Award of the George Cross to Malta from capitulating as Singapore had done in the Battle of Singapore. Harrods flew the Maltese flag at the world-renowned store, marking Malta's 70th anniversary as a George Cross Island from the 1 to 28 March 2012. Award of the George Cross to Malta The George Cross was awarded to the island of Malta by King George VI in a letter to the island's Governor, Lieutenant-General Sir William Dobbie, so as to "bear witness to the heroism and devotion of its people" during the great siege they underwent in the early part of World War II. Italy and Germany besieged Malta,
Chiba International Cross Country as well as two 3 km races for high school runners. Four of the races act as qualifiers for the World Cross Country Championship: the men's 12 km and the women's 6 km allow athletes to enter the senior world competition while the junior men's 8 km and junior women's 5 km enable runners to qualify for the junior section of the championships. The competition is one of three in which Japanese athletes can qualify for the World Championships; the others being the annual Fukuoka International Cross Country and the biennial Asian Cross Country Championships. Over a thousand runners compete