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IISc becomes first Indian university to be ranked among top 10 in world

NEW DELHI: For the first time, an Indian educational institute has broken into the top 10 of a global university rankings. On Tuesday, the Times Higher Education (THE) revealed that India is home to one of the world's best small universities, as it made public the 2017 edition of the rankings. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has been ranked eighth at the 'THE's Best Small Universities in the World 2017'.

However, India's overall show in the ranking took a hit this year, as there were two institutions in the top 20 last year, though none were in top 10. Small universities are those with fewer than 5,000 students.

IISc, a public university for scientific researchand higher education, was established in 1909 with active support from Jamsetji Tata and Sir Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. In 2015-16 it became the first Indian institute to be ranked among the top 100 in THE World University Rankings for engineering and technology at 99th position.

IISc now joins the elite list that includes California Institute of Technology (Caltech) from the US, Ecole Normale Superieure from France and Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea. Caltech continues to retain its leadership position, and France and Italy each take three places among the top 10.


The miracle of the resuscitation of the twice-hanged William Cragh

Translated and edited by Harriett Webster

Introduction

An anonymous annal appended to Neath Abbey's Domesday Breviate 1 details how in 1287, on the fifth of July, the castle of Oystermouth was seized and burnt. This castle belonged to the lords of Gower, the de Briouze family, who apprehended the men responsible for the attack and death of thirteen of the lord's men. Among them were the Welsh nobleman Trahaearn ap Hywel, and William ap Rhys or 'Cragh' who were both sentenced by the Lord William de Briouze Snr to be hanged. 2

Decades later, in 1307, nine witnesses were called before representatives of Pope Clement V. They were questioned on what they could remember of a day nearly twenty years ago, whena condemned man by the name of William Cragh was hanged twice for his crimes, before being (apparently) miraculously restored to life. Their recollections combine to form a detailed snapshot of Swansea in the late thirteenth century; relationships between lords, ladies and their subjects, religious practices, and the realities of living in a multi-lingual, multi-cultural society.

The Manuscript

Vatican MS Lat. 4015 contains witness testimonies to thirty-eight miracles which occurred following the death of the bishop of Hereford Thomas de Cantilupe in 1282, up until 1307 when the witnesses were interviewed. 3 The first of these miracles forms the subject of the current edition, marked in the manuscript by the underlined words 'Primum miraculum de resuscitatione Willelmi Cragh bis suspensi' or 'The miracle of the resuscitation of the twice-hanged William


Cragh'.

The quarto-sized, Latin-language manuscript has been composed in multiple hands: there are at least eight involved in the course 4 of the manuscript. It is comprised of forty one quires of roughly the same length, with the majority being the standard eight-folio composition. The text opens with a large blue initial 'I' extending down sixteen lines. The initial must have been part of the original conception of the manuscript, as the start of each subsequent line is indented in such a way as to allow for its inclusion. This elongated initial is mirrored at the start of the second round of interviews on folio 123r. Further use of colour in the manuscript is in the form of alternating red and blue paraphs found throughout the codex. They aredifferent time to writing of the main text, as it is in a lighter brown ink than that of the main hand. In addition to this, the number of the witness is given at the top of each folio, together with a large Roman numeral of 'I' for the first section of the text, and 'II' for the remainder. This appears to indicate the shift in location of where the depositions took place: from the Cathedral Chapter of St Paul's in London, to St Katherine's Chapel, Hereford. As outlined above, the transition occurs at folio 123r, and is further marked out by the folio's fine filigree decoration, adorned with ivy leaves, which frames the left and top margins of the main text. The manuscript closes with the elaborate


signature marks of the various notaries involved in gathering and recording the witness testimonies. 7

The witnesses' testimonies were 'written up' into this manuscript after the depositions had taken place, but this was not the end of the transformations the statements went through. Despite the care and attention which clearly went into producing this elegant manuscript, the miracle accounts have been significantly edited and added to after being copied into MS Vat. Lat. 4015. One example of a significant change is a lengthy passage on folio 5r during the first witness statement, which contains a central paragraph written in much lighter ink than the remainder of the text on the page. On closer inspection, it would appear that this whole paragraph was written on an erasure. Further amendments madeto the text of the testimonies are less dramatic, but equally apparent. In the statement of Lady Mary de Briouze, for example, (the first witness to testify to the William Cragh miracle), the 'title' of the miracle and her 'number' as a witness have been underlined in lighter ink, which again suggests that this was not done at the original time of writing. Many of the marginal annotations found throughout the text are also in much lighter ink than the main text, as is the case again in Mary's testimony, where the word 'primo' has been added in the margins of folio 8r.

There is some internal evidence which demonstrates something of how the manuscript was put together, which in turn hints at the process of recording and writing


up the testimonies. Folio 219r begins a new quire, with a notable change in hand from that found in the previous one. However, the markings at the end of the first quire are notes of the beginning of the text on the following quire. Such notes are very common, as they ensured that the quires (which were all written separately, then assembled at the end), were stitched together in the right order. This process was extremely common in manuscripts which were written up by several individuals simultaneously: it allowed for a text to be created much more quickly, as many scribes could be working on it at the same time. This accounts for the manuscript's multiple hands, and we can assume that the pope or his emissaries wouldhave a great number of scribes at their disposal. It also shows that the text was being written up from more than simply notes made on wax tablets at the time of the witnesses' interviews, or even the six volumes of records produced over the course of the investigation: 8 the text found in Vat. Lat. 4015 must have been written up in full already for the scribes to have been able to use these catchwords across quires. It was certainly not being composed as the testimonies were given, on an ad hoc basis. This observation also explains the lengthy repetition found at the top of folio 227r, where a new hand takes over and proceeds to write a full two lines of the text already given on


the proceeding folio before the error was realised.

Establishing this process of composition also provides more reasoning for there being a single editor working through the volume as a whole, tidying inconsistencies in spelling, and imposing a more rigorous structure on the piece: none of the scribes involved in the manuscript's creation would have had a full enough knowledge of the text as a whole to be able to make these kind of editorial decisions. It appears that the changes being made to the text remain the same throughout the manuscript: despite more than one hundred witnesses being interviewed between the de Briouzes and William of Codineston in London and the remainder in Hereford, the same small, neat hand amends the text in both sections in a lighter brownyoung boy. 10 A large number of friars are also depicted, including Brother Henry de Sintone, Guardian of the order of the brothers minor, 11 Father Hugh of London, 12 Brother John de Clara, 13 and Brother Peter of Uxebrugg, 14 all belonging to the order of friars minor. Interestingly, there are also two depictions of a bishop in the bottom margin of two successive folios 15 which appear to be of exactly the same head, and do not correspond with the textual witness at these points. Complete with mitre, it is highly likely that these heads are representations of the manuscript's main subject, Thomas de Cantilupe, depicted in his role as bishop of Hereford.

It is not clear why some witnesses have been drawn or 'represented' while others


bishops and rectors who knew Thomas during his lifetime, are recorded. The manuscript ends with the same insignia of the notaries who composed MS Vat. Lat. 4015, 17 which is not surprising as the testimonies for Thomas's good life were gathered at the same time and in the same locations as the witnesses were interviewed about his miracle-working.

However, these manuscripts are not the final witnesses to the miracles of Thomas de Cantilupe. Two further iterations of the collection were made before the final outcome of Thomas' canonisation was decided. The first of these is contained in Vat. MS Ott. Lat. 2516 and comprises of very brief and scruffily-made notes on the case in 1313. 18 The final extant compilation of Thomas' miracles is contained in BNF MS Lat.5373, 19 though it is a much abbreviated account of his most celebrated and incontrovertible miracles. Made in 1319, this version of his miracles was compiled in preparation for the final review of Thomas' case in 1320. Unfortunately William Cragh's supposedly miraculous resuscitation does not make it into that final selection. 20

The Investigation's Content and Structure

One notable characteristic of the codex is the use of alternating red and blue paragraph markers, as mentioned above. They appear to correspond with the points at which commissioners ask the witness a new question, thereby serving as an easily-navigable way of seeing at a glance where each statement of a witness' testimony begins. These markers represent in a very visual way the interference of the commissioner and his men in the narrating


of these witnesses' testimonies. For every marker found in the text, the inquisitorial team were punctuating the deposition by interrupting the witness and directing them to a particular line of enquiry: the recollections which are recorded as a result are not then the natural memories of the witnesses. These questions ranged from standard legal inquiries into the age, profession, and place of birth and residence, to detailed, almost philosophical questions as to their understanding of the meaning of 'common knowledge'. The purpose of these questions was not arbitrary, however. They were instead a series of carefully-designed questions intended to rigorously measure the miracle's authenticity. The result of this questioning is that each witness' testimonies are divided into numbered statements beginning 'sixthly he said. . .' and so on.At times this numbering serves as a form of shorthand, allowing the notaries to say 'as said before in article . . . above', thereby reducing the repetition of extraneous detail. This formulation breaks down the narrative of recollection even further, reminding readers that despite the often fantastical content, this text had a specific, and serious, purpose and audience. 21

St Thomas de Cantilupe and popular religion in the Middle Ages

An independent manuscript witness to the miracle of William's resuscitation exists in Exeter College MS 158. 22 It describes the visit of the Lord and Lady de Briouze and William Cragh to Hereford, following Cragh's revival, and details how the crossbeam broke when William Cragh was hanged, and his second hanging – until he was 'properly' dead - before


he was miraculously restored to life. 23 Most significantly, the account finishes by stating that the miracle was said to have been due to the merits of Thomas de Cantilupe, and that the author of the account heard this from all who had witnessed the miracle. In concluding in this manner, the Hereford Cathedral version of the miracle forms a further witness not just to the miracle, but to Thomas de Cantilupe being responsible for it. In turn this reveals something of the agenda of those in Hereford Cathedral at the time, and constitutes a typical example of the deliberate promotion of saints and their miracles at this time.

