2012 Pakistan factory fires
Factories in Pakistan's two largest cities of Karachi and Lahore caught fire on 11 September 2012. The fires occurred in a textile factory in the western part of Karachi and in a shoe factory in Lahore. The fires are considered to be the most deadly and worst industrial factory fires in Pakistan's history, killing 289 people and seriously injuring more than 600.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Background
Pakistan has one of the largest labour and manpower resources in the world, due to its large population. According to data produced by the CIA World Factbook, the total number of Pakistan's labour force at the time was 58.4 million, making it the 10th largest country in terms of available human workforce. About 20.1% of the labour force is involved in industry. The conditions under which Pakistan's blue-collar labour works have often been raised by trade unions and workers' rights organisations. There is also a controversial, yet widespread use of child labour in Pakistan.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Background
The garment factory "Ali Enterprises", which is located in Plot 67, Hub Road, Baldia Town, Karachi, used to export its garments to Europe and the United States, and had employed between 1,200 and 1,500 workers. Ali Enterprises manufactured denim, knitted garments, and hosiery, and had capital of between $10 million and $50 million. Workers at Ali Enterprises said they earned between 5,000 and 10,000 rupees ($52 to $104) a month for their labour. The factory manufactured jeans for textile discounter KiK. KiK claimed to control enforcement of labour laws and security standards of its suppliers.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Background
However, a security check in 2007 revealed deficiencies in fire protection of the Karachi plant, which KiK claimed were fixed by 2011. According to the Pakistani Textile Workers Union (NTUF), a high working pressure and overtime with unpaid additional work were frequent at the factory. A few weeks prior to the fire, the factory passed an internationally recognised safety test. The factory is also suspected of using child labour and locked workplaces analogous to prison cells. The owner of the factory, Abdul Aziz, had reportedly prevented inspections.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Background, Karachi Baldia Town factory
A private garment factory lit on fire and the flames ignited chemicals that were stored there. The Baldia Town factory inferno case took a dramatic turn on 7 February 2015 when a report by Rangers said that the MQM was behind the deadly fire that claimed the lives of at least 258 factory workers. MQM set fire to the factory to take extortion money from its owners.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Background, Karachi Baldia Town factory
The report prepared by a joint investigation team (JIT) was submitted to the Sindh High Court by an additional attorney general, along with a statement of the deputy assistant judge advocate general of Rangers, Major Ashfaque Ahmed.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Background, Karachi Baldia Town factory
The statement said the information had been disclosed by suspect Mohammad Rizwan Qureshi, an alleged worker of the MQM, on June 22, 2013 during joint investigation of the factory inferno. According to the JIT report, the MQM worker revealed that a “well-known party high official” had demanded Rs200 million as bhatta (extortion money) though his frontman from Ali Enterprises, the owners of the factory, in August 2012.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Background, Karachi Baldia Town factory
Between 300 and 400 workers were inside the factory when the blaze erupted. Officials said that all the exit doors in the factory were locked and many of the windows of the factory were covered with iron bars, which made it difficult for workers to escape at the time and consequently many of the deaths were caused by suffocation. Baldia Town Factory owner names MQM lawmakers, Ex governor sindh Ishrat ul Ibad and ex chief of CPLC Ahmed Chinoy.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Background, Karachi Baldia Town factory
Just weeks before the fire the plant had been given a SA8000 certification.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Background, Karachi Baldia Town factory
A documentary film about the fire, Discount workers, is being made in 2020.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Background, Lahore
The shoe factory is located on Band Road in Gulshan-i-Ravi in Lahore. It caught fire when sparks from a faulty electricity generator flew into chemicals. The generator was installed in the garage of the factory compound, which was also the only entry and exit point of the factory.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Investigation
Source: Sindh Law enforcement JIT Report Issued on 7 February 2015


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Investigation
The Baldia Town factory inferno case took a dramatic turn when a report by the Pakistan Rangers said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement was behind the fire that killed at least 258 factory workers. The report prepared by a joint investigation team (JIT) was submitted to the Sindh High Court by an additional attorney general, along with a statement of the deputy assistant judge advocate general of Rangers, Major Ashfaque Ahmed. The statement said the information had been disclosed by suspect Mohammad Rizwan Qureshi, an alleged worker of the MQM, on June 22, 2013 during joint investigation of the factory inferno.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Investigation
Source: Joint Investigation Team report submitted to the Sindh High Court


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Investigation
According to the JIT report, the MQM worker revealed that a “well-known party high official” had demanded Rs200 million as bhatta (extortion money) though his frontman from Ali Enterprises, the owners of the ill-fated factory, in August 2012.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Investigation
One of the factory owners in Karachi, Arshad Bhaila, claimed that the fire first broke out in the warehouse and that he called the fire brigade, which arrived about 90 minutes late. The New York Times reported that the local fire department arrived 75 minutes after the fire started. A judicial inquiry headed by Justice Zahid Qurban Alvi reported that a short circuit caused the fire. The report cited several factors that exacerbated the situation leading to the loss of life, including the late arrival of fire tenders, the lack of fire hydrants, and traffic congestion. The tribunal was highly critical of the factory owners and government, which failed to enforce the law. It also criticized the police's forensic department for failing to conduct a scientific investigation.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Investigation
On 14 September, Justice Hassan Azhar of Sindh High Court Larkana Bench approved Rs. 500,000 bail for factory owners Abdul Aziz, Shahid Bhaila and Arshad Bhaila. All the bank accounts of the owners and the company are frozen and the owners are not allowed to leave the country as they are on exit control list. The owners are facing charges of pre-meditated murder.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Investigation
The Deputy General Secretary of the Pakistan National Federation of Trade Unions (PNFTU) Nasir Manoor said that the owner of the factory, Abdul Aziz, must have fled from the country despite having his name on the Exit Control List (ECL) and he would return only after the issue was off the media radar. The Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) denied allegations that it was involved in the approval of the building plans for the Baldia Town garment factory. The C.E.O. of Ali Enterprises, Shahid Bhalia, son of the factory's owner, said that he was innocent and was ready to appear before any court and provide compensation to the victims and their families.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Reaction
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed grave concern over the rising death toll of the fire. He also consoled the bereaved families and directed the authorities concerned to ensure that the best medical assistance was provided to the affected people. He called for a report on the fire in Karachi and Lahore from the governors of the two provinces.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Reaction
Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, who was on an official trip to China, telephoned Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khosa and Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif to express his grief and shock over the fire in Lahore. He also called Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad to learn about the latest situation regarding the Karachi fire. Ashraf also gave his heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the victims' families. He asked the governors and chief ministers to extend all out assistance and cooperation to the affected people.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Reaction
Sindh Minister for Industry and Commerce Rauf Siddique announced his resignation as a result of the incidence. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement announced three days of mourning. The Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan also offered condolences and prayed for the victims.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Reaction
Governor of Sindh Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan expressed grief over the loss of life in the fire and expressed sympathy with the injured. He then directed the officials concerned to utilise all available resources to control the blaze and ordered an inquiry into the incident. He also directed the respective authorities to ensure the victims do not face any problems in their treatment and recovery. He also prayed for the early recovery of the injured.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Reaction
Pakistan's parliament then unanimously passed a resolution asking provincial and federal authorities to fully investigate the accidents. According to the Geo TV, under Factory Act 1934, the owner will have to pay only Rs. 5000 in penalty over negligence in the protection of workers. The leader of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif has announced Rs. 300,000 in aid to the families of those killed in this incident. On 13 September it was reported that the Sind provincial government would offer financial compensation of Rs. 500,000s to the families of the dead victims and Rs.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Reaction
50,000 to those who had been injured, while the city's power utility company, KESC, announced they would waive all outstanding balances of the victims as a goodwill gesture. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah also announced further compensation of Rs. 300,000 for the families of the dead and Rs. 50,000 for those who had been injured.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Reaction
In Lahore, the Punjab Government announced the same value for the families of those killed and Rs. 75,000 for each of those who had been injured as compensation.


2012 Pakistan factory fires, Reaction
Real estate tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain also announced cash assistance of Rs. 200,000 for the family members of those killed in both the factory fires and Rs. 100,000 for those who had been injured. Zohra Yusuf, Chair of The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has urged government officials to initiate a full probe of the disaster and conditions surrounding the facilities, echoing claims made from the head of firefighting that the factory was dangerous.


2012 Pakistan fake medicine crisis
During late January 2012, a fake medicine crisis at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) hospital in the Lahore region of Punjab, Pakistan, claimed the lives of over 100 heart patients. According to various reports, the incident involved patients who had been receiving treatment at the hospital and had been prescribed with counterfeit antihypertensive medicines. The spurious medicine(s) triggered a serious adverse reaction by depositing itself in the bone marrow and ending the body's resistance. The generation of white blood cells stopped in the body. Among the symptoms of the disease were a severe chest infection, change in skin colour/pigmentation, low platelet count and blood vomiting.


2012 Pakistan fake medicine crisis
Suspect drugs include Isotab (isosorbide mononitrate), Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium), Cardiovestin (simvastatin), Alfagril (clopidogrel), Concort (amlodipine), and Soloprin (aspirin).


