OXFORD, Miss., Aug. 17 -- The University of Mississippi issued the following news release: Kristen Vise of Jackson, a junior studio art major at the University of Mississippi, returns to the Oxford campus this month after studying during the spring semester at Ulster University School of Art and Design in Belfast, Ireland, and traveling throughout Europe this summer. "Studying at the university and living in Belfast, a big city with an interesting history, provided the opportunity for me   more

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Aug. 16 -- The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa issued the following news release: Over 40 Ministers responsible for civil registration concluded a 2-day Conference on 14th August in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a Ministerial Declaration that resolves to advance the development of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems in Africa in recognition of their importance to Africa's development and improvement of public policy delivery. Held on the  more

OXFORD, Miss., Aug. 17 -- The University of Mississippi issued the following news release: When University of Mississippi senior Brittany McGowan of Brentwood, Tenn., 37027, gets her bachelor's degree in marketing communications in May, her resume will reflect an impressive entry from her study abroad last spring semester. McGowan spent five months in Sydney, Australia, where she earned 12 academic credit hours at Macquarie University and interned at Niche Marketing Group, all counting tow  more

MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE ALBANY, Ga., Aug. 17 -- The U.S. Marine Corps issued the following news release: Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany will conduct a Sergeants Major Relief and Appointment ceremony here Friday at 9 a.m. at Schmid Field in front of Building 3500. Sgt. Maj. Scott C. Mykoo, sergeant major, MCLB, will be relieved of his post and Sgt. Maj. Stephen A. Thomas will be appointed as his successor. Mykoo reported for duty as MCLB Albany's sergeant major in July 2008. He w  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 -- The Freedom House issued the following news release: Freedom House today raised alarm about proposed legislation that could potentially place further restrictions on press freedom in South Africa by limiting the public's right to access information, as well as the ability of investigative reporters to hold the government to account. The Protection of Information bill, put forward by the Ministry of Intelligence and currently under consideration by the South African  more

LAGOS, Nigeria, Aug. 17 -- Human Rights Watch issued the following news release: Widespread corruption in the Nigeria Police Force is fueling abuses against ordinary citizens and severely undermining the rule of law in Nigeria, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch called on Nigerian authorities to take immediate steps to improve budgetary transparency in the police force and to investigate and bring to justice police officers at all levels implicated in corru  more

PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 17 -- Princeton University issued the following news release: In findings that push back the clock on the scientific world's thinking about when animal life appeared on Earth, Princeton scientists may have discovered the oldest fossils of animal bodies, suggesting that primitive sponge-like creatures were living in ocean reefs about 650 million years ago. The shelly fossils, found beneath a 635 million-year-old glacial deposit in South Australia, represent the earliest e  more

CHICAGO, Aug. 17 -- Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill. (1st CD), issued the following news release: Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) will kick-start a series of exciting, new initiatives designed to provide local small and mid-sized businesses with tools, information, and resources as part of 1st Congressional District Small Business Week (August 23-27). The five-day series of seminars and programs will offer one-stop shopping for starting and growing small business and offer a report on the American Re  more

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Aug. 17 -- The University of Virginia issued the following news release: Benjamin Ray, professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia and adjunct curator of African art at the U.Va. Art Museum, will lead a tour of the museum's exhibition "African Art: Beyond the Modernist Lens" on Aug. 28, from 2 to 3 p.m. Derived from the museum's growing collection of African art, the exhibition examines the way African art is currently perceived and displayed in West  more

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 17 -- The University of California at San Francisco issued the following news release: A joint project of UCSF and the Kenya Medical Research Institute has received $7 million--the first award of a five year grant that will total about $35 million--to expand its care and support of people affected by HIV/AIDS in Kenya. The project is named Family AIDS Care and Education Services, known as FACES, and it provides a comprehensive program of HIV treatment, care, prevention   more

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 17 -- Southern California Institute of Architecture issued the following news release: Director Eric Owen Moss is the first American architect to serve as commissioner for the Austrian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Architecture at its best suggests that the world could be other than it is, that the world progresses, and that architecture can facilitate that progress: New prospects for the city. New visions for design and building. A new built world for the  more