The significance of attributing the miracle to Thomas was in many ways more important than celebrating the miracle itself. Richardde Swineford (Bishop of Hereford after Thomas de Cantilupe) 24 played a vital role in popularising Thomas and his miracles, and therefore in manufacturing the growth of the future saint's reputation. 25 His actions were not simply religiously motivated, however. As with all pilgrimage destinations, there was a significant amount of money to be made from the increased pilgrim traffic a popular saint attracted. Such was the nature of popular religion at this time that wealth could be accrued and miracles worked even if the individual being celebrated had not been officially recognised as a saint; even greater riches were to be had if the canonisation was endorsed by the Pope. It had been the case previously that sheer numbers of followers and a focal point of worship


were enough to make a saint. However, this informal cult practice was deemed to be growing out of control by the papacy as the twelfth century progressed, especially in England, who then saw fit to impose limits the number of individuals attaining saintly status. 26 This was achieved through a process of interviews and the gathering of evidence, such as we have manuscript evidence for in the case of St Thomas de Cantilupe in the present edition.

Despite the official process now in place, the testimonies of the witnesses still reveal something of the lay religious fervour and practices surrounding the cult of saints into the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. For example, every single witness interviewed regarding William Cragh's miracle prefixes references to Thomas de Cantilupe with theSt Thomas' which is described as an 'English custom'. William de Briouze Jnr and William Cragh refer to this practice, though the former attributes it to a handmaiden named Jovanta, while Cragh claims he did it himself; if it was such a common custom perhaps they both bent pennies independently. A second apparently 'English' convention described is the measuring of William Cragh's body, again 'to St Thomas'. Once again there is no agreement among the witnesses as to who did the measuring (Mary de Briouze says it was her handmaiden Sunehild, William de Briouze Jnr names his step-mother's handmaiden Jovanta, and John of Baggeham claims it was him), though everyone agrees that they either witnessed it or heard that it had happened. In this practice, a string was


used to measure the length and breadth of the dead man, which was then dipped in wax to make a taper. Both the bent penny and candle were intended to attract the attention of the saint who - it was hoped - would then intercede on behalf of the petitioner. 27

Similarly, frequent references are made by the witnesses to William Cragh leaving a wax figure of a man on the gallows at the tomb of St Thomas. The commissioners investigating Thomas de Cantilupe's life and miracles record that this offering was one of many: a total of 1,424 wax images and 41 wax ships had been left at the said tomb by 1307. 28 These offerings represented injured or recently healed parts of the body, again intended toattract the saint's attention, either in thanks or in the hope of a cure. This form of worship was greatly received by the custodians of the tomb, as wax was valuable commodity in the Middle Ages. So valuable was it in fact, that ownership of the donations sparked a conflict within the chapter at Hereford in 1288, with the dispute rearing up again in 1293 and 1295. 29

There are also references in the text to more general and common religious practices of the period. William Cragh is said to have repented on route to the gallows and requested the presence of a priest so that he might confess his sins. This was so that he might be forgiven for his wrong-doings, and thus gain entry into heaven upon


his death. Similarly, Cragh gives an account of the visions he had, and the presence of the Virgin Mary in particular. He claimed that during his hanging he had a vision of a bishop clothed in white supporting him by the feet so as to prevent him dying. Previous to that, he also claimed to have had a vision of the Virgin Mary and a 'St Thomas' when he was in the castle dungeon. Appearances of a would-be saint in visions associated with his or her miracles was an important attribute in the decision on canonisation, and Mary was often said to accompany other 'junior' saints adding weight to the vision. 30

This collection of testimonies then constitutes an interesting case study highlighting many important aspects of the creationof saints and their cults, as well as acts of popular devotion in an increasingly controlled sphere.

The Story

Although, as has already been shown, the witness testimonies do not agree on every detail, there are enough similarities between statements for us to piece together a picture of the events surrounding William Cragh's 'miracle'. It was late in the year, probably in November, 31 when the two prisoners were taken from Swansea Castle's dungeon, and led by Lord de Briouze's men up to the gallows situated on a hill outside the town walls. There, William Cragh was hanged first, followed by Trahaearn ap Hywel; however, the latter who was 'big and heavy' was hauled up by the rope looped over the crossbeam of the gallows, the violent action caused the


beam to break. Both men fell to the ground, and after a short delay were hanged for a second time, one on either remaining upright of the gallows, to make sure they were definitely dead. There they remained for some time – though recollections vary on how long this was. Around sunset, William Cragh was taken down from the gallows, and brought to the Chapel of St John in a northern suburb of the town, outside the main walls. The chapel being closed, William's body was taken instead to a nearby house belonging to a burgess named Thomas Mathews, where crowds gathered to view the body. Indeed many of our witnesses say they saw the disfigured William with their own eyes, describing in great detailed his blackened visage,swollen tongue, and protuberant eyes.

The time scale of what occurred next in the burgess' house varies considerably between testimonies, but the essentials are the same. The lady of the castle, Mary de Briouze (having a mysterious interest in William Cragh's fate and having failed in her attempts to get her husband to spare his life), sent one of her household to 'measure' William's body. This was a common custom among the laity, which involved measuring the length and breadth of a person's injured part (in this case William's whole body) with string which was then covered in wax to form a votive candle. The candle would then be lit to attract the attention of a saint, who would hopefully intercede on the injured person's account and miraculously cure


them. In this case, the measuring was intended to attract the attention of the late Bishop of Hereford, Thomas de Cantilupe, to whom many miracles were being attributed at the time. 32 The measuring and accompanying prayers apparently worked, for soon William began to recover: he moved a foot, began to breathe, and his eyes withdrew into their sockets 'of their own accord'. Soon he was fully recovered, and visited Swansea Castle to tell the lord and lady of the miracle in the hope he would be pardoned. Accepting the miracle, and attributing it to Thomas de Cantilupe, the Lord and Lady de Briouze made the three day journey to Hereford accompanied by William Cragh on foot. At the bishop's tomb they gave thanks for the miracle, makingan offering there of the noose with which William had been hanged and a wax model of a man on a gallows.

The Witnesses

The first witness called to account for this miracle in St Pauls, London, was Lady Mary de Briouze. She remained in Swansea Castle, in a room surrounded by her handmaidens throughout the events she describes, and so only testifies to what she says she 'heard' had happened. According to her own testimony, she was the wife of William de Briouze (Senior), and was in fact his third wife. William had had two sons by the first two wives – one of whom was William de Briouze Junior, who was also interviewed in London. Despite having older male siblings who stood to inherit the de Briouze lands,


33 Mary managed to secure the estate of Tetbury for her sons, and married her eldest daughter Margaret to a landholder in Norfolk Ralph de Camoys, who also held a manor in the de Briouze family estate in Bramber, Sussex. She had been a woman of independent wealth before her marriage, as the manor of Weaverthorpe in Yorkshire belonged to her alone (as a dowry as it was not attached to any other of the de Briouze lands). With this in mind, Mary was probably from a wealthy Baronial family from Northern England, and her relative independence may have led to the confident and often curt tone with which she addresses her questioners. 34

Also in the castle, though this time watching from the great hall which looked outover the town of Swansea and across to the gallows, was Mary's stepson William. He was the oldest son by his father's first marriage to Alina, who was probably from another northern English family. 35 William de Briouze Jnr refers to King Edward I of England in his testimony, and is the only witness to refer to contextual events unrelated to William Cragh's fate. William would probably have met his king in person in 1284 when the monarch stayed for two nights in Oystermouth Castle. After succeeding his father in 1291, William also accompanied the king on campaigns in Wales, France, Scotland in 1296 and 1297. 36

The final witness who watched events unfold from the castle, and the last to testify in London, was the family chaplain, William


of Codineston. He was the rector of the Church at Findon, one of the de Briouze's extensive manors in Sussex. 37 It had belonged to Harold Godwineson at the time of the Norman Conquest, and was worth over £28 by the thirteenth century. As private chaplain to the de Briouze family, William was present with them in Swansea at the time of the hanging and had remained in the family's service into the fourteenth century, and thus found himself accompanying them to London to testify before the papal commission in 1307.

Several weeks later, a second group of witnesses were examined, this time in St Katherine's Chapel at Hereford Cathedral. The first among these was William Cragh himself, who was still very much alive (contrary to William de BriouzeJunior's testimony). Speaking in Welsh, William was the first of all the witnesses to St Thomas' miracles not to give evidence in Latin, French or English, and so special translators had to be called in from the local Franciscan house. He was local to Swansea, properly named William ap Rhys for his father (Rhys ap Gwilym), his mother being Swanith of the neighbouring parish of Llanrhidian. William's account is of particular interest as it gives the story of his miraculous revival in his own words. It can be divided into two stages: William alive and able to testify to what he remembered; and the time during which he was apparently 'dead' and can only report what others later told him had happened to his person. His status as


the recipient of a miracle makes him different from the other witness-inhabitants of Swansea, in that he is able to move between all areas of the town which no one else is described as doing – even William de Briouze Jnr does not have the same extent of mobility, as he remains safely within the castle, indeed the town walls, to watch the hanging, and does not go to the gallows on the hill.

Next to be examined was Thomas Marshall, a priest from Swansea, the town in which he had been born. He stood and watched events unfold on the hill from the town's West Gate at around midday, when he saw William being hanged by his relatives. Later that day Thomas saw people gathering around the burgess'house and went to investigate, finding William's corpse there on the ground. Although he did not touch the body himself, he states that 'he believed that he [William] was dead at the time he left him'. 38 He heard later that William had been measured to St Thomas, and saw him a month later, walking around the town, fully healed.