2012 Pakistan fake medicine crisis
The medicines were being distributed by the hospital free of charge mainly to poor people. The total number of people who may be at risk after taking medicine from the hospital may be as high as 46,000 according to one report.


2012 Pakistan fake medicine crisis, Crisis
In mid-January 2012, several cardiac patients registered with the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) started showing up at different public and private hospitals in Lahore suffering from a sudden drop in platelets and white blood cells and bleeding from different parts of the body. The doctors initially took the symptoms as that of dengue outbreak that had hit the city in the last Fall. However, it was soon realized that the symptoms were seen in a PIC cohort and were more consistent of a drug reaction. As a result, the Department of Health constituted a high-powered committee to probe the incident.


2012 Pakistan fake medicine crisis, Inquiry
Almost all victims were from the Lahore area. One fatality was also recorded in Multan. The Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif vowed "stern action" against those responsible and announced a compensation of Rs. 500,000 each for the victims' families. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) formed an investigation team to probe the incident on the orders of Minister for Interior Rehman Malik. The team arrested some people reportedly involved in the distribution of the medicine. Cases were also registered against three pharmaceutical companies who made the medicine.


2012 Pakistan fake medicine crisis, Inquiry
Investigations revealed that the licence in one of the three pharmaceutical laboratories which supplied the contaminated drugs to the PIC had long expired in April 2011. Despite this, the company continued to manufacture the drugs in bulk and supplied them to government hospitals and open markets. As the death toll exceeded one hundred, the Lahore High Court ordered respondents involved in the case to file their replies by the 30th of January.


2012 Pakistan fake medicine crisis, Inquiry
Tests performed by the British Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the United Kingdom indicated that one of the five suspected drugs - Isotab - was contaminated. The report also showed that Isotab contained pyrimethamine which is in fact used for the treatment of malaria. The presence of pyrimethamine proved to be toxic. Tests done at the Central Drugs Laboratory in Karachi also verified the presence of pyrimethamine used in certain combinations to treat malaria in a sample of the Isotab tablet (20 mg). The laboratory also declared a batch of Alfagril as substandard.


2012 Pakistan fake medicine crisis, Inquiry
The FIA, while seizing raw material from a Karachi-based factory of Efroze Chemical Industries. The FIA also put names of owners on the Exit Control List (ECL) besides blocking the official website of Efroze Chemicals. The sealed factory was located in Korangi Industrial Area, Karachi.


2012 Pakistan fake medicine crisis, Inquiry
The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) condemned that a lapse in quality control while acquiring medicines was the main reason for the deaths caused by drug reaction and has demanded the federal and provincial governments to establish a drug regulatory authority.


2012 Pakistan fake medicine crisis, International reaction
Following the incident, Sri Lanka banned its import of medicines from Pakistan as a precautionary measure. Moreover, the World Health Organisation issued a global drug safety alert (no.125) calling for increased vigilance on the use of Isotab manufactured by Efroze Chemicals.


2012 Pakistan floods
The 2012 Pakistan floods began in early September 2012, resulting from heavy monsoon rains in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Upper Sindh, Southern Punjab and Balochistan regions of Pakistan.


2012 Pakistan floods, Flooding and impact
Initially according to the met Office forecasts, Pakistan was to receive below normal rainfall in 2012 and most of these areas were bracing for a drought. But by 1 September the Pakistan Meteorological Department started to roll out emergency weather advisories stating that an extremely low pressure Monsoon system, developed over the Bay of Bengal will enter the country and cause widespread heavy rainfall across Southern Punjab, Southern Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, eastern Balochistan and Sindh


2012 Pakistan floods, Flooding and impact
The low pressure system entered the country on 3 September and lashed these areas with heavy falls. The system continued to stay till 12 September 2012. Flash floods triggered by heavy rains caused widespread destruction across vast swathes of the country, breaking a 24-year rainfall record and leaving over 100 people dead in upper Sindh, wreaking devastation in Punjab's Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur areas and leaving five districts of eastern Balochistan cut off from the rest of the country.


2012 Pakistan floods, Flooding and impact
On 9 September The Met Office said that between 8am and 5pm Dera Ghazi Khan and Okara received 96mm of rain, Shorkot 85mm, Bahawalnagar and Sahiwal 79mm, Noorpur Thal 66mm, Toba Tek Singh 65mm, Bahawalpur city 45mm, Jhang 35mm, Rahim Yar Khan 31mm, Multan 27mm, Faisalabad 25mm, Nawabshah 24mm, Chhor 23mm, Bhakkar 20mm, Chakwal and Dera Ismail Khan 17mm, Parachinar and Mandi Bahauddin 16mm, Thatta 15mm, Joharabad and Rawalakot 14mm and Kotli 12mm.


2012 Pakistan floods, Flooding and impact, Heavy rainfalls recorded during the wet spell of September 2012
Heavy rainfalls were recorded during the five-day wet spell from 5 September to 9 September 2012 in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab based on data from the Pakistan Meteorological Department.


2012 Pakistani Senate election
Senate elections were held in Pakistan on 2 March 2012. Fifty-four of the 100 seats in the Senate were up for election with the winning candidates serving six-year terms.


2012 Palanca Awards
The Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature winners for 2012. The awarding ceremonies were held on September 1, 2012, at the Peninsula Hotel Manila in Makati.


2012 Palanca Awards
2nd - Luciano Sonny O. Valencia (Ang Penitensiya ni Tiyo Renato)


2012 Palanca Awards
1st - John Enrico C. Torralba (Gusto Ko Nang Lumaki)


2012 Palanca Awards
2nd - Peter Solis Nery (Sa Mundo ng mga Kulisap)


2012 Palanca Awards
3rd - Nely T. Azada (Sampung Tula Para sa mga Bata)


2012 Palanca Awards
2nd - Honorio Bartolome de Dios (Ang Tawo sa Puso ni Teresa)


2012 Palanca Awards
1st - Will P. Ortiz (Ang Tatlong Bubwit at Bangkang Marikit)


2012 Palanca Awards
2nd - Bernadette V. Neri (Atang sa Kaluluwa Nina Apong Salawal at Apong Saya)


2012 Palanca Awards
3rd - Luz B. Maranan (Ang Pangat, ang Lupang Ninuno, at ang Ilog)


2012 Palanca Awards
1st - Niles Jordan Breis (Go-See, Kraw Gen, Intro: Sa Daigdig ng Promo)


2012 Palanca Awards
1st - Jan Francis B. Asis (Sa Ingit ng Pinto)


2012 Palanca Awards
2nd - Gerome E. De Villa (Sa Aking Pagbuklat sa mga Makabagong Pahina)


2012 Palanca Awards
2nd - Joachim Emilio B. Antonio (The Dust in Your Place)


2012 Palanca Awards
3rd - Patrick John R. Valencia (In Bed with My Mother)


2012 Palanca Awards
3rd - Jason Leo G. Asistores (Waiting and Other Poems)


2012 Palanca Awards
2nd - Anca Bautista (Magic Is and Nine Other Magical Poems)


2012 Palanca Awards
3rd - Raymundo T. Pandan Jr. (The Ocelot and Other Poems)


2012 Palanca Awards
2nd - Ian Rosales Casocot (It Always Breaks My Heart a Little to See You Go)


2012 Palanca Awards
2nd - Raymund M. Garlitos (Lauan, The Seed that Wanted to Fly)


2012 Palanca Awards
3rd - Aleli Dew B. Ayroso (Mister World and His Magical Box)


2012 Palanca Awards
3rd - Jhesset Thrina O. Enano (What We Are Losing)


2012 Palanca Awards
2nd - Richel G. Dorotan (Ang Tulo Ka Mayor sa Hinablayan)


2012 Palanca Awards
3rd - Rev. Fr. Rey B. Araneta, CM (Abog sa Flyover)


2012 Palanca Awards
2nd - Dr. Jesus C. Insilada (Panubok sa Pula Nga Pulos)


2012 Palanca Awards
3rd - Sherma E. Benosa (Dagiti “No La Koma” ni Monika)


2012 Palau Soccer League
The 2012 Palau Soccer League was the eighth season of association football competition in Palau, and the first that has been split into two stages: the Spring League and the Fall League. The Spring League was won by Team Bangladesh. The Spring League consisted of five rounds of matches in a round robin group stage, from which the top four qualified for semi-finals, and a play-off final. According to the fixture list, the Fall League was played in the same format, only this time each team played the others twice. This is assumed to be the first season of football since 2010 as the 2011 winner is unknown.


2012 Palau Soccer League, Spring league stage
The spring league consisted of one group of five teams all playing each other once. The top four then proceeded to one-legged semi-finals to determine the two teams to contest the championship.


2012 Palau Soccer League, Fall league
The Fall League is played in the same manner as the Spring League, except in this iteration, the group stage will be played on both a home and away basis. Biib Strykers are not competing and have been replaced by New Stars FC.


