Feds Bust Sham Craigslist Marriage

(NEWSER) - Russian women are so eager for green cards that one New York-area weekly devotes an entire page to marriage ads, the New York Post reports. A Post reporter, posing as an immigrant angling for a green card, contacted a marriage broker and got the going rate: $31,500, $6,500 of which goes to the broker. "It's a big business," one official admits. "It's really prevalent among that community." More»

More than half of births for women under 30 occur outside marriage: NYT

(NEWSER) - Out-of-wedlock births have been rising in the United States for 50 years, but now they've crossed a big threshold—more than half of all the babies born to women under 30 are born outside of marriage, reports the New York Times . While 59% of babies overall are born to married women in America, unmarried births have soared among younger women, especially among white women who have some college education but no degree. More»

Supervisor seriously injured in Long Beach shootout

(NEWSER) - A California immigration official opened fire on his supervisor in a Long Beach federal building, and was shot dead in turn by a fellow agent, sources have told the Los Angeles Times. The supervisor was seriously injured but was in stable condition last night, according to officials. The cause of the confrontation wasn't immediately revealed. The shootings at the offices of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency—the main enforcement arm of the Department of Homeland Security—triggered a massive response from local cops and the FBI. More»

Zoologists caution against over-analyzing the interspecies bond

(NEWSER) - A ram and a deer living in a southwestern Chinese zoo who have formed an "unconventional relationship" are set to be "married" on Valentine's Day, reports the BBC . The zoo tried to separate the animals in November, but found that the ram acted violently toward other sheep—and the doe broke through a fence to get close to him. So zookeepers reunited the animals, and will hold the "wedding" tomorrow. The zoo plans to issue 500 tickets costing about $10 each to those who wish to attend—though officials caution people from reading too much into their relationship. "Leaving them alone is the best choice," said one zoo researcher. More»

Marriage isn't the only healthy choice, experts say

(NEWSER) - Americans can sympathize with people who are alone because of divorce or the death of a partner—but what about the eternally single? In a society obsessed with romance, lifelong singles are often ostracized and considered flawed, the Washington Post reports. “Do they just not like me?” asked Bella DePaulo, author of Singled Out: How Singles are Stereotyped, Stigmatized and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After. “Or is it because I’m single and they’re coupled, and couples date other couples essentially.” More»