John of Baggeham was called as the next witness to be interviewed. His name is probably derived from the place Baggeham, a manor belonging to William de Briouze Snr in Knowlton, Dorset. 39 As the Lord de Briouze's seneschal (steward) and captain of the execution squad, 40 he again occupied a privileged position within medieval Swansea, which allowed him to go between the overlapping spheres of castle, town, and


Gallows Hill, 41 though his station was not so significant that he was allowed to accompany his lord and lady on their pilgrimage to Hereford. John places himself at every event which occurred that day, his testimony clashing with several of the others in the process. He escorted the condemned men on horseback on their way to the gallows, and watched from the base of the gibbet as they were hanged, before reporting back to the castle when they were dead. He was allegedly sent back to the gallows to retrieve the body on behalf of Lady Mary, and cut Cragh down personally. Returning again to the castle, he was sent out yet again (without any lunch he adds testily) with string to measure the dead man toSt Thomas, and led those in the house in prayer to the saint to intercede on the dead man's behalf – in answer to which William Cragh began to twitch a foot. Seeing this, John returned to the castle to report this miracle, the news of which inspired the lady and her daughter Margaret to return to the burgess' house with John to measure the recovering man themselves. The following day, according to John, they all returned with broth for the invalid, and Mary ensured that Cragh was sustained until he made a full recovery.

Henry Skinner was among those watching the hanging from the foot of the gallows. He was a Swansea man, who owned property in the town. He corroborated John of Baggeham's testimony, as he too


was by the gallows during the execution, but never visited the burgess' house. All Henry says is that he saw Cragh two weeks later, alive and well, living in Swansea, where he had been living until the time of the current trial.

The penultimate witness, Adam of Loughor, was the youngest at the time of the miracle at around thirteen years old, and was a labourer in Swansea at the time of the inquisition. He was an acquaintance of William Cragh's before he was hanged, and watched the latter being led out of the town from his vantage point standing on the town walls. Adam suggests that the beam broke due to Trahaearn being hauled up off the ground rather than using a ladder. Later, the boy saw WilliamCragh's body in the house of Thomas Mathews the burgess, though, unlike many others crowding around the body, he was too scared to touch it. He reported that those who could bring themselves to touch the body confirmed that Cragh was indeed dead. Although he did not see the measuring take place in person, he says he heard about it, and that, two weeks later, he saw Cragh alive and well on the streets of Swansea.

John ap Hywel was the final witness to testify to the William Cragh miracle. Forty at the time of questioning, he too was an inhabitant of Swansea, and had known Cragh for twelve years before the hanging, which must have meant they had known each other as boys. His vantage point for witnessing


the hanging was again one of the town's more liminal spaces, in this case, an open area ('platea') near St Mary's Church which may have been outside the walls by the Wassail Gate. He agrees with Adam that it was Trahaearn being 'hauled violently' which caused the beam to break, and he witnessed both criminals being hanged for a second time. John was drawn by the large crowds gathering around the burgess' house, and went to investigate. Upon entering the house, he saw William dead on the ground. John says that it was a month later that Cragh went with the lord and lady to the tomb of St Thomas, and notes that the famous brigand 'ceased to do mischief' from that point onwards.

The witnesses can be dividedinto two groups: those belonging to the castle and to the town. Even the location of their depositions serves to reinforce this divide, separating the Anglo-Norman inhabitants of the castle from the locals of Swansea, a division which is underpinned by the languages they spoke and their movement around the urban landscape, all of which emphasises their differing perspectives. 42

Swansea Under the de Briouze Family

As these witness testimonies show, one of the principal characteristics of Swansea in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was its multi-cultural and multi-lingual nature, tied up in its status as a frontier town. With a mixture of French, English and Welsh being spoken, and official documentation being produced in Latin, there were evidently language barriers within the community. Yet, reading between the lines of


the witnesses' statements reveals how even 'lowly' individuals like Adam of Loughor, Henry Skinner and John ap Hywel were clearly bilingual. In their testimonies they refer to how they were long-term acquaintances of William Cragh, 'friends since boyhood' even. In contrast, Cragh is only apparently able to speak Welsh, and his acquaintances who give their depositions in English would only have been able to do this if is they could communicate with him. It also suggests that inhabitants of Swansea belonging to a lower social order may have been more flexible with regards to language and communication than the lords and lady of Gower: neither member of the de Briouze family who gives testimony refers to being able to speak anything other than French, while William of Codineston,the family priest, was able to speak French and English, but not Welsh.

One result of this lack of communication may be the uneasy relationships the de Briouzes, and in particular the last William de Briouze (Junior), had with their people. The drawn out disagreements between the township and lords in the early fourteenth century were so severe that an investigation into the burgesses' claims was led by William Inge, the transcripts of which are held in the National Archives at Kew. 43 In fact, William Cragh himself makes reference to having had his lands confiscated by the lord, William Senior, claiming he was 'a poor man living among his friends because his land was taken from him by his lord'. 44 Townspeople were not always supportive of the


rebels, however: John ap Hywel describes the celebration among Swansea's inhabitants watching from the market place when William Cragh is hanged. This might be due to his role in the uprisings which were occasionally aimed at Swansea, as was the case in 1287 when the town was sacked and burnt. A second hanging miracle contained in MS Vat. Lat. 4015 deals with a woman by the name of Cristina Cray, (possibly Cragh), who was sentenced to hanging for allegedly stealing a pig, and her death was apparently much celebrated by the townspeople. However, she revived after being taken to a local church, and though a second hanging was demanded by the judge, the sentence was never enacted as she claimed that she too had been saved by StThomas de Cantilupe and the Virgin Mary who came to her in a vision. 45

The situation came to a head in 1305 when William de Briouze Jnr was forced to sign a charter establishing the rights of the people of Swansea and the Gower. 46 These rights included: the accepted use of the woodland which then surrounded the town, and the ships burgesses were allowed to build per year from it; the correct way to punish thieves and arsonists; the taxes and levies owed to the lords on items such as wine, beer, and crops; and what the lords' forfeit would be if he contravened these agreed terms. Interestingly, William Inge (the man responsible for gathering evidence again William de Briouze in the above-mentioned legal proceedings) is the


first witness to have signed the charter. 47 So detailed are the terms laid out in this charter, that it has since become known in some circles as 'the Welsh Magna Carta'. 48

This difficult relationship with the townspeople was not uniquely a problem for the de Briouze dynasty, however. Their successors, the Despensers, had similar troubles: for example in 1327 a large number of local families petitioned the king 'request[ing] remedy for their imprisonment, ransom and the seizure of their lands and chattels into the hand of Hugh le Despenser, after he falsely accused them of being in assent and counsel with Mowbray'. 49 The witness testimonies contained in the current edition with their passing references to the confiscation of land, Welsh rebellion, and multiple nationalities, provide complementaryevidence of an entirely different kind, thereby supplementing our understanding of the conflicted community of Swansea and the Gower in the Middle Ages. 50

Note on the Edition and Translation

The present edition is based on the text of the unique MS Vat. Lat. 4015. In the critical apparatus, I have indicated where the scribes and contemporary editor have made corrections and additions, as well as alerting the reader to contemporary marginalia. The layout of the paragraphs follows those found in the manuscript, and the inclusion of ¶ marks signify where a paraph in either red or blue is given. The punctuation is mine, intended to make comprehension of the long sentences easier. The format of the digital edition means that deletions, superlinear additions and superscript lettering are represented as


were described by more than one witness. These provide a list of the relevant witnesses, with the option of being taken to a centralised timeline of the events, from where it is possible to read these alternate accounts.

For the most part, I have followed the orthography of the manuscript in the Latin edition, including the multiple spellings of the de Briouze family name, thereby demonstrating the fluid approach to the spelling of such names in medieval multi-lingual societies. Most abbreviations have been silently expanded for ease of reading; however, in places it is noticeable that the scribes shied away from providing the proper grammatical endings for proper nouns, a practice which was becoming increasingly common in the fourteenth century with the increasing use of the vernacular even informal documentation. For the translation, I have standardised the spelling of the names and locations found in the text, in line with modern academic conventions, following those used by historians such as Robert Bartlett and Daniel Power.

Scholars working on the text of the Cragh miracle in the past have avoided providing a full translation of the text, and with good reason. The nature of the legal context in which the witnesses were questioned and the official record of the depositions made, has resulted in a text which is by turns highly graphic and illustrative, whilst at others verging on the impenetrable. In translating the dense Latin legalese, I have attempted to utilise modern punctuation to break down the long clauses. Readers will notice that there is a high


which he discusses the multicultural world of medieval Swansea conjured up by the witness testimonies, and Jussi Hanska's 'The Hanging of William Cragh: Anatomy of a Miracle', 53 JMH 27 (2001) which was the first full reconstruction of the events surrounding Cragh's hanging and St Thomas' canonisation, and explains how this particular case fits within wider scholarship of miracle exempla.

Use of Special Terms

Throughout the translation, a range of technical vocabulary has been used to which some readers may be unfamiliar. Foremost among these are the references made by the witnesses to the time of day. The time at which events occurred are denoted by what are known as the 'canonical hours', or 'offices', which were originally intended to mark the times of day at which certain prayers weresupposed to be said. These are formed of the following: Lauds or Matins, Prime, Terce, Sext, Nones, Vespers, and the Night Office or Vigils (consisting of a number 'nocturnes'). Although the precise time of each office varied according to the time of year as the system was based upon daylight hours: Lauds endied at dawn, Prime was at 7 am, with Terce equated to 9 am, Sext noon, Nones 3 pm, Vespers sunset, and Vigils at around midnight.

A number of prayers are also referred to by the witnesses. The first, the Lord's Prayer, refers to the same prayer used by Christians today, 54 although our witnesses would have recited it in Latin rather than English. Similarly, the Hail Mary or Ave Maria, was another commonly recited Latin prayer,


(2004: 117 – 18) and Vauchez (1997: 221).

30 For further reading on this topic, see Vischer (1980: 52) and Warner (1976: 301).

31 The witnesses refer to the hanging taking place between the feast of Saint Michael (29th September) and the feast of All Saints (1st November).