2012 Palauan general election
General elections were held in Palau on 6 November 2012. Former President Tommy Remengesau defeated his successor, incumbent Johnson Toribiong, who had been elected in 2008. Antonio Bells was elected Vice-President, defeating Kerai Mariur, who had finished first in the primary elections on 26 September.


2012 Palauan general election, Electoral system
The president and vice president elections had primary elections on 26 September, from which the top two candidates qualified for the presidential general election on 6 November.


2012 Palauan general election, Electoral system
15,305 voters registered to vote, an increase of 1,516 voters from the 2008 elections.


2012 Palauan general election, Results, President
Three candidates contested the presidential primary: Incumbent President Johnson Toribiong, former President Tommy Remengesau Jr., and former Vice President Sandra Pierantozzi, who served as vice president from 2001 to 2005. Remengesau and Toribiong, who placed first and second respectively in the primary, advanced to the general election.


2012 Palauan general election, Results, Vice President
Mariur and Bells, who placed first and second, advanced to the general election.


2012 Palestine International Cup
The 2012 Palestine International Cup also 2012 Al Nakba Cup (Arabic: بطولة فلسطين الدولية 2012) was a friendly international football tournament hosted by Palestine. National teams from Asia and Africa have been invited with many sending youth sides in preparation for upcoming youth tournaments.


2012 Palestine International Cup
Uzbekistan were drawn into Group B but withdrew before the first matchday which then meant that Sri Lanka were moved from Group A to Group C and Mauritania moved from Group C to Group B.


2012 Palmer Cup
The 2012 Palmer Cup was held on 28–30 June 2012 at the Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland. Europe won 13½–10½. The United States led 10–6 at the start of the final day but Europe won 7 of the 8 singles matches and halved the other to win the match.


2012 Palmer Cup, Format
On Thursday, there were four matches of four-ball in the morning, followed by four foursomes matches in the afternoon. Eight singles matches were played on Friday, and eight more on Saturday. In all, 24 matches were played.


2012 Palmer Cup, Format
Each of the 24 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match was all square after the 18th hole, each side earned half a point toward their team total. The team that accumulated at least 12½ points won the competition.


2012 Palmer Cup, Teams
Eight college golfers from Europe and the United States participated in the event.


2012 Palmer Cup, Michael Carter award
The Michael Carter Award winners were Robert S. Karlsson and Andrew Yun.


2012 Pan Am Badminton Championships
The XVII 2012 Pan Am Badminton Championships were held in Lima, Peru, between October 11 and October 14, 2012.


2012 Pan Am Badminton Championships
This event was part of the 2012 BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix series of the Badminton World Federation.


2012 Pan American Aerobic Gymnastics Championships
The 2012 Pan American Aerobic Gymnastics Championships were held in Acapulco, Mexico, November 21–26, 2012. The competition was organized by the Mexican Gymnastics Federation, and approved by the International Gymnastics Federation.


2012 Pan American Archery Championships
The 2012 Pan American Archery Championships was held in San Salvador, El Salvador from May 21 to 26, 2012.


2012 Pan American Combined Events Cup
The 2012 Pan American Combined Events Cup was held in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, at the Terry Fox Stadium on May 26–27, 2012. The event was held jointly with the Athletics Ontario Senior Combined Events Championships. A detailed report on the event and an appraisal of the results was given.


2012 Pan American Combined Events Cup, Participation
An unofficial count yields the participation of 27 athletes from 10 countries. In addition, there was one invited athlete, and 15 local competitors as guests.


2012 Pan American Cycling Championships
The 2012 Pan American Cycling Championships took place in Mar del Plata, Argentina on March 3–11, 2012.


2012 Pan American Fencing Championships
The 2012 Pan American Fencing Championships were held in Cancún, Mexico from 15 to 20 June.


2012 Pan American Individual Event Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 2012 Pan American Individual Event Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in Medellín, Colombia, June 19–25, 2012. The competition was organized by the Colombian Gymnastics Federation and approved by the International Gymnastics Federation.


2012 Pan American Judo Championships
The 2012 Pan American Judo Championships was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from April 26–29, 2012.


2012 Pan American Men's Handball Championship
The 2012 Pan American Handball Championship, also called PanAmericano 2012, was the 15th official competition for senior men's national handball teams of North, Center, Caribbean and South America. It was held from 18 to 24 June 2012 in Burzaco, Almirante Brown Partido, Argentina. It also acted as the qualifying competition for the 2013 World Men's Handball Championship, securing three vacancies for the World Championship. A decision was announced during the 2011 Pan American Games that the tournament will consist of 12 teams. As the winner of those Pan American Games, Argentina was selected as the host.


2012 Pan American Men's Handball Championship, Participating teams
The participating nations have been announced on 15 May 2012.


2012 Pan American Men's Handball Championship, Participating teams
The Dominican Republic team withdrew after the draw, reportedly for financial reasons.


2012 Pan American Men's Handball Championship, Placement round
Points gained in the preliminary round against teams from the same group were carried over.


2012 Pan American Trampoline and Tumbling Championships
The 2012 Pan American Trampoline and Tumbling Championships were held in Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico, November 28–December 3, 2012. The competition was organized by the Mexican Gymnastics Federation, and approved by the International Gymnastics Federation.


2012 Pan American Women's Junior Handball Championship
The 2012 Pan American Women's Junior Handball Championship took place in Santo Domingo from March 15 – March 19. It acts as the Pan American qualifying tournament for the 2012 Women's Junior World Handball Championship.


2012 Pan American Women's Youth Handball Championship
The 2012 American Handball Women's Youth Championships took place in Santiago from May 8 – 12. It acts as the Pan American qualifying tournament for the 2012 Women's Youth World Handball Championship.


2012 Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament
The 2012 Olympic Wrestling Pan American Qualification Tournament was the second regional qualifying tournament for the 2012 Olympics. The competition was held in Kissimmee, United States from 23 to 25 March 2012.


2012 Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament
The top two wrestlers in each weight class earn a qualification spot for their nation.


2012 Pan Pacific Water Polo Championships
The Water Polo Pan Pacs is a tournament featuring senior teams from nations along the Pacific Rim. The tournament took its inspiration from the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships as an additional major championship for nations without strong continental championships. This was the first edition of the tournament, held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Melbourne, Australia from 8–14 January 2012.


2012 Pan Pacific Water Polo Championships
The participants were Australia, USA, Canada, China, Japan, Brazil, New Zealand (men only), and an Australian "B" team called the Barbarians.


2012 Pan Pacific Water Polo Championships
The Pan Pacs was held in two rounds: A preliminary round where each team played all the other teams once, and a final round where the 1st and 2nd placed teams in the preliminary round play for the gold medal, 3rd and 4th for the bronze medal, and 5th and 6th for 5th place. The men's Barbarians team was not eligible to play in the final round. The women's Barbarbians team could only play in the 5th place game in the final round.


2012 Panam GP Series
The 2012 Panam GP Series season is the revival of Panam GP Series. This series takes their format of the defunct A1 Grand Prix with Latin American national teams. Panam GP Series has the approval of FIA and Ferrari Driver Academy. The car will be the same used in the Formula Abarth.


2012 Panam GP Series, Cars
The car is a Tatuus with a 1.4 L Turbo FIAT engine.


2012 Panam GP Series, Teams
Latin American teams have been invited to participate. Mexico, Venezuela, Chile have confirmed theirs participation.


2012 Panam GP Series, Race calendar and results
The schedule consists of seven races in North, Central and South America.


2012 Panam GP Series, Report
Previous to first race, a test was conducted in the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Gerado Nieto was the fastest driver clocked 1:19.145 in the 4 km course (181.94 km/h). Rodolfo Camarillo had the second fastest time in 1:19.183, and the NASCAR driver, Hugo Oliveras, clocked 1:19.341.


2012 Panam GP Series, Report, Round 1: Mexico
The season began in Mexico. Hugo Oliveras set the fastest time in the qualifying session. The Ecuadorian driver, Sebastián Merchán, was the second fastest. In the first race Merchán took the lead in the first lap, but Oliveras recovered the first place in the second lap for win the race (27:42.000, 173.8 km/h). Merchán came in second place. Homero Richards and Francisco Cerullo fight for the third place, being the winner Richards.


2012 Panam GP Series, Report, Round 1: Mexico
The second race was started with reverse grid, Luis Carlos Martínez in the pole, but Gerardo Nieto became the leader in the first lap to win the race (26:24.751, 181.73 km/h). Francisco Cerullo never can reach to Nieto, and finished in second place. Javier Amado, Homero Richards and Hugo Oliveras fought for the third place, finally Oliveras won the position.


2012 Panam GP Series, Report, Round 2: Guatemala
The second round was carried out in Guatemala. The first race was won by the local driver Andrés Saravia. Saravia had taken the pole in the qualification, and dominated all of the race. The second race was won by Gerardo Nieto, who took his second victory, and the lead of the championship.


