in person 12 years ago when Shaun was on tour in America to ride roller coasters.
"It so happened that in January 2001, and I had a spare afternoon," Stent said. "I invited John to lunch when I was here and we hit it off. So I cancelled the last week of my roller coaster tour to be with him."
The relationship blossomed, along with Shaun's frequent flier miles.
He would spend almost two months in the U.S. at a time on a visa waiver, and then return to the UK for 3 months.
"Because of the frequent visits, immigration flagged me, once detaining me for five hours," Stent said. "Then I got a visitor's visa, which allowed me to stay six months. But because I was only here for two-month periods, that raised flags, again. So then they would ask why I didn't stay longer."
The couple eventually married in New York in January 2012. "If we were straight," said Catuara, "Then we could have walked out the door and been good right away."
However as a same-sex couple, DOMA prevented them from petitioning for a green card. They tried anyway. Officials decided to accept their application, and interviewed them, but the process was put on hold until the Supreme Court ruled.
That morning, Catuara said, "We were in bed, our iPads on, and chatting with a lawyer friend to translate what was going on. When the decision came down, I just got emotional immediately."
But Shaun, the self-described "pragmatic Brit," was skeptical and wanted to verify what was going on. "Slowly it filtered through that this was a win," he said.
The couple is now waiting for the green card, and Shaun says once it's physically in his hands, this will be the end to their 13 years struggle. "I now know more about politics in the US than in my own country!" he said.
Same-sex marriage rulings may help streamline divorce
The Supreme Court's ruling on the Defense of Marriage act not only makes life easier for same sex couples who are married. It may also make life easier for same sex couples looking to divorce. Here to explain is Courtney Joslin, professor at UC Davis.
Sports Roundup: Dwight Howard, Yasiel Puig and more
What might Dwight Howard do, has Yasiel Puig done enough and would you like a steaming hot cup o' boring with your strawberries and cream?
It's time for a look at sports with Andy and Brian Kamenetzsky, brothers who have sports for the Los Angeles Times and ESPN.
For most of us, becoming a free agent means you're is jobless, but for a superstar pro-basketball player, it means something way different. NBA free agency began Monday, but what does that mean for the players and the league?
Lakers center Dwight Howard is free agent and the drama around him this week has been thick. The Lakers put up billboards and have met with him to try and convince him to stay. Howard has also met with the Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, and the Golden State Warriors.
The Lakers and Los Angeles are not often in a position where they have to convince someone to stay here.
A month ago the Dodgers were in last place, then Yasiel Puig arrived and has hit, literally, batting .443 with eight home runs. Now the Dodgers are only a bit behind first place. We've debated whether Puig should be an All-Star.
Argentine Lionel Messi is the best soccer player in the world and many argue the greatest of all time. Last year he set the world record for most goals in a year with 91, but Messi might not have many friends here in L.A.
'The Way, Way Back' filmmakers on writing as a team
The new film, "The Way, Way Back," stars Steve Carrell as Trent and Toni Collette as his girlfriend Pam. Trent takes Pam away for the summer to his beach house along with her 14-year old son, Duncan.
It's a rough summer for Duncan, who is in the prime of awkward adolescence, but it does get better, thanks to a friendship with a local waterpark employee played by Sam Rockwell.
"The Way, Way Back" was written and directed by Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, the team that won an Oscar for their adapted screenplay for the "Descendants."
You may recognize them from their onscreen comedy work. They stopped by the studio recently to talk about the film.
The joys and difficulties of becoming an American citizen
In advance of the Fourth of July, we look at the meaning of citizenship in this country.
Recently, the Crawford Family Forum hosted an event entitled, Becoming American, hosted by Take Two's A Martinez. The panel included Bricia Lopez, Mexican-American co-proprietor of Guelaguetza Restaurant; Joanne Griffith, British-born journalist and Rod Arriola, a businessman who carries both US and Philippine citizenship.
This is part of a new KPCC series looking at the rights, responsibilities, traditions and privileges that come along with being a citizen. Let us know what you think.