32 Cragh's miracle occurred during the first 'phase' of the growth in St Thomas' popularity spread by rumours of his powers, which Vauchez estimates to be between 1287 and 1289. The second longer phase beginning in 1290 saw the numbers of visitors to Thomas' tomb increase dramatically. (Vauchez, 1997: 221).

33 For details of the distribution of the de Briouze lands following William de Briouze Snr's death in 1291, see Calendar of the Close Rolls 1288 pp, 157, 163, 196, as discussed by Bartlett(2004: 96).

34 The most detailed study of Mary de Briouze and her step-son to date that undertaken by Bartlett (2004: 97 – 104). They have no entry in the Dictionary of National Biography, and Bartlett has carefully reconstructed the details from charters found in Magdalene College and the National Archives, including the 'Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous' I, no. 1244, p. 366. See Bartlett (2004: 154 – 56) for full manuscript references.

35 Bartlett, (2004: 98).

36 Bartlett, (2004: 93).

37 Again, little is known about William of Codineston aside from what Bartlett has pieced together, (2004: 88).

38 The Miracle, p 30.

39 For more details of the de Briouze's holding of this land, see Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem 4:214 (1305).

40 Bartlett, Hanged Man, 31.

41 For interesting discussions of significance of the


4015, fol. 230v – 234r.

46 For discussion on the implications of this Charter and its importance, see Goodich (2001: 15 - 16), Ballard (1923: lxxxvi – vii), Bartlett, (2004: 89 – 96) and Rees (1961: 1 - 29).

47 National Library of Wales, MS PM 391.

48 The complete Charter can be viewed HERE [link]. Commentators who refer to the charter in such terms include Bartlett (2004: 96), Grant Francis (1867: 5). For studies of the relations between Anglo-Norman lords and their Welsh people, see Davies (1978) and Otway-Ruthven (1958: 1-20).

49 The National Archives, MS SC 8/163/8107. For a detailed history of the Gower under Anglo-Norman lordship, see Pugh (1971: 205-65), Lieberman (2010), Pugh (1971: 231 – 43), and Rees (1961: 1 – 29), and the Despenser's troubles, Conway DaviesThe British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has located a new cache of colonial-era government documents, VICE News has learned.

The documents, some with "Top Secret" classifications and tantalizing subject titles, originate in the Colonial Office — the long-ago-disbanded government department that oversaw the colonies of the British Empire.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) confirmed to VICE News that the files were located last year, during an audit of government offices that revealed a staggering 170,000 historic files which had never been made public. Some are long overdue for release, and have been held unlawfully, in violation of the UK Public Records Act.

The discovery of the colonial-era documents is likely to arouse unease among historians — some of whom have accused the government in recent years of purposefully suppressing damning


material from Britain's Imperial days.

Indeed, this is not the first time that the FCO has uncovered a large trove of long-lost, and sometimes incriminating, historical documents. In 2011 — after repeated denials, and amid a protracted legal battle — the FCO admitted to unlawfully holding 1,500 Kenya files (nearly 300 boxes, occupying 100 linear feet) at Hanslope Park: a sprawling and secretive high-security government compound in Buckinghamshire that the FCO shares with intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6, and where government scientists reportedly develop counter-espionage techniques.

Later that year, the FCO conceded that it actually possessed 8,800 — and, eventually, 20,000 — colonial files, covering 37 former colonies and territories. The government dubbed these files the "Migrated Archives," as if they had drifted, on their own, into the tombs ofthe Foreign Office.

Some of these documents, which have since been released to the National Archives, paint Britain's colonial administration in a far from flattering light. One file includes a 1953 memo from Kenya's then Solicitor General, who described colonial detention facilities in the country as "distressingly reminiscent of conditions in Nazi Germany or Communist Russia."

The FCO has not made the content of the newly-discovered documents public, but has revealed their general contents.

One box titled "Colonial Intelligence Summaries" is among the historic findings — as are numerous boxes containing material from the Colonial Office's "Intelligence and Security Department" (ISD).

Two boxes hold the ISD's "Top Secret Register." Another two boxes contain ISD documents "related to arms committee, arms traffic etc."

Ten boxes are titled "Colonial Office: Defence (DEF) Top Secret Register"


and another box, occupying 0.09 linear meters, houses "Colonial Office: Secret International Relations" documents.

Contacted numerous times by VICE News, the FCO has declined to comment on specific files.

Last year, Cambridge University historian Tony Badger, who was appointed by the FCO to review the colonial files released in 2011, told a group of historians that the Migrated Archive "had been deliberately created. The people who created and administered it knew what they had, knew for a long time, and were determined that others should not know what they had."

In 2013, two years later after the Migrated Archives discovery, the Guardian revealed that the FCO was hoarding another 1.2 million (later, revised down to 600,000) historic documents at Hanslope Park. Some of the files date back to the 1800s. Othersdetail British relations during the Cold War — and the final throes of Imperial rule.

The purportedly lost files — which the FCO has dubbed the "Special Collections" — reportedly occupy some 15 miles of floor-to-ceiling shelving, including 50 meters of Hong Kong files, 77 meters of "Nazi persecution case files," and the personal desk diary of British diplomat-turned-Soviet spy Donald Duart Maclean. They papers are slowly being reviewed by a team of "senior sensitivity reviewers," who will in some cases redact files prior to their release.

Many of the recently located Colonial Office documents are "registers": essentially, clerical files that often contain records of Colonial Office correspondence, brief details of Colonial Office files, and summaries of any actions taken on those files.

The registers will likely be of interest to


historians as documents in their own right. But Dr. Mandy Banton, who worked for 25 years at the National Archives as a Colonial Office records specialist, told VICE News that they might also provide evidence of still more colonial-era documents that the British government has long since destroyed.

That Britain destroyed great hoards of colonial-era files is well documented. For instance, records related to the Batang Kali Massacre — in which British troops killed 24 unarmed villagers in 1948, at the peak of the so-called "Malayan Emergency" — were destroyed in 1966, since they "were not considered worthy of public preservation."

As late as the early 1980s, Britain destroyed boxes of records on colonial Kenya. Historians still do not know the contents of those boxes.

In the early 1990s, the governmentPreston Tucker launched his car company after World War II. One of the biggest events in his company's story was the unveiling of his prototype Tucker '48–sometimes called the "Tin Goose." Tucker's enterprise ended a few years later and for a decade or so, the 51 cars he completed were not considered all that valuable. Today, however, a nice Tucker '48 might auction for more than $2 million. Still, there was a time when you might see a Tucker stuck in the mud out behind a barn.

Occasionally, copies of these photographs show up on the internet with the suggestion that you might still be able to find yourself a Tucker stuck in the mud somewhere, but that is really not the case. First, these photos were taken in


the early 1970s, and Tucker experts can now tell us where every Tucker automobile extant resides. Along with the Tin Goose, there were 50 production Tucker '48s built. There is one "missing" Tucker '48 but it was almost certainly destroyed as pieces of it have surfaced.

Courtesy Steve Lehto

The photos here are of the Tin Goose and show it behind a barn in Pennsylvania. Notice that near it is the front half of another Tucker–#1018–one of the few Tucker '48s which no longer exists intact. The Tin Goose was rescued from this field and restored shortly after these pictures were taken, although it was painted maroon instead of the red it wore at its world premiere. The bumpers which were missing as it sat in the field were alsoreplaced and the rest of the car was restored.

The car was eventually sold at auction in Auburn, Indiana, in 1995. It was bought by the Swigart Museum, America's oldest car museum. Its antique automobile collection in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, started as the private collection of an insurance salesman fascinated by cars when they were still a new invention. In the early 1990s the collection did not contain a Tucker, so the museum bought two at the auction that day in 1995: the Tin Goose and #1013

Although the Swigart Museum occasionally takes Tucker #1013 to car shows, it is almost always displayed at the museum next to the Tin Goose, which is always on display. The museum has an unwritten rule that while some cars rotate in and out of


ultrasonic probe is disconnected from an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body and not used. The ultrasonic probe includes a handle part for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, a connector connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, for mediating supply of power and transmission and reception of signals for ultrasonic diagnoses, an internal power supply capable of supplying power to the inside when the connector is detached from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body, and condition managing means supplied with power from the internal power supply, for managing a condition of the ultrasonic probe.
The ultrasonic probe disclosed in JP-P2008-61938A has a function of managing the condition of the ultrasonic probe when not used, and notifying an operator of the condition. However, an operation for sequentially detecting the conditionto make healthy eating accessible and affordable for all, a sports program for special needs children; a free early childhood enrichment and parenting support program, and the Highland Park Senior Social Network, an organization for adults (ages 60 and older) seeking a social network.

Kaper-Dale created RCHP-Affordable Housing Corp. in 2006, which has created housing for women aging out of foster care, homeless veterans, justice-involved youth, chronically homeless mentally ill adults, refugees and asylum-seekers. This organization owns or operates 17 buildings that house 91 tenants.

Since 2002, he has fought to keep families together who are facing the deportation of a parent. This has resulted in crafting legislation and finding sponsors to bring that legislation before the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as state resolutions of


Number of deaths since Adiyanath took over as CM has reached 35

In another encounter death, the Uttar Pradesh police have shot dead a wanted criminal in Shamli district. The accused, identified as Akbar, was shot near a temple in Kandhla kasba of Shamli and carried a bounty of ₹50,000. With this, the number of deaths in police encounters in the State since the Yogi Adityanath government took over last year has reached 36.

More than two dozen encounters have taken place in Uttar Pradesh over the last 72 hours, resulting in two deaths and around 35 arrests across the State.