2012 Panasonic Gobel Awards
The 15th Annual Panasonic Gobel Awards honoring the favorite in Indonesian television programming/production work/individual, was held on March 27, 2012, at the Djakarta Theater XXI in Jalan M.H. Thamrin, Menteng, Central Jakarta. Both of presenter Choky Sitohang and Fenita Arie was hosting for the ceremony awards. The 2012 edition of the Panasonic Gobel Awards was themed for "Yang Muda Yang Menginspirasi" (en: Inspiring Young).


2012 Panasonic Gobel Awards
The awards featured some of Indonesia's best singers such as Ungu, Kotak, Princess, Mulan Jameela and many more. The performers, both singers and nominee readers wore formal clothes designed by Indonesia's best designers and the evening peak of 2012 awards ceremony was broadcast live by TV stations under MNC Group, such as RCTI, MNCTV, and Global TV.


2012 Panasonic Gobel Awards, Vote system
The election system starts with the determination of nominations per each category by a team of verification of the Indonesian television beings composed of nine representatives of the television industry, such as broadcasters, production houses, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission, actress/actor and others. The determination is based on ratings show the highest and determination through a poll via telephone (phone interview).


2012 Panasonic Gobel Awards, Vote system
Panasonic Gobel has opened polls to the public for 30 categories on February 25 until March 24, 2012, which can then be sorted by BDO Tanubrata, to obtain data that is valid poll, is 1 ID for 1 vote. Polls can be done through 4 medium: SMS, online, letters and fliers. This year, first time of this 2012 awards ceremony add a number of premium SMS to 3 numbers, in order to reach the wider society; 6222 for Linktone, 9981 for Vivanews and 7288 for Surya Citra Media.


2012 Panasonic Gobel Awards, Winners and nominees
The nominees were announced on February 24, 2012. The categories added the new category of "Favorite Investigation Program" and category of "Favorite Music/Variety Show Program" was separated into each. Winners are listed first and highlighted on boldface.


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny
The 2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny took place on 26 January 2012 when a group of military personnel headed by retired Colonel Yaura Sasa took the commander of the defence force, Brigadier General Francis Agwi, prisoner. The mutiny was related to a dispute over the prime ministership between Sir Michael Somare and Peter O'Neill which had begun in December 2011 when the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea ordered that Somare be reinstated as the prime minister while the country's parliament supported O'Neill.


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny
Following the crisis in December, Somare directed Governor-General Sir Michael Ogio to appoint Sasa as the commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF). After forces under Sasa's command captured Agwi on 26 January, the colonel called upon the Governor-General to reinstate Somare as the country's leader and threatened to take further action if this did not occur. The mutiny ended later that day, with Agwi being freed. Sasa was arrested and charged with mutiny on 28 January.


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny, Prelude
In August 2011 Peter O'Neill became the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG). At this time Sir Michael Somare was recovering from sickness, and his family had announced that he had resigned from both the Prime Ministership and parliament. In December 2011 the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea ruled that Somare's removal from office was unlawful, and directed that he be reinstated. This led to a political standoff, during which Somare asked the commander of the PNGDF, Brigadier General Francis Agwi, to intervene. Agwi refused to do so, and endorsed O'Neill. O'Neill was supported by most members of Parliament, and retained the position.


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny, Prelude
At some point following these events, Somare and his cabinet took the decision to replace Agwi with the retired PNGDF officer Colonel Yaura Sasa. Sasa had served as the defence attache in Papua New Guinea's embassy in Indonesia before retiring from the military.


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny, Mutiny
At 3:00 am on 26 January about 20 soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Royal Pacific Islands Regiment (1 RPIR) took Agwi and two other officers deemed to be loyal to O'Neill prisoner after overpowering guards at Taurama Barracks outside of PNG's capital of Port Moresby. Several shots were fired during this operation. The party then transported Agwi to Murray Barracks near the centre of the city where he was placed under house arrest.


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny, Mutiny
At a press conference held on 26 January, Sasa claimed that his actions were not a coup or mutiny as he had been appointed to lead the PNGDF by Somare. He called upon Governor General Sir Michael Ogio to reinstate Somare. He also stated that "I once again am now calling on... both parties and the head of state to respect the constitution and comply with the orders issued by the supreme court immediately" and "If this call is not heeded, I may be forced to take necessary actions".


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny, Mutiny
PNG's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Belden Namah stated in separate press conference that Sasa was not supported by most of the PNGDF, and that 15 of his supporters had been arrested. At this time the total number of military personnel supporting the colonel was stated to be about 30. Namah claimed that Sasa's actions constituted treason and called upon him to surrender. In response to reports that Somare had ordered the mutiny, Namah stated that Somare had "lost sanity".


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny, Mutiny
In a statement issued via his daughter on 26 January, Somare defended his decision to order the mutiny. He argued that the mutiny was legitimate as O'Neill and his supporters were "illegally holding on to power". He also stated that "We cannot allow this situation to continue where a rogue government commandeers the disciplinary forces" and "It is incumbent on the police and army to comply with the orders of the supreme court and support the legitimate government, which is the minority Somare/Agiru government".


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny, Mutiny
In the evening of 26 January O'Neill told the media that the mutiny had ended. He stated that Agwi had been freed and Sasa was being "dealt with". The soldiers who supported Sasa had withdrawn to Taurama Barracks.


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny, Mutiny
Many businesses in Port Moresby closed on 26 January in response to the mutiny. An Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporter in the city stated that the atmosphere there was "tense". All domestic flights in PNG were also cancelled in an apparent attempt to prevent other soldiers travelling to Port Moresby. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a statement warning Australians to "limit travel around Port Moresby". New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a similar warning.


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny, Aftermath
The mutineers at Taurama Barracks were still armed on 27 January, and had announced that they would retain their weapons until they received a pardon. At this time, Sasa was reported to be in the barracks' officers mess. A spokesman for the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary was reported to have said that the force did not intend to arrest Sasa, as his conduct was a matter for the military. Sasa was also reported to be seeking a pardon. Due to the intensification of the political crisis following the mutiny, the PNG Government's credit rating was downgraded from stable to negative by ratings agency Standard & Poor's.


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny, Aftermath
Sasa was arrested by police officers on the night of 28 January and charged with mutiny. At this time he was staying in a house in the suburb of Boroko. On 29 January Somare issued a statement  in which he called upon police and the PNGDF to support the supreme court ruling in relation to the prime ministership.


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny, Aftermath
On 30 January, the soldiers who participated in the mutiny surrendered their weapons to Namah following a parade at Taurama Barracks. The Defence Minister gave a speech to about 200 members of 1 RPIR, including the 30 mutineers, during which he stated that the soldiers who had taken party in the mutiny would receive an amnesty later that afternoon. He threatened that personnel who participated in any further mutinies would "face the full brunt of the law", however. Sasa was released on bail on 1 February. The charge against Sasa was struck out by the Committal Court on 1 August 2012 on the grounds that police prosecutors had not submitted any evidence to substantiate it.


2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny, Aftermath
The mutiny on 26 January was the second military mutiny to have taken place in PNG. The first occurred on 28 July 1997 when the PNGDF's Special Forces Unit occupied Murray Barracks.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election
A general election was held in Papua New Guinea (PNG) from 23 June to about 13 July 2012, after being postponed by a further week, due to allowing for security personnel to criss-cross the country, particularly the highland provinces. The election also followed controversy over incomplete electoral rolls and the 2011–2012 Papua New Guinean constitutional crisis between the disputed prime ministers of Sir Michael Somare and Peter O'Neill.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Background
In 2011 a dispute arose between Sir Michael Somare and Peter O'Neill over who was the legitimate prime minister. Somare was backed by the Supreme Court, while O'Neill gained the support of a majority of the parliament, the Army and the civil service. O'Neill was internationally recognised as holding the office of prime minister. Both claimants also appointed their own police chiefs and heads of the military. Amidst continuing conflicts, a mutiny occurred in 2012 against factions of the military. There were also accusations of Australian partisanship over Prime Minister Julia Gillard's support for the O'Neill government.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Date
There was a suggestion by the parliament to postpone the election for up to a year in the light of an unprepared process in regards to the implementation of a biometric voting system and an only 60% complete voter roll. Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah was a proponent of this idea saying the election commission and the census had failed in the count of the population. However, this was decided against by O'Neill who said the United Nations and Australia would step up to support the process. However, he later retracted the comment.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Date
On 5 April the parliament voted to postpone the election for six months by a vote of 63 to 11, with O'Neill and Namah voting for the postponement. The Parliamentary motion instructed head of the election commission, Andrew Trawen, to ask the Governor-General of Papua New Guinea Sir Michael Ogio for the delay.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Date
However, as Trawen has previously asserted that parliament has no power to postpone the election since its five-year term is specified in the constitution of Papua New Guinea and he had previously said that "the nation is ready to go to the polls," he was "consulting his lawyers" as to which direction to proceed. A former attorney-general, Sir Arnold Amet, said the vote was unconstitutional and would be challenged in court. Leader of the Opposition Carol Kidu said she was "vehemently opposed" to the suspension. "How can we take anything they say at their word? The whole country is being held to ransom by these decisions." However, after intense domestic and international pressure, O'Neill backed away from this demand and the election was held from 23 June to about 13 July which was in the scheduled timeslot.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Electoral system
The National parliament is elected from 111 single-member electorates. 89 of them are open electorates distributed around the country. Additionally, each of the 22 provinces elects 1 regional member, which also takes the title of provincial governor. The candidates are elected using Limited preferential voting, where the voter ranks 3 candidates in the order of preference.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Parties and campaign
Since the office of the prime minister was disputed, Somare's National Alliance Party has splintered into several factions following the constitutional crisis. O'Neill, who originally had no party base, formed an alliance in March with Belden Namah, former Prime Ministers Sir Mekere Morauta and Bill Skate to contest the election.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Parties and campaign
Following the disintegration of Somare's party, Dame Carol Kidu assumed the title of Leader of the Opposition despite having no parliamentary following. Kidu is the parliament's only female member and was born in Australia.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Parties and campaign
As a result of capital inflows in the natural resources sector, there was an increase in campaign finance during the electoral process. The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) cited payments to tribal, clan and village extended family heads in order to get "block votes", particularly in the seven highland provinces where 45 of 111 MPs are chosen.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Parties and campaign
This was in contrast to the previous Moka system that involved high-profile individuals who gained both prestige and power in exchange for gifts sich as pigs, shells and yams to each other in order to entangle others in a web of unrepayable debt, according to the SMH. It also noted an event in the Dei Open electorate two days prior to its voting date that consisted of several pigs for slaughter. Local MP Puri Ruing, who presided over the ceremony, said that "this is not election-related. It's a tribal peace settlement over ownership of a coffee plantation."