The spurt in the alleged police encounters comes after Mr. Adityanath on January 30 in a meeting of all district police chiefs instructed them through video conferencing to correct theA second primary esophageal cancer developing 7 years after chemoradiotherapy for advanced esophageal cancer.
We report a rare case of advanced carcinoma and a second primary carcinoma of the esophagus, both of which were successfully cured by chemotherapy and operation at different times. In 1991, a 38-year-old Japanese man was diagnosed with advanced esophageal cancer, which was unresectable because of the bronchial invasion of the tumor. He was given chemotherapy with cisplatin (CDDP), combined with radiotherapy. During a 4-year follow-up, neither regrowth of the primary tumor nor distant metastasis occurred. In 1995, esophagoscopy demonstrated a lugol-unstained region located 3 cm distal from the area of radiation to the primary lesion shown by esophagography. Histological examination of a biopsy specimen showed the mucosa to be normal. Nevertheless, yearly surveillance by


The First Blog Supporting John Kerry Before the 2004 Election.
The Unofficial Kerry Blog is not affiliated with the John Kerry for President 2004 Campaign, Friends of John Kerry, Inc. or John Kerry for Senate '08.
The Unofficial Kerry for President Blog!

Saturday, August 14, 2004

Yesterday the big media sources seemed to reticent to report the size of the crowd at the Kerry Campaign Portland, Oregon event. In reference to the many photos supplied by the press there were references to "large crowds", "very large crowds", "big crowds"...

PORTLAND, United States (AFP) - Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry wrapped up a two-week bus and train tour of the United States in the Pacific Northwest, cheered by tens of thousands at a star-studded rally.

This election is too important for people to sit out,"declared screen star Leonardo di Caprio, who described himself as an ecologist.

Kerry and his family arrived at the biggest rally of his campaign thus far to a swaying ocean of placards proclaiming, "Hope Is On the Way," and "Believe In America."

"Are you ready to put common sense in the leadership of this country?" Kerry asked the crowd.

"Are you ready for a new leadership in the United States?

"Because if you're ready, John Edwards and I are ready, because help is on the way!"

Kerry promised to be "a president who actually believes in science, a president who fights as hard for your jobs as he fights for his own."

Jim Rassman, an Oregonian and Vietnam veteran whom Kerry rescued under fire long ago, said, " I wouldn't want my kids to


serve under this commander-in-chief," meaning President George W. Bush, who was also in the Portland area Friday.

Kerry's campaign was scheduled for three-day weekend break at one of his family homes in Ketchum, Idaho, before resuming on Tuesday with another two-week tour, this one concentrating on the economy.Knee-Deep in the Blood-Soaked Battlefields of Europe

The two sides of war – useless carnage on the one hand, necessary bravery and heroism on the other – were always in evidence as I toured with my wife and older children the WWI and WWII battlefields of Belgium and France.

In Flanders and at the Somme, where millions of soldiers lost their lives in the First World War to capture a few yards that were quickly recaptured by the enemy, the feel of death lingered nearly a century after the fearsome clashes. Everywhere around the towns of Albert at the Somme, and Ypres in Flanders, there are graves. Endless mounds of graves. So many that it would take weeks to visit them all. Military cemeteries dot the landscape with the ubiquitousness


of Starbucks and Macdonald’s. The cemeteries each have hundreds and often thousands of headstones. Never in my life have I been surrounded by so much death. A single British memorial at Thiepval lists the names of seventy-two thousand soldiers whose bodies were never recovered.

The pock-marked, cratered battlefields where so many soldiers died in vain are likewise everywhere along the truly massive Western front, which extended from Switzerland to the North Sea. Nearly a hundred years later, the cemeteries are still richly maintained by the British, Canadian, Irish, and South African governments. The famous poppies which came to define the First World War still grow between the graves and on the side of the road in a manner reminiscent of John’ McCrae’s unforgettable poem, Flanders Fields. And the overwhelmingemotion felt by the visitor a century later as he views this most quintessential of European wars is the utter stupidity, futility, and uselessness of war. Painful as it is to say, these millions of men, including the 400,000 British casualties of the Somme offensive which yielded but a few hundred yards and which the Germans retook just a few months later, died for nothing.

Not that the military cemeteries would ever admit as much. In nearly all the first words you encounter, etched in bright stone, is ‘They Fought for Freedom,’ or some such banner. But the truth is they fought for the limitless egos of European imperialists and the megalomaniacal stupidity of clueless generals, all of whom – Wilhelm II, Nicholas II, Kitchener, Haig, Bethman, and the


Ottomans – have been utterly discredited by history.

By the time you drive southwest, however, for just three hours, the beaches of Normandy yield a uniquely American face of war. Just as I can scarcely describe the feelings of horror I experienced amid the tombstones of poppy country at the Somme, I struggle equally to convey the inspiration of living out my lifelong dream of standing on the invasion beaches of D-Day. From the British and Canadian beaches of Sword, Juno, and Gold and especially to the American beaches of Omaha and Utah, there is heroism glimmering from every particle of sand and bravery shimmering from the crest of every wave. Here was war with a noble, human objective. Not to win glory but to defeat evil. Not toexpand empire but to crush tyranny. Not to subdue a foreign nation but to stop the genocide of a defenseless people.

Omaha Beach should be the American Mecca, a place of required pilgrimage for every US citizen at least once in their lifetime. As I stood on the vast expanse of Omaha beach I closed my eyes and tried to see the nearly three thousand Americans who died storming a heavily fortified beach, dodging machine gun nests, evading mortar fire, jumping from tanks hit by German 88mm cannons, until they could fight no more, falling amid the withering German crossfire in defense of people they had never met. Walking among the silence and perfect rows of Crosses and Magen Davids of the ten thousand Americans interred at the Omaha


2011, I strongly applaud his efforts to bomb the hell out of Kaddafi’s thugs who are slaughtering their own people. I am amazed that any Republican would feel differently.

The British humiliated themselves by freeing the Lockerbie bomber over what seemed to be capitulation for an oil deal favoring BP. Likewise, the French condemned America for removing Saddam Hussein, a man who gassed thousands of children. But both nations have found a measure of redemption in their bold campaign to punish Kaddafi for brutalizing innocent people. And the thought that the United States should not, at the very least, participate with drones and the supply of logistics and ordinance, even as British and French pilots carry the heaviest load, to pummel a bloodthirsty tyrant runs contrary to the spirittoward Louisiana’s coast.

The oil leak began after a rig exploded and collapsed off Louisiana’s coast last week. So far, crews have been unable to stop the flow of thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Waren and seafood dealers agree that a large bit of stock will not be affected by the petroleum leak, at least not in the immediate future. The latest path of the massive slick had it washing up on the east side of the Mississippi Delta. That leaves the entire central and western coast at least temporarily out of harm’s way.

But once Jazz Fest-goers are reassured, Louisiana still has the busy May tourist season followed by the inaugural New Orleans Oyster Festival June 5-6 and the Louisiana Seafood Festival later the same


on the death penalty, though cautiously phrased, amount to a rare foray by Clinton into a subject that she has generally sidestepped. In 1976, as a young lawyer in Arkansas, she was part of a team that successfully fought to keep an intellectually disabled person, Henry Giles, from the death chamber.

Her passionate stance against execution in that case contrasted strongly with that of her husband Bill Clinton, who boosted his tough-on-crime credentials in the 1992 presidential election by refusing to grant clemency to a condemned man, Rickey Ray Rector.

Hillary Clinton’s own views have been hard to pin down in recent years given her prolonged silence on the issue. In her bid for the New York seat in the US Senate in 2000, she said that she gave herCelebrating its 10th anniversary season, this May at the Hudson Guild Theatre (441 West 26th Street), the White Horse Theater Company will present an exciting new production of Marsha Norman's Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'night, Mother which will star Broadway veteran Joy Franz as Thelma, with Laura Siner playing daughter Jessie (who previously starred in White Horse's acclaimed In The Bar of a Tokyo Hotel). The production will run from May 3-May 19 and will feature direction from White Horse's Producing Artistic Director Cyndy A. Marion, who will be staging a bold, visually alluring version of the dramatic work, heightening the theatricality and sharpening the focus on Jessie's looming bedroom door.

Joy Franz appeared in the original Broadway cast of Into the Woods as Cinderella's Stepmother (she was also Bernadette


Peters' understudy as The Witch and got to go on many times). She also appeared in the 2002 Tony-winning revival of Into the Woods. Joy portrayed Susan in the original West End productions of Company and Damn Yankees (as Meg Boyd) with Jerry Lewis. She also appeared in the original Broadway runs of Pippin (as Catherine) and A Little Night Music (as Mrs. Nordstrom) and is a company member of Marvell Rep which was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for The Three Penny Opera (as Mrs. Peachum) and God of Vengeance.

Winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize, 'night, Mother tells the story of a seemingly regular Saturday evening in rural America at the ranch-style farmhouse that Thelma occupies with her middle-aged daughter, Jessie. Down on her luck, Jessiein 2003, WHITE HORSE THEATER COMPANY is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to producing and developing American plays. They seek to investigate and celebrate American culture by re-examining American classics and nurturing new American voices. They aim to shed new light on seldom-produced works or revitalize masterworks making their productions accessible to both the general public and a scholarly audience.


Interest

Gent - Ghelamco Arena02.02.2016: For the first time in history, KAA Gent were the champion of the Belgium Jupiler Pro League in 2015. It was the start of their sporting successes. On the 17th of February 2016 they will play their first 1/8 final in the Champions League. As a newcomer in this Champions League, they did an amazing job. But were started this sporting successes? Is it the coach, the players? Or the new Ghelamco Arena?Mirren's "equipment" would hold her back, and if she is a serious actor.

"How dare you?" she fires back. "Serious actresses can't have big bosoms, is that what you mean?"

Parkinson answers, "It might distract from the performance."

"That can't necessarily be true," Mirren argues. "What a crummy performance if people are obsessed with the size of your bosom or anything else. I hope that the performance and the play overcome such boring questions."

An interview from 1975, where actor Helen Mirren shuts down sexist questioning from TV host Michael Parkinson, has resurfaced on social media. (beretsheri0001/Youtube)

In 2011, Mirren talked about the awkward interview with the Telegraph. She said that at the time, she was preparing to play Lady Macbeth when she appeared on the talk show. "I was terrified. I watched


a slotted spoon and spread on a tray to cool.

Add the cooked kale to the corn, along with the carrots, radishes, daikon, pressed cabbage, olive oil, and lemon juice. Toss the ingredients, add salt and pepper, and toss again before serving.is colleges (48%) that are seen as the best place to skill the future workforce (compared to Universities (30%) and schools (21%)), it is time for Government to rethink the funding of further education facilities, which have seen over a decade worth of cuts so far.

Yvonne joined over 3,000 Principals, staff and students to demand enough is enough. She explains:

The new report highlights that colleges receive the same amount of funding now that they did in 1990. In fact it shows the only part of the education budget to have had year-on-year cuts since 2010 is further education*. It means that we're dealing with an average funding cut of 30%. Continued cuts to colleges will limit our ability to fill skills gaps that are and will be needed


and a disgrace, which do nothing for employers trying to foster a skilled workforce.’

The ‘Love Our Colleges’ campaign is a partnership between Association of Colleges (AoC), National Union of Students (NUS), Association of College and School Leaders (ASCL), University and Colleges Union (UCU), Unison, GMB, TUC and National Education Union (NEU)In the new competitive season, Blizzard decided to change the approach applied to the ranking system and selections for the year's main tournament. Instead of the many instances of participation in various tournaments, the players are now facing one big league that incorporates the best of the best.

The first season of this league has come to an end. In total, there are three GrandMasters regions: Asia, Europe and Americas. The winner of each championship receives not only a portion of the prize pool, but also an invitation to GrandMasters 2019 - Global Finals.

The overall trend shown was more or less positive. Every week, the viewers received a decent number of interesting matches, each of which had a real influence on the final situation around the league and its


participants.

It is worth separately mentioning that the participants of this event could not engage in personal streaming during its matches. This rule has influenced the game category on Twitch in a quite interesting fashion. You can find out more about this in our monthly reports on the platform.

The Europe became the most popular region – based on the comparison by both the average and peak viewers of the championship. However, the gap from its counterpart is not that huge, being equal to a couple thousand viewers.

As an example, the European matches were watched by an average of 27 thousand viewers. At the same time on a broadcast of North American competition, a similar figure stopped at the mark of 21 thousand viewers. For Asia, it became even lowerwhere the facts take me. — Director Ali Alexander (@ali) March 13, 2019

More from the documentary:

The right-wing ‘documentary’ on Ilhan Omar from Jacob Wohl, Laura Loomer, and Ali Alexander was just released. I won't link. It contains 13 minutes of Minneapolis footage, mostly them talking to themselves. In fact, there's only about 48 seconds of them interviewing people here. — Tony Webster (@webster) March 13, 2019

Needless to say, the Wohl–Loomer–Ali “documentary” released tonight contains no footage of “Sharia Police” they falsely claimed exist in Minneapolis, nor of anyone so much as being mean to them. — Tony Webster (@webster) March 13, 2019

Here's everything said about Ilhan Omar by interviewees in right wing video that aimed to end her career:

—I don't know much about her

—I met her twice

—She's held


More

Dustin Keller

Dustin Kendall Keller (born September 25, 1984) is an American football tight end who is currently a free agent in the National Football League. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue.Sumant Kumar was overjoyed when he harvested his rice last year. There had been good rains in his village of Darveshpura in north-east India and he knew he could improve on the four or five tonnes per hectare that he usually managed. But every stalk he cut on his paddy field near the bank of the Sakri river seemed to weigh heavier than usual, every grain of rice was bigger and when his crop was weighed on the old village scales, even Kumar was shocked.

This was not six or even 10 or 20 tonnes. Kumar, a shy young farmer in Nalanda district of India's poorest state Bihar, had – using only farmyard manure and without any herbicides – grown an astonishing 22.4 tonnes of rice on one hectare


of land. This was a world record and with rice the staple food of more than half the world's population of seven billion, big news.

It beat not just the 19.4 tonnes achieved by the "father of rice", the Chinese agricultural scientist Yuan Longping, but the World Bank-funded scientists at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, and anything achieved by the biggest European and American seed and GM companies. And it was not just Sumant Kumar. Krishna, Nitish, Sanjay and Bijay, his friends and rivals in Darveshpura, all recorded over 17 tonnes, and many others in the villages around claimed to have more than doubled their usual yields.

The villagers, at the mercy of erratic weather and used to going without food in bad years, celebrated. But theBihar state agricultural universities didn't believe them at first, while India's leading rice scientists muttered about freak results. The Nalanda farmers were accused of cheating. Only when the state's head of agriculture, a rice farmer himself, came to the village with his own men and personally verified Sumant's crop, was the record confirmed.

A tool used to harvest rice. Photograph: Chiara Goia

The rhythm of Nalanda village life was shattered. Here bullocks still pull ploughs as they have always done, their dung is still dried on the walls of houses and used to cook food. Electricity has still not reached most people. Sumant became a local hero, mentioned in the Indian parliament and asked to attend conferences. The state's chief minister came to Darveshpura to congratulate him, and the village


was rewarded with electric power, a bank and a new concrete bridge.

That might have been the end of the story had Sumant's friend Nitish not smashed the world record for growing potatoes six months later. Shortly after Ravindra Kumar, a small farmer from a nearby Bihari village, broke the Indian record for growing wheat. Darveshpura became known as India's "miracle village", Nalanda became famous and teams of scientists, development groups, farmers, civil servants and politicians all descended to discover its secret.

When I meet the young farmers, all in their early 30s, they still seem slightly dazed by their fame. They've become unlikely heroes in a state where nearly half the families live below the Indian poverty line and 93% of the 100 million population depend on growing ricebeing hailed as one of the most significant developments of the past 50 years for the world's 500 million small-scale farmers and the two billion people who depend on them.

People work on a rice field in Bihar. Photograph: Chiara Goia

Instead of planting three-week-old rice seedlings in clumps of three or four in waterlogged fields, as rice farmers around the world traditionally do, the Darveshpura farmers carefully nurture only half as many seeds, and then transplant the young plants into fields, one by one, when much younger. Additionally, they space them at 25cm intervals in a grid pattern, keep the soil much drier and carefully weed around the plants to allow air to their roots. The premise that "less is more" was taught by Rajiv Kumar, a young Bihar


state government extension worker who had been trained in turn by Anil Verma of a small Indian NGO called Pran (Preservation and

Proliferation of Rural Resources and Nature), which has introduced the SRI method to hundreds of villages in the past three years.

While the "green revolution" that averted Indian famine in the 1970s relied on improved crop varieties, expensive pesticides and chemical fertilisers, SRI appears to offer a long-term, sustainable future for no extra cost. With more than one in seven of the global population going hungry and demand for rice expected to outstrip supply within 20 years, it appears to offer real hope. Even a 30% increase in the yields of the world's small farmers would go a long way to alleviating poverty.

"Farmers use less seeds, less waterwhere Henri de Laulanie, a French Jesuit priest and agronomist, observed how villagers grew rice in the uplands. He developed the method but it was an American, professor Norman Uphoff, director of the International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development at Cornell University, who was largely responsible for spreading the word about De Laulanie's work.

Given $15m by an anonymous billionaire to research sustainable development, Uphoff went to Madagascar in 1983 and saw the success of SRI for himself: farmers whose previous yields averaged two tonnes per hectare were harvesting eight tonnes. In 1997 he started to actively promote SRI in Asia, where more than 600 million people are malnourished.

"It is a set of ideas, the absolute opposite to the first green revolution [of the 60s] which said that


back-breaking work transplanting the young rice shoots from the nursery beds to the paddy fields but buoyed by recognition and results, their confidence and optimism in the future is sky high.

Last month Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz visited Nalanda district and recognised the potential of this kind of organic farming, telling the villagers they were "better than scientists". "It was amazing to see their success in organic farming," said Stiglitz, who called for more research. "Agriculture scientists from across the world should visit and learn and be inspired by them."

A man winnows rice in Satgharwa village. Photograph: Chiara Goia

Bihar, from being India's poorest state, is now at the centre of what is being called a "new green grassroots revolution" with farming villages, research groups and NGOs all beginningFor an old Cold Warrior the scene on a bright October afternoon was surreal: America’s Second Cavalry Regiment crossing a Romanian river on a Soviet-built tactical bridge assembled by the Romanian Army, while overhead Vietnam-era MiG 21s carried out mock attacks, with German-made antiaircraft guns manned by Romanian crews simulating the destruction of the intruding MiGs.

The symbolism of the river crossing brought home to me the precarious condition of the U.S. military presence in Europe. American armor crossed on Romanian...


elements (ID, Owner, Breed, Colour). The Dog Rover is owned by both Sharon and Paul.  I want my merged list to include the text “Sharon/Paul” as the new attribute for the “Owner” variable.
Original lists:
List A:
1.Rover (23, Sharon, Labrador, Black)
2.Spot (40, Paul, Retriever, Golden)
List B:

Rover (23, Paul, Labrador, Black)

Merged list:

Rover (23, Sharon/ Paul, Labrador, Black)
Spot (40, Paul, Retriever, Golden)

I have been able to join the lists to create:
1.  Rover (23, Sharon, Labrador, Black)
2.  Rover (23, Paul, Labrador, Black)
3.  Spot (40, Paul, Retriever, Golden)
Or run .Unique on the lists to create:
1.  Rover (23, Sharon, Labrador, Black)
2.  Spot (40, Paul, Retriever, Golden)
But neither of those give me all of the information I need in the smallest list possible.