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Constitutional crisis developments
Following a Supreme Court's ruling, Deputy Prime Minister Francis Marus said that Somare was the legitimate prime minister, but since he had missed three sitting of parliament the office was now vacant and a new prime minister would be elected on 30 May.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Constitutional crisis developments
Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia, one of the three judges who ruled that Somare was the legitimate prime minister was arrested in May and later charged with sedition. Justice Nicholas Kirriwom, who joined Injia's decision was also arrested on 28 May and "will be charged with sedition", according to a police spokesman.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Constitutional crisis developments
A splinter group of police officers blockaded parliament on 26 May to prevent the holding of a special sitting of parliament, at which MPs voted for a state of emergency and rejected the Supreme Court’s ruling that Somare should be reinstated. The police leadership then called for an end to the political stalemate, while Michael Ogio refused to sign the document approving the sitting which called for a state of emergency, or any documents, until a government is formed after the election.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Controversies
The electoral process delayed the release of a report into the sinking of the MV Rabaul Queen. A Commission of Inquiry had been set up and led by Warwick Andrew, who submitted the final report to caretaker Prime Minister Peter O'Neill. O'Neill said that the 200-page report would first need to be tabled in parliament before its release and would thus have to wait for the new parliament to sit.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Controversies, Cannibalism
In the remote jungle area of Tangu and Biamb villages, near Madang, cult killings disrupted the voting process after at least seven people - five men and two women - were killed over the past three months as they practiced sanguma. The killed persons became victims of cannibalism. On July 4 the police arrested twenty-nine people who allegedly ate their  victims.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Election
The National Alliance Party of former Prime Minister Michael Somare lost more than 20 seats in the election. Conversely, the People's National Congress Party gained more than 20 seats. Additionally, the Truth Heritage Empowerment Party, which was not represented in the previous parliament, gained 12 seats.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Election
Somare, who won the East Sepik Provincial seat for the National Alliance Party, said that "everywhere people have said, 'Ours is a sorry vote. We want to show, the people of PNG, a Sepik who represented us and represented the whole country should be not treated in that way.'" It followed his comments that he was set to retire but he changed his mind as "just at a tick of the Speaker's pen, he says I'm out, and I'm out of parliament.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Election
My idea is to get National Alliance and its coalition partners back into government, then say goodbye to them, stay as a backbencher and stay in my province," after saying that he would spurn any coalition overtures because "they stabbed me in the back after keeping them for 9½ years, making them ministers, very important portfolio."


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Election
On 6 July, when the electoral process was supposed to conclude, it was announced that the election could continue for about a week longer. By the beginning of the third week, voting was complete in most of the country except for some inland villages and outlying islands. Governor-General Michael Ogio is expected to call on the leader of the largest party to form a government.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Election
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill was announced as the winner of his contest in the Ialiba-Panga electorate in the Southern Highlands Province with 44,917 (75%)of the vote. He then said: "In a very turbulent 10-month period the PNC has led the government and provided stability, laying the foundation for economic growth and rebuilding our infrastructure, by introducing free education, free health care and unveiling an infrastructure development program. People obviously want these policies and programs to continue and are turning up in droves to support PNC candidates;" while adding that he would form the next government.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
Amidst the election days, Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah said that PM Peter O'Neill should be "ashamed" for allowing the election to take place as scheduled because of the problems with the voter rolls in urban areas and blaming Australia for contributing to the claimed pandemonium in saying: "Cries have been received from all parts of PNG echoing and demonstrating that our country was and is not ready to proceed with elections this last week. What a disaster. Peter O'Neill should be ashamed for listening to the PNG Electoral Commissioner and its Australian advisers."


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
Though he said there were over 200 Australian advisers working for the election commission, The Australian claimed there were "just 22 Australian logistical advisers". On 28 June, O'Neill appealed to the Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen to release supplementary common rolls after many people had reported not being on the electoral rolls at voting centres. He also said of Namah that "I'm fed up with this political opportunism. It is not the job of politicians to run elections. That is the job of the election commissioner."


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
Paul Barker, the executive director of the Institute of National Affairs, said that it was common to see errors in the electoral rolls and that "it was wide scale in the 2007 poll, but it seems worse now. The current roll hasn't been updated. The roll has names where people lived 20 years ago." He also said that Trawen was not entirely to blame as "the electoral commission only gets a trickle of money in the early years, then big cash just before the election. In that time, they cannot be doing what they're supposed to be doing."


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
Other problems during the election process included security measures and consequent delays. The first day of voting was extended by an extra day in the Southern Highlands and Hela provinces because the voting centres were not set up in time, while the voting on 27 June for Enga province was also extended by a day.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
On the same day, in Hela supporters of the 81 candidates running in the election turned violent in Tari after radio reports of moving ballot boxes to a bigger centre, such as Mount Hagen, in order to ascertain the result because of tensions related to possible ballot stuffing and voter intimidation. The voters tried to prevent the removal of the boxes by blocking roads out of the city and prevent take-offs from the airport; others also went to the local police station where the ballot boxes were stored, but were driven back by both police and Defence Force soldiers.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
Andrew Trawen then announced that the vote counting would occur with the province after a secure place was decided. He said that the "options were Port Moresby and Mount Hagen but it was considered that the people of Hela province need to embrace the elections and take responsibility for their own destiny." In the Western Highlands 29 June was the scheduled date of voting but was postponed to 1 July so that security forces could arrive from the Southern Highlands and Enga; however, the voting could be further postponed by one or two days.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
Paul Ogil, the cousin of former Foreign Secretary Gabriel Pepson, who is working with his campaign, said: "Any postponement of polling is a burden to them (candidates) because they have to keep disbursing money (such as meals, a place to sleep and fares home for those visiting the "campaign house" of candidates, as well as supporting a fleet of about 10 cars with each vehicle and its crew costing about 500 kina a day in fuel, food, and buai). This means they have to spend hundreds of thousands of kina a day extra. All our bank balances are dwindling to nothing. We are all praying: the sooner it's over the better for us." According to the election observer Transparency International's Operations Manager Jerry Bagita, the process in other coastal and island provinces went off peacefully.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
There were reports of underage, illegal voting, as well as the poor quality of the indelible ink used to mark voters, which facilitated double voting. On 4 July 2012, The National reported that four people, including an election official had been charged with tampering with ballot boxes and papers in the Dei electorate of the  Western Highlands. It was alleged that the four individuals stole six ballot boxes and filled them with doctored ballot papers before returning them to the CEG officials.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
In Hela province, two empty boxes were also stolen and returned with doctored ballots, while three other ballot boxes were destroyed by angry voters. Additionally, in Kandep, Enga province, on 7 July a GEC officer was stabbed to death, while a colleague was injured in a bush-knife at a vote counting centre in Wabag allegedly as revenge for another murder. Following this voting was suspended for two days. Vote counting in Port Moresby also resumed the next day after resolution to a dispute over payments with GEC officials.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
Trawen also did not comment on the burning of ballots over the dispute. Though he said vote counting was ongoing in eight of 22 provinces, there was concern that monitors—some of whom were employed by candidates—had interfered in what was supposed to be independent vote counting. "We will not hesitate to remove any scrutineer from counting venues that continuously cross the line during counting sessions. The elections are not over. We still appeal to every citizen to ensure it is free, fair and safe elections right through to the end, regardless of the hiccups and security situations we have had so far."