A:

What you need is a full outerArea (MISA).
The term "principal city" is defined in the OMB "Standards for Delineating Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas."
A principal city is an OMB designation applied to one or more incorporated places and/or census designated places (CDPs).
The OMB standards designate a Principal City (or Cities) of a Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA) as determined by:
a) The largest incorporated place with a 2010 Census population of at least 10,000 in the CBSA or,
if no incorporated place of at least 10,000 population is present in the CBSA,
the largest incorporated place or census designated place in the CBSA; and
b) Additional places with 2010 Census population of at least 250,000 or in which 100,000 or more persons work; and
c) Additional places with 2010 Census population of 50,000-250,000,
and number of workers working in the place


‘2 suicide bombers blow themselves up at Indonesian police HQ’

Indonesian police stand guards in front of a flat after an explosion in Sidoarjo, East Java, Sunday, May 13, 2018. A new explosion happened on a flat in Sidoarjo, said national police spokesman. Photo: AP/Achmad Ibrahim

AFP

Two militants on a motorcycle blew themselves up at a police headquarters in Indonesia's second city Surabaya on Monday, wounding at least 10 people including officers, authorities said, a day after a deadly wave of suicide bombings hit churches.

Citing CCTV footage from the scene, East Java Police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said a man and a woman on the bike stopped at the security checkpoint.

"That's where the explosion happened," he added.

"Two people were riding (on the motorcycle) and a woman was sitting at theback."

The authorities said the wounded included six civilians and four police.

Ambulances and the bomb squad descended on the chaotic scene with the CCTV images showed the mangled wreckage of a motorbike at the security gate at the headquarters in the heart of the city.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility after the latest suicide bombing.

"This is a cowardly act, undignified and inhumane," Indonesian President Joko Widodo told reporters in Jakarta.

"There will be no compromise in taking action on the ground to stop terrorism."

The lethal explosion comes just a day after a family of six including two young daughters staged suicide bombings at three churches in Surabaya during Sunday services.

At least 14 civilians have died as a result of that attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group,


and the toll could climb with more than 40 injured in hospital.

Multiple bombings

The archipelago nation of some 17,000 islands has long struggled with Islamic militancy, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people -- mostly foreign tourists -- in the country's worst-ever terror attack.

Sunday's church bombings was Indonesia's deadliest attack in years. The attackers -- a mother and father, two daughters aged nine and 12, and two sons aged 16 and 18 -- were linked to local extremist network Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) which supports IS, police have said.

Authorities said they believed some of the family members had recently returned from Syria, where hundreds of Indonesians have flocked in recent years to fight alongside IS in its bid to carve out a caliphate ruled by strict Islamiclaw.

A further three people in another family were killed and two wounded when another bomb exploded at an apartment complex about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Surabaya, just hours later, police said.

The mother and one child died from the explosion while police said they shot dead the father who was carrying a bomb detonator.

Two other children were injured in the blast and were taken to hospital.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the apartment bomb.

In the church attacks, the mother, identified as Puji Kuswati, and her two daughters were wearing niqab face veils and had bombs strapped to their waists as they entered the grounds of the Kristen Indonesia Diponegoro Church and blew themselves up, police have said.

The father, JAD cell leader Dita Priyanto, drove a bomb-laden


car into the Surabaya Centre Pentecostal Church while his sons rode motorcycles into Santa Maria church, where they detonated explosives they were carrying, according to authorities.

JAD, led by jailed radical Aman Abdurrahman, has been linked to several deadly incidents, including a 2016 gun and suicide attack in the capital Jakarta that left four attackers and four civilians dead.

That was the first assault claimed by IS in Southeast Asia.

Police on Sunday said four suspected JAD members were killed in a shootout during raids linked to a deadly prison riot this week.

Five members of Indonesia's elite anti-terrorism squad and a prisoner were killed in clashes that saw Islamist inmates take a guard hostage at a high-security jail on the outskirts of Jakarta. IS claimed responsibility.

Karnavian said Sunday's church attacks mayRanked at the 57th spot, Mumbai is India’s most expensive city for expatriates, inching closer to break into the top 50 most expensive cities in the world. New Delhi, ranked 99, has moved into the top 100 category, Chennai (135), Bengaluru (166) followed by Kolkata (184), says Mercer’s 23rd annual Cost of Living Survey.

Mumbai (57) is ranked higher and more expensive than cities like Auckland (61), Dallas and Paris (62), Canberra (71), Seattle (76) and Vienna (78) of the world. It has moved up 25 places from being ranked 82 in 2016.

New Delhi and Mumbai have become more expensive, over last year, and their rankings have gone up substantially. “Residential rental prices increased in Mumbai and New Delhi. Due to demonetisation, real estate sales market has been severely


increased significantly. Prices for fruits and vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, lettuce and pineapple have also a shown increase. Mumbai is also the most expensive cities in India on account of transportation, which includes taxi fares, cost of auto and auto parts as well as running costs, says the survey.

Overall, Indian cities have moved up the global ranking substantially, not just on account of internal factors, but additionally due to some cities falling in rankings, globally, on account of currency volatility especially in Egypt, Turkey and United Kingdom.

“Despite volatile global markets and growing security issues, organisations continue to leverage global expansion strategies to remain competitive and to grow. With a large number of Indian multinational organisations progressively expanding their footprint abroad, 71 percent of them are expecting expatriatepart of a single expatriate allowance, covering other items in addition to goods and services in the remuneration package. 75 percent of these companies determine the COL allowance using an index-based approach – usually the same index is used throughout the assignment for all typical long-term assignments.

Across continents, countries with the highest current number of India assignees are United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Across continents, countries with the highest expected increase in the number of Indian international assignees are UAE, UK and Kenya.

Cairo, Egypt, has dropped 92 ranks, from 91 to 183 and Aberdeen, United Kingdom, has dropped 61 ranks, from 85 to 146.

Cities in the United States are the most expensive locations in the Americas, with New York City (9) ranked as the


costliest city, climbing two spots from last year. San Francisco (22) and Los Angeles (24) follow, having climbed four and three spots respectively. Among other major US cities, Chicago (32) is up two places, Boston (51) is down four places, and Seattle is up seven places. Portland (115) and Winston Salem (140) remain the least expensive surveyed cities for expatriates in the US. This has a direct impact on the cost of expatriate assignments for Indian multinationals.

Ruchika Pal, India Practice Leader, Global Mobility at Mercer said, “Overall, US cities either remained stable in the ranking or have slightly increased due to the movement of the US dollar against the majority of currencies worldwide.”

Only three European cities remain in the top 10 list of most expensive cities for expatriates.city in the Middle East for expatriates followed by Dubai (20), Abu Dhabi (23), and Riyadh (52), which have all climbed in this year’s ranking. Jeddah (117), Muscat (92), and Doha (81) are among the least expensive cities in the region. Cairo (183) is the least expensive city in the region plummeting ninety-two spots from last year, following a major devaluation of its local currency.

Five of the top 10 cities in this year’s ranking are in Asia. Hong Kong (2) is the most expensive city as a result of its currency pegged to the US dollar, which drove up the cost of accommodations locally. This global financial center is followed by Tokyo (3), Singapore (5), Seoul (6), and Shanghai (8). The strengthening of the Japanese yen along with


and a cross-section view of DVD5, DVD9, DVD10, and DVD18 formats, the formats specify the inner diameter of the center hole, the outer diameter of the DVD, the handling area, the inner mirror band, the data area, and the outer mirror band. They also specify the shape and location of a stacking ring, the pit size, the reflectivity of the metal layers and the type of the metal, and for some formats the thickness and optical characteristics of the bonding agent used to form bond layer 8 . In addition, the specifications list acceptable tolerances of certain "bulk parameters," such as "radial tilt" and "tangential tilt." The specifications also specify the thickness of the bonding layer and the acceptable amounts of bubbles and contaminants.
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Apartment rents and occupancy rates showed more improvement this quarter, according to data by Reis. National vacancy rates made one of the sharpest declines in recent history and rents were modestly increased. Despite the lackluster economic growth, "recovery in the apartment rental sector appears to be firmly rooted," said Victor Calanog, director of research for Reis.

Related Summaries

Shopping centers saw a slight downturn in vacancy in the fourth quarter, to 9.2%, Reis reports. In the third quarter, the vacancy rate was at an 11-year high of 9.4%. However, more retailers are expected to announce store closings in 2012. "It's too soon to pronounce a turnaround at this point," said Victor Calanog, chief economist at Reis.

Vacancies in shopping centers are still on the rise, but their pace is


the enterprises built on this array of
electric power, 2.8 km of power transmission lines are stretched from the
substation Sugdiyona.

Business in a market economy acts as
the main sector that determines the pace of economic growth. All developed
countries actively support this sector, since the economic stability of the
country and the bulk of the population’s employment depend on it.

In Uzbekistan, small businesses and private entrepreneurs play a
significant role in creating new jobs and stable sources of income for the
population.

At the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan, this year was declared
the Year of Support for Active Enterprise, Innovative Ideas and Technologies,
and the corresponding State Program was approved.

In accordance with it, the head of state announced a moratorium on
inspections of financial and economic activities of business entities for a
period of two years. Thispreference will create conditions for businessmen to
effectively implement their entrepreneurial activities and increase their
growth rates.

It should be noted that the activities implemented in accordance with
the Strategy for Actions in the Year of Dialogue with the People and of Human
Interests were successfully implemented. In particular, in 2017 Uzbekistan
completely switched to free currency conversion, eliminated barriers to its
purchase, abolished the obsolete order for compulsory sale of foreign exchange
earnings from exports of goods and services, and also guaranteed investment and
repatriation of profits.

Import customs payments have been reduced, and for some products they
have been completely abolished, work on reducing the tax burden for business is
constantly being carried out.

In accordance with the legislative acts, the principle of priority of
the rights of entrepreneurs in all spheres of relations with government
authorities has been created, the


liability of officials for violations
committed by them with respect to business entities and private property has
been significantly increased.

Along with this, new measures aimed at liberalizing the responsibility
of business representatives have been established. The procedure was
introduced, such as the release of business entities and their employees from
all types of liability if they committed offenses for the first time in the
conduct of financial and economic activities and voluntarily eliminated the
violations and compensated for the material damage. In addition, a ban on the
application of criminal punishment in the form of deprivation of the right to engage
in business activities is established.

These measures give an opportunity to citizens who have committed
offenses for the first time and have cleared their fault, to continue their
entrepreneurial activity without negative consequences, which also stimulates
their business activity.

To improvethe favorable investment environment, fourteen free economic
zones have been created, where investors are granted broad benefits.

As a result of these and other measures, more than 150,000 business
entities were created in Uzbekistan alone in 2017, of which over 200 are
enterprises with foreign investments.

Thanks to the measures taken, Uzbekistan in the World Bank’s Doing
Business 2018 ranking has climbed 13 positions over the past year alone and
entered the top ten world leaders to improve the business climate.

The Concept of Administrative Reform in the Republic of Uzbekistan has
been adopted, where further reduction of administrative influence on the
economy branches and expansion of market management mechanisms are clearly
regulated.

It is important to note that, along with the measures taken to improve
the business environment, protecting the rights and legitimate interests of
businessmen is also a priority.

To create


new effective mechanisms in this sphere, the institution of
the Commissioner for the Protection of Rights and Legitimate Interests of
Entrepreneurs was established for the first time in the country. That is, we
have moved to a qualitatively new level of public policy in this area.

The Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs
exercises his powers independently and autonomously of state bodies, their
officials, subject only to the Constitution and the laws of the country. In his
activities he provides an objective assessment of the facts of violation of the
rights of entrepreneurs, takes measures to timely eliminate violations of the
law.

It is important that the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights
of Entrepreneurs is appointed and dismissed by the President of Uzbekistan and
enjoys the right of immunity.

To implement the Commissioner’s tasks, the institutionwas granted a
number of rights and powers. In particular, it has the right to declare in
writing to officials of state bodies and other organizations caveats, to make
their leaders aware of the elimination of the revealed violations of the law,
the reasons and conditions that facilitate them, apply to the courts with
applications and claims in the interests of business entities.

Last year, the Commissioner visited all regions and cities of the
regions of the republic, held an open dialogue with over 30,000 entrepreneurs
and provided practical assistance to those who applied for it. He examined over
700 applications of business structures. About 200 of them are positively
solved.

In addition, they signed memoranda with state bodies, non-governmental
non-profit organizations and other civil society institutions on cooperation in
the field of protecting the rights of business entities and developing


of the world as the principal foreign policy priority.

Uzbekistan’s leader detailed the
international community about his strategic vision for ensuring regional
security and stability in September 2017 at the 72nd Session of the United
Nations General Assembly in New York City. In November later that year, during
the Samarkand Conference “Central Asia: One Past and a Common Future,
Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Mutual Prosperity”, President
Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed a comprehensive program of joint efforts at the
regional and international levels to secure enduring peace and stability in
Central Asia, including Afghanistan.

The policy implications of the
speeches by President of the Republic of Uzbekistan at those international
forums, his examination of the current situation in Central Asia and
Afghanistan and the prospects of developments have generated a reflective
interest in the international community.

As the President has noted, “Central
Asia, being inthe heart of Eurasia, stands as a bridge connecting Europe and
the Middle East, South and East Asia”. The region is rich in natural resources.
There is a unique cultural and civilization potential, which has had a decisive
influence on the development of many countries and entire regions.

In the meantime, according to President
Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Central Asia constitutes a crossing point of the interests
of world powers, and the region adjoins the pivots of instability and conflict,
experiencing the impact of all the downbeat processes occurring in the near and
far abroad.

In this regard, the President of
Uzbekistan was right in posing the question as to what developments the region
can encounter. Will it go under the scenario of conflicts and confrontations or
along the path of cooperation and progress?

The answer is obvious, that is,
everything depends, first and


access for the nations of Central Asia to the
harbors of the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, to connect India, Iran and
Pakistan with the markets of Europe and the Middle East.

To this end, what comes to the fore
of the problem is the formation of an extensive and solid international
consensus on the basic issues of establishing peace and security in
Afghanistan, supporting the efforts of Afghan-led, Afghan-owned process for
national reconciliation in the country.

Uzbekistan has always been and
remains a fundamental advocate of a political settlement of the situation in
Afghanistan, making its feasible contribution to the country’s socio-economic development.

In this regard, Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s
initiative to organize – on March 26-27 this year in Tashkent, jointly with the
Afghan side – an international high-level conference on Afghanistan, “Peace
Process, Security Cooperation and Regional Connectivity”, is animportant part
of the Uzbek leadership’s overall strategy to provide for regional security and
stability.

Our country has been an active party
to almost all international forums addressing the Afghan crisis, including the
Kabul Process, the Moscow Format, the Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process, the
International Contact Group on Afghanistan, the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group,
the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA).

During a UN Security Council session
in New York on January 19, 2018, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan delivered a joint
presentation of the forthcoming Tashkent forum.

The conference in Tashkent is due
following the second meeting of the Kabul Process that took place on February
28 this year in Afghanistan’s capital. It will come to be a logical extension
of the efforts undertaken by the international community to secure peace and
stability in the country.

President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev


and President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Ashraf Ghani are to deliver keynote speeches at the opening ceremony of the
conference.

Among those invited to the Tashkent
meeting are the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Special
Representative of the Organization for Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto, the EU
High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini,
as well as foreign ministers of China, Russia, the United States, the United
Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates.

It is expected that the forum
participants will convey their consolidated stance – at the regional and global
levels – on the need for the soonest start of direct talks between the Government
of Afghanistan and the Taliban Movement without any preconditions.

The conference is projected to
result in the adoption of Tashkent Declarationanticipated to reflect the
following key points:

First, the peace process ought to be
Afghan-led and Afghan-owned and in accordance with the provisions of
resolutions and decisions of the UN General Assembly and Security Council;

Second, the guaranteed integration
of the armed opposition into the political life of Afghanistan and its
recognition as a legitimate political force is instrumental in the success of
the peace process;

Third, the international community
strongly opposes all forms and manifestations of terrorism without any
distinction, and recognizes that the threats of transnational terrorism, drug
trafficking and organized crime are common challenges to stability and
sustainable development both for Afghanistan, the region and the world as a
whole.

The Tashkent Conference is to follow
the first meeting of the new format of cooperation, Central Asia + Afghanistan
(“C5 + 1”), designed to discuss specific areas of interaction between the
Central Asian


to resolve common grave issues through joint
efforts by opening up extensive opportunities for peace and progress.

Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Uzbekistan

Meetings with the delegation of the Great National Assembly of the
Republic of Turkeyled by the chairman of the inter-parliamentary friendship
group "Turkey – Uzbekistan" of the parliament of Turkey, Haidar Ali
Yildiz were held at the Senate and the Legislative Chamber of the OliyMajlis of
the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Chairman of the Senate of the
OliyMajlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan N.Yuldoshev noted that active
development of the Uzbek-Turkish cooperation based on friendship and mutual
trust, strengthening inter-parliamentary ties contribute to further expansion
of relations between the two countries.

Expansion of partnership with the
Republic of Turkey in all areas of cooperation, including interaction between
parliaments, is one of the priorities of Uzbekistan'sforeign policy. This
visit of the delegation of the Turkish Parliament became a practical result of
agreements reached during the state visit of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan ShavkatMirziyoyev to the Republic of Turkey in October 2017.

During the conversation with the
Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the OliyMajlis of the Republic of
Uzbekistan N.Ismoilov, current state of relations between the legislative
bodies of the two countries, trade and economic, investment and
cultural-humanitarian cooperation, as well as prospects for their further
development and deepeningwere discussed.

The guests were informed about the
large-scale reforms being carried out in Uzbekistan.

During the meetings, Haydar Ali
Yildizemphasized the active development of relations between the legislative
bodies of the two countries, emphasized that such practical contacts will serve
further development of political, trade-economic, cultural-humanitarian and
inter-parliamentary cooperation between the two countries.

During the visit of the


delegation
of the Turkish Parliament, the first joint meeting of the inter-parliamentary
group of the OliyMajlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan on cooperation with the
Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey and the inter-parliamentary
friendship group "Turkey – Uzbekistan" of the Grand National Assembly
of the Republic of Turkey was held.

Following the negotiations,a plan of
practical measures ("roadmap") on further development of bilateral
cooperation for 2018 was signedbetween the two groups.

A business forum and cooperative
exchange with participation of representatives of business circles of
Uzbekistan and Turkeywere alsoheld within the framework of the visit of the
Turkish delegation. The events, organized by the Chamber of Commerce and
Industry of Uzbekistan and the Senate of the OliyMajlis,were attended by the
heads of ministries and departments, companies of the two countries responsible
for such spheres as economy, investment, trade, industry, tourism,construction
industry, electrical engineering, agriculture, food, light, and textile
industry.

At the forum, business people of
Turkey got acquainted with prospects of investing in Uzbekistan, the potential
of the country in production and processing, textile and light industry,
tourism. A number of issues were discussed on implementation of new projects in
the field of harvesting, processing, storage and packaging of agricultural
products, construction of complexes specializing in exports, and the textile
industry.

On the same day, guests from Turkey
participated at the regular session of the International Press Club on
“Prospects for development of Uzbek-Turkish trade and economic cooperation”.

Participants of a seminar-briefing
in Tashkent deliberated on preparations for the international environmental
forum “Building up cooperation in environmental protection and sustainable
development in Central Asia”, due 5-8 June 2018 in the capital of Uzbekistan.

The workshop was attended by representatives of diplomatic missions,
international and financial