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
Parliamentary Speaker Jeffrey Nape was arrested following a charge of attempting to bribe a candidate and of undue influence in his home province of Simbu, according to provincial police commander Augustine Wampe. While Nape said the charge was politically motivated, he was due to attend a court hearing into the matter after the electoral process.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
The voting timeframe was also speculated to being increased as the highlands provinces would not finish in time. The Bougainville area was also inaccessible as the GEC did not have the ships to transport its team to the said outlying atolls until the following week. However, vote counting had already started in the other provinces where voting had finished, despite protests against the process.


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Conduct
Despite the problems, on 2 July, Andrew Trawen said that, according to national law, vote counting would begin as soon as possible as "that is the procedure we've followed over the years, we have not swayed from that. We will continue to abide by that provision of the law."


2012 Papua New Guinean general election, Reactions
Electoral observers said the election was not a failure, even though they were not in full praise.


2012 Paradise Jam Tournament
The 2012 Paradise Jam Tournament was a men's and women's preseason college basketball tournament that took place in Saint Thomas at the Sports and Fitness Center. New Mexico won the men's division while Connecticut won the women's Island Division and South Carolina won the women's Reef Division.


2012 Paradise Jam Tournament, Men's Tournament
The 2012 Paradise Jam featured  some close games. ESPN predicted that UConn would face New Mexico in the finals, which did happen, but the results were far from ordained. In the first round, the largest victory was a seven-point win by New Mexico over the University of Illinois at Chicago. Connecticut beat Wake Forest by six, While George Mason, behind at the half, came back to win by three points over Mercer. However, the Quinnipiac – Iona game was tied at the half, and tied at the end of regulation. Despite scoring 13 points in overtime, Iona fell to Quinnipiac.


2012 Paradise Jam Tournament, Men's Tournament
In the second round, the games were even closer. George Mason held a five-point lead over New Mexico with twelve seconds left, when the Lobos hit a three-pointer, then stole the ball and hit another three-pointer with under two seconds to play, to win by a single point. In the other match up, between two teams from the same state, UConn was down by double digits with five minutes to go, yet the game went to double-overtime before UConn won in the second overtime.


2012 Paradise Jam Tournament, Men's Tournament
In the title game, UConn came from nine points down to take a brief two-point lead with just over two minutes to go, but gave up nine straight points, and ended up with the loss 66–60. The Lobos hit all 21 of their free throw attempts in the game and went on to win the 2012 Paradise Jam Championship.


2012 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament
The woman's tournament is organized as two divisions of four teams, each playing each other in a round-robin format. This format is chosen because the invitees occasionally include more than one team from a conference. Teams are not allowed to play each other from the same conference outside of scheduled conference play. A traditional playoff format, where winners player winners, and losers go into a losers bracket allows any two team an opportunity to play each other, This format is not suitable when there are multiple teams from the same conference.


2012 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Overview
The first-round games were held on Thanksgiving Day 22 November, while the second- and third-round games were held on Friday and Saturday, the 23rd and 24th.


2012 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Overview, Reef Division
In the Reef Division, DePaul was involved in two of the closest games. In their Thanksgiving match up with Florida Gulf Coast University, despite twelve point leads in the first half, the Eagles were within one point at halftime. They briefly held a lead in the second half, but were behind by eight points with just over two minutes to go. They climbed back to within two, but could not take the lead, and lost 60–58. In their next game against Hampton, the Blue Demons fell behind by 13 with 14 minutes to go. They tied up the game with just over a minute to go. No one scored until the final seconds, when Anna Martin was fouled with three seconds to go in the game. She missed the first free throw, but hit the second, to secure the win for DePaul, 68–67.


2012 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Overview, Reef Division
South Carolina won their first game against Hampton 45–34, and their second against Florida Gulf Coast 65–46, setting up the deciding game between the two 2–0 teams. South Carolina went on to win the game 55–46, which won the Reef Division championship. South Carolina's Aleighsa Welch was named the Reef Division Tournament MVP.


2012 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Overview, Island division
In the Island Division, the results were dominated by Connecticut. The UConn team faced Wake Forest on Thanksgiving, and won easily 95–64. Their next match up was against Marist; while the result was closer, it was still a 42-point victory 81–39. The 14th (AP) ranked Purdue also won their first two games, beatings Marist by twenty, and then Wake Forest by fourteen.


2012 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Overview, Island division
Connecticut and Purdue were both 2–0 when they faced on Saturday. The result wasn't close, as UConn won 91–57 to win the Paradise Jam Island Division Championship. UConn freshman Breanna Stewart was named the tournament MVP, the first time a freshman had own the award other than UConn's Maya Moore in the 2007 Tournament.


2012 Paraguayan Primera División season
The 2012 División Profesional season (officially the 2012 Copa TIGO- Visión Banco for sponsorship reasons) was the 78th season of top-flight professional football in Paraguay.


2012 Paraguayan Primera División season, Torneo Apertura
The Campeonato de Apertura, also the Copa TIGO-Visión Banco for sponsorship reasons, was the 106º official championship of the Primera División, called "Don Jesús Manuel Pallarés", and was the first championship of the 2012 season. It began on February 5 and ended on July 8.


2012 Paraguayan Primera División season, Torneo Clausura
The Campeonato de Clausura, also the Copa TIGO-Visión Banco for sponsorship reasons, was the 107º official championship of the Primera División, called "Centenario Club Cerro Porteñi, and was the second championship of the 2012 season. It began on July 28 and ended on December 16.


2012 Paraguayan Primera División season, Aggregate table
In 2012, Paraguay have seven slots in international cups (three in the Copa Libertadores de America and four in the Copa Sudamericana). These seven slots will be filled by five teams.


2012 Paraguayan Primera División season, Relegation
Relegations is determined at the end of the season by computing an average (Spanish: promedio) of the number of points earned per game over the past three seasons. The two teams with the lowest average is relegated to the División Intermedia for the following season.


2012 Paraguayan Segunda División season
The 2012 División Intermedia season (officially the 2012 Copa TIGO- Visión Banco for sponsorship reasons) was the 16th season of semi-professional football in Paraguay. In this season, were added 2 teams more to the championship, and added average points for relegation.


2012 Paraguayan Segunda División season
It began on March 17 and ended on October 14.


2012 Paraguayan Segunda División season, Relegation
Relegations is determined at the end of the season by computing an average (Spanish: promedio) of the number of points earned per game over the past three seasons. The three teams with the lowest average is relegated.


2012 Paris Motor Show
The Mondial de l'Automobile de Paris 2012, known in English as the 2012 Paris Motor Show, took place from 29 September to 14 October 2012 at Paris Expo.


2012 Paris Motor Show, Introductions, Motorsport cars
Ferrari teased the successor to the Enzo by showing just the bare-bones skeleton of the new car. It will be a hybrid and will be revealed in 2013.


2012 Paris–Nice
The 2012 Paris–Nice was the 70th running of the Paris–Nice cycling stage race, often known as the Race to the Sun. It started on 4 March in Dampierre-en-Yvelines and ended on 11 March in Nice and consisted of eight stages, including two time trials that bookended the race. It was the second race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.


2012 Paris–Nice
The race was won by Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky, who took the lead on the second stage of the race and held the race leader's yellow jersey to the finish, becoming the first British rider to win the race since Tom Simpson in 1967. Wiggins also took home the green jersey for amassing the highest number of points during stages at intermediate sprints and stage finishes. Wiggins won the general classification by eight seconds over runner-up Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil–DCM), who was winner of the race's queen stage to Mende. Movistar Team's Alejandro Valverde completed the podium, 62 seconds behind Westra and 70 seconds down on Wiggins.


2012 Paris–Nice
In the race's other classifications, Tejay van Garderen of BMC Racing Team won the white jersey for the highest placed rider born in 1987 or later by placing fifth overall in the general classification, while Vacansoleil–DCM rider Frederik Veuchelen won the King of the Mountains classification. Vacansoleil–DCM also finished at the head of the teams classification at the end of a fruitful week for the team, in which their riders also claimed three stage victories.


2012 Paris–Nice, Teams competing
As Paris–Nice was a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad. Four other squads were given wildcard places into the race, and as such, formed the event's 22-team peloton.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
The race began in the Vallée de Chevreuse for the first time, as it reverted to an opening individual time trial stage after race organisers elected to run a road stage first in 2011. Apart from the third-category climb of the Côte des Dix-sept Tournants – the hill of seventeen turns – the stage was relatively flat, dropping only 9 metres (30 ft) in altitude from the start, to the end. With rain expected to disrupt the stage, teams decided to spread their time trial specialists across the field in order to maximise their potential of winning the stage. For the first rider to depart the start in Dampierre-en-Yvelines, Project 1t4i's Alexandre Geniez, weather conditions were cloudy and grey, with slightly damp roads due to overnight rains. He ultimately recorded a time of 12' 10" for the stage.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
Geniez held the lead for all of a few minutes as Denis Menchov (Team Katusha) improved upon his time by eight seconds, before Garmin–Barracuda rider Thomas Dekker was the first rider to set a time below twelve minutes, recording a time of 11' 56"; a six-second improvement on Menchov's time. Michael Mørkøv (Team Saxo Bank), and later Maarten Wynants (Rabobank) both improved upon Dekker's time, but by the end of the first wave of riders to depart, it was Omega Pharma–Quick-Step and Sylvain Chavanel that held the lead, recording a time of 11' 31".


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
Following a quick start to the stage, Vacansoleil–DCM's Thomas De Gendt was the next rider to hold the provisional best time on the stage, besting Chavanel's time by less than a second. De Gendt, who won the opening stage of the race in 2011, ultimately picked up the polka-dot jersey for the lead in the mountains classification, as he held the quickest time to the intermediate timing point, at the summit of the Côte des Dix-sept Tournants. De Gendt's time held for a while, as riders struggled to match the pace that he had set, with only Markel Irizar of RadioShack–Nissan coming within touching distance of his time, finishing one second down.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
It was not until De Gendt's Vacansoleil–DCM team-mate Gustav Larsson – the Swedish national champion in the discipline – that his time was beaten; Larsson, although six seconds slower than De Gendt to the intermediate checkpoint, put in a better second element to the race, eventually crossing the finish line in an eventual stage-winning time of 11' 19". Omega Pharma–Quick-Step also deployed Levi Leipheimer in the first half of riders to complete the course, and did so in a time four seconds slower than Larsson.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
The weather closed in for the last batch of riders, providing a tougher test for those riders in wanting to position themselves highly in the stage classification.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
BMC Racing Team's Tejay van Garderen and Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins both attacked the course late on, and were rewarded with finishes inside the top five, as van Garderen finished nine seconds down on Larsson, while Wiggins – a winner of the time trial stage in February's Volta ao Algarve – fell short by just one second, but ensured he had an advantage of 24 seconds on defending race-winner and world time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step), who could only finish 28th.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
Following his crash in the opening day time trial, Team Saxo Bank's Nick Nuyens became the race's first abandonment; he attempted to ride through the pain barrier, but had to withdraw within the neutralised zone prior to the real start of the stage. The peloton itself remained together for the first third of the race, as strong headwinds counteracted against the field and did not allow for any breakaways to be formed efficiently. As such, Olivier Kaisen was the first to make a move for Lotto–Belisol, attacking as the field moved through the commune of Rambouillet. Kaisen managed to extend his advantage out by almost three minutes when he reached the summit of the day's only categorised climb, in Les Granges-le-Roi. Mountains classification leader Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil–DCM) placed second, with Sylvain Chavanel third for Omega Pharma–Quick-Step.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
As the field reached the midway point of the stage, the windy conditions that had earlier plagued any potential breakaway from forming returned, and the crosswinds provided a large split in the field and echelons forming within it. By the time that the race had been finished, around thirty riders had made it in the lead group on the road, including overall contenders Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky, Omega Pharma–Quick-Step's Levi Leipheimer and BMC Racing Team rider Tejay van Garderen.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
The group was later reduced to 21 riders out front after several small crashes eliminated a handful of riders from contention. Wiggins put more time into his rivals by taking the intermediate sprint, and with it, three bonus seconds on offer that gave him the virtual race lead, without even considering the fact that the overnight leader Gustav Larsson (Vacansoleil–DCM) failed to make the split. The gap from the lead pack to the first group of pursuers remained between two and two-and-a-half minutes for the rest of stage with many teams electing not to bridge the gap, mainly due to the rain that had commenced within the closing 25 km (15.5 mi).


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
Larsson's team-mate Lieuwe Westra attacked with around 4 km (2.5 mi) remaining, but his effort was quickly neutralised by Chavanel, one of a number of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step riders in the group hoping to help Tom Boonen in a sprint finish lead-out. Following another failed attack from Garmin–Barracuda rider Andreas Klier, it was left to the sprinters to battle it out for the stage honours.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
Project 1t4i's John Degenkolb – who had recovered to the group after a puncture with 30 km (18.6 mi) remaining – was the first to make an attempt for the line, closely followed by José Joaquín Rojas (Movistar Team), but both were out-sprinted by Boonen, who went to the inside of Degenkolb and took out the victory, for the 100th individual victory of his career, and his team's first at UCI World Tour level. Rojas just beat Degenkolb for second place on the line with Sep Vanmarcke and Francesco Gavazzi rounding out the top five for Garmin–Barracuda and Astana respectively. Following his finish in the lead group, Wiggins assumed the overall lead from Larsson, with Boonen taking the points classification lead while moving into third place overall behind team-mate Leipheimer, thanks to the bonus seconds on offer at the finish.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
A trio of riders – Project 1t4i's Roy Curvers, Saur–Sojasun rider Jimmy Engoulvent and Michael Mørkøv of Team Saxo Bank – made the early breakaway from the field, and managed to extend their advantage to the main field to over four-and-a-half minutes at one point during the stage, before eventually stabilising at the 4' 30" mark for the majority of the stage. Team Sky and Omega Pharma–Quick-Step riders occupied the front portion of the peloton, protecting their respective lead riders Bradley Wiggins and Levi Leipheimer in order to not lose time before the final climb at Lac de Vassivière.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
The pack, now fronted by the Movistar Team, steadily cut into the lead for the three escapees, who reached the categorised climb of the Côte de Bourganeuf with an advantage of less than three minutes. Curvers crested the summit first, but posed no threat to the mountains classification leader Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil–DCM), who kept a hold of the polka-dot jersey.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
After the climb, the peloton lifted the pace and cut into the leaders' advantage, trimming off two minutes within the space of 10 km (6.2 mi). Engoulvent left his two breakaway companions behind with 14 km (8.7 mi) remaining, as Omega Pharma–Quick-Step hit the front of the peloton, this time with points classification leader Tom Boonen doing some of the legwork. Engoulvent held his slim lead through the intermediate sprint at Peyrat-le-Château, before being engulfed by the field with 6 km (3.7 mi) to go.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
Vacansoleil–DCM rider Sergey Lagutin attacked with 4 km (2.5 mi) to go – just as team-mate Lieuwe Westra did the previous day – but was unsuccessful, and was eventually caught just before the final kilometre of the stage. Westra attacked but was covered off immediately, setting up the uphill sprint to the line.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
French pair Blel Kadri (Ag2r–La Mondiale) and Jérémie Galland (Saur–Sojasun) both launched their attacks in the closing stages, but were overhauled by a bunch of riders from which Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) looked to have the legs on the rest of the field, sprinting from 300 m (980 ft) out.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
Valverde was briefly troubled by the sprint of Australian road race champion Simon Gerrans (GreenEDGE), with Valverde ultimately prevailing at the line – just as was the case at the Tour Down Under in a two-up sprint – by half a wheel length, with Lotto–Belisol's Gianni Meersman rounding out the podium ahead of Rabobank's Luis León Sánchez and Team Katusha's Xavier Florencio; both of whom had launched their own attacks in the closing metres. Valverde's victory – his fourth of the season since returning from a doping ban – was enough to move him into the lead of the points classification, while the bonus seconds awarded on the line moved him into sixth place overall, 20 seconds down on race leader Wiggins.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
A quintet of riders – Ag2r–La Mondiale's Jean-Christophe Péraud, FDJ–BigMat rider Pierrick Fédrigo, Leigh Howard of GreenEDGE, Lotto–Belisol's Bart De Clercq and Cofidis rider Luis Ángel Maté – made the early breakaway from the field, and managed to extend their advantage over the main field to in excess of five minutes at one point during the stage.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
As such, the riders between them managed to take all sub-classification points on offer during the stage, at the single intermediate sprint – coming after 142 km (88.2 mi) at Saint-Cyprien-sur-Dourdou – and the first three of the five categorised climbs during the stage. Their advantage out front dwindled quickly as the peloton – led by Rabobank and Lampre–ISD – gathered pace, leaving the breakaway with just 90 seconds of a lead out front with around 40 km (24.9 mi) to go.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
15 km (9.3 mi) later, Maté sat up with cramping in his knee – stemming from a crash in Stage 2 – having already wrested the lead of the mountains classification away from Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil–DCM). The peloton picked up the pace again, with Omega Pharma–Quick-Step on the front, and the remaining members of the breakaway were caught a short time later.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
De Gendt himself attacked on the penultimate climb, the Côte d'Aubert le Crès, to limit the points gap between himself and Maté, picking up the four points on offer for reaching the summit first and reducing his gap to Maté to eight points.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
After a short period off the front of the field, De Gendt was caught by a small gruppetto of riders and ultimately the rest of the field moments later, with the Movistar Team and Team Sky squads making moves in order to get their respective classification leaders Alejandro Valverde and Bradley Wiggins in safe positions for the run to Rodez. Andreas Klöden tried to go clear inside the final 2 km (1.2 mi) for RadioShack–Nissan, taking top points at the final climb, but was caught with around 500 m (1,600 ft) to go.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
The easing gradient into Rodez set up a sprint to the line with Lampre–ISD's Grega Bole launching early, but was eventually passed by Lotto–Belisol rider Gianni Meersman, who was third the previous day. Meersman held on to win ahead of Bole and Vacansoleil–DCM's Lieuwe Westra, whose bonus seconds on the line enabled him to surpass Valverde for sixth place in the general classification. Other than Maté assuming the mountains lead from De Gendt, none of the other jerseys changed hands as Wiggins, Valverde and Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) all finished safely in the pack.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
The race's queen stage consisted of six categorised climbs over the 178.5 km (110.9 mi) parcours, including three first-category climbs; the Côte de la Malène, the Côte de l'Estrade and the final climb to Mende, the Côte de la Croix-Neuve–Montée Laurent Jalabert – a 3 km (1.9 mi) climb at an average gradient of 10.1%, named in honour of the three-time Paris–Nice winner Laurent Jalabert – which had featured twice before as a summit finish in 2007 and 2010, won on both occasions by Alberto Contador.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
Many riders and teams believed that the stage suited Movistar Team's Alejandro Valverde, who had finished second on the Mende stage in 2010 before the result was expunged due to his doping suspension later in the year. Four riders – Vacansoleil–DCM's Frederik Veuchelen, GreenEDGE rider Simon Clarke, David Lelay of Saur–Sojasun and Team Europcar's Yukiya Arashiro – advanced clear of the main field after just 2 km (1.2 mi) of the stage, and managed to extend their advantage to a maximum of around seven minutes at one point during the stage.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
Veuchelen earned the majority of points on offer for the mountains classification, summiting the stage's first three climbs, cresting them all ahead of Lelay and Arashiro. Movistar Team riders began to step up the pace on the front of the peloton, looking to set up the basis for an eventual attack at Mende by Valverde. With around 50 km (31.1 mi) to go, Ag2r–La Mondiale's Blel Kadri exited the race, after breaking his left scapula in a crash.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
On the Côte de l'Estrade, Astana's Kevin Seeldraeyers and Rabobank's Laurens ten Dam attacked off the front of the main field, and set off in chase of the lead quartet. As Veuchelen continued to rack up points towards a mountains classification lead, Seeldraeyers and ten Dam continued to close on the lead group, and with around 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining, they latched on to the group as they were on the outskirts of Mende. The peloton caught all bar Veuchelen a short time later, with Veuchelen relenting to the foot of the final climb of the Côte de la Croix-Neuve–Montée Laurent Jalabert, before he too was engulfed by the main field through the advancing pace of several teams on the front of the pack.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
Team Sky then took up the reins through recent Volta ao Algarve winner Richie Porte, protecting their overall leader Bradley Wiggins; such was Porte's high tempo that less than twenty riders remained in the lead group as the race reached the final kilometre. Arnold Jeannesson attacked from the group for FDJ–BigMat, gaining several bike lengths before Wiggins upped his pace, putting youth classification leader Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) into difficulty.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
As Wiggins bridged up to Jeannesson, Lieuwe Westra, sixth place in the general classification overnight, attacked for Vacansoleil–DCM; pulling clear and earned the stage victory, six seconds ahead of a small group consisting of Valverde, Wiggins, Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step) and Simon Špilak for Team Katusha. Westra moved into second place in the general classification after reducing his deficit to Wiggins, to six seconds, while Valverde and Špilak both moved ahead of van Garderen, into the top five. Jeannesson's late-stage attack was also beneficial to his overall position, as he also moved inside the top ten, into seventh position.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
Just as what occurred on the second stage of the race, crosswinds caused an early fracture in the main field; inside the first 5 km (3.1 mi), a group of around thirty riders – including all the overall general classification contenders, with the exception of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) and Maxime Monfort (RadioShack–Nissan) – got clear just as the race moved into the commune of Tulette.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
A second group of another thirty riders also formed out of the main bunch, but were quickly caught by the peloton, mainly through the acceleration of the Movistar Team, helping Valverde to get back into the stage equation. The main field reformed on the day's second categorised climb, the Côte du Pas de Ventoux, but seven riders – mountains classification leader Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil–DCM), RadioShack–Nissan's Jens Voigt, Project 1t4i rider Simon Geschke, Luis León Sánchez of Rabobank, Mickaël Cherel (Ag2r–La Mondiale), FDJ–BigMat's Anthony Geslin and Daniel Navarro of Team Saxo Bank – went clear to form the day's primary breakaway.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
By the time the breakaway reached the third climb of the day, the Côte d'Aurel, the gap to the main field was just under four minutes, and with Sánchez – the 2009 race-winner – less than four minutes behind overall leader Bradley Wiggins, Team Sky put their men on the front of the field in order to limit any potential gains that Sánchez could have made.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
The gap to the breakaway was reduced to two minutes inside the final 25 km (15.5 mi) of the stage, and as the leaders made their way through Sisteron before a 19 km (11.8 mi) finishing circuit, their lead was almost halved to 1' 10". Sánchez, Voigt and Cherel went clear of their four other companions as they crested the final climb of the day, the Côte des Marquises with around 12 km (7.5 mi) left in the stage.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
Cherel was dropped several minutes later, and with the main bunch not closing quickly enough to force a field sprint for the honours, it was left to Sánchez and Voigt to do battle themselves. Voigt launched first but Sánchez held enough in reserve to out-sprint his rival, by a wheel length, for his fourth career Paris–Nice stage victory. Garmin–Barracuda's Heinrich Haussler led home the main field in third place, fourteen seconds in arrears of Sánchez and Voigt, while the overall contenders finished safely in the pack, causing no changes to the top ten placings.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
Mini-attacks set the course for the stage as the field remained as one, for much of the first hour of racing. It was not until after 48 km (29.8 mi) that the stage's primary breakaway had been formed. Two riders – Thomas De Gendt of Vacansoleil–DCM and Cofidis's Rein Taaramäe – originally managed to breach the confines of the field, and set off in a bid to extend a substantial advantage of the main field, as both riders featured a long way down the general classification.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
Taaramäe's presence in the breakaway came just 12 km (7.5 mi) after he had suffered an accident in the main field; he was looking to reduce some of his 31-minute deficit to race leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), while De Gendt was half that margin behind Wiggins, trailing by 15' 44".


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
By the time that De Gendt and Taaramäe had reached the stage's opening climb of the day, the Col des Leques, the duo held an advantage of over eight minutes to the main field, before later extending that gap out to twelve minutes around 15 km (9.3 mi) later. Astana's Evgeni Petrov gave chase on his own for around 30 km (18.6 mi), but was eventually recaptured by the peloton, still twelve minutes in arrears of De Gendt and Taaramäe.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
The lead duo were in the process of attacking one another on the Col de Vence, with De Gendt eventually breaking Taaramäe's resistance, and ultimately soloed the remaining 60 km (37.3 mi) of the stage to take his team's third victory of the race, after prior victories for Gustav Larsson and Lieuwe Westra. Taaramäe also remained clear of the main field, finishing second, but over six minutes down on De Gendt.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
A further three minutes passed before the main field crossed the finish line on the Promenade des Anglais, led over the line by Project 1t4i rider John Degenkolb, Greg Henderson of Lotto–Belisol and BMC Racing Team's Thor Hushovd. Wiggins maintained his six-second lead over Westra in the overall classification, as both riders finished safely in the pack, however this was not the case for Levi Leipheimer, who had been lying in third place overnight for Omega Pharma–Quick-Step.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
In the second half of the stage alone, Leipheimer crashed on three separate occasions, and thus finished over seven minutes behind his rivals for overall victory, thereby ending his chances of winning the race and the chances of becoming the first American since Floyd Landis, in 2006, to win the race.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 8
For the final time trial stage, the race returned to the Col d'Èze for a mountain time trial for the first time since 2001 – although the first time since 1995 in its once traditional place as the final stage of the race – when Dario Frigo of the Fassa Bortolo team triumphed by almost half a minute from his nearest rivals. As was customary of time trial stages, cyclists set off in reverse order from where they were ranked in the general classification at the end of the previous stage. Thus, Jarosław Marycz of Team Saxo Bank, who, in 145th place, trailed overall leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) by one hour, eighteen minutes and fifty-three seconds, was the first rider to set off on the final stage. Marycz set a time of 23' 32" for the 4.7% average gradient climb.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 8
Liquigas–Cannondale rider Tiziano Dall'Antonia was the first to break 23 minutes for the climb, but his stay at the top of the standings was short as Wiggins' team-mate Danny Pate, a former world time trial champion at under-23 level, went substantially quicker than Dall'Antonia, setting a benchmark of 21' 29" for the climb. Wiggins shadowed his team-mate's run, in a car following him up the hill, to gather information about what lay ahead before his start time. Pate's time held for almost 20 minutes until Lotto–Belisol's Bart De Clercq bettered his time, breaking the 21-minute barrier.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 8
French riders then lowered the benchmark yet further; David Moncoutié, who finished fourth in the race's last time trial at the Col d'Èze, recorded a time of 20' 11" for Cofidis, but Jean-Christophe Péraud usurped that with the first sub 20-minute time. The Ag2r–La Mondiale rider, the 2009 national time trial champion, recorded a time of 19' 45"; a time that left his team manager Vincent Lavenu elated, with Péraud later expressing his surprise at such a quick time.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 8
Péraud's time remained untouched until the final group of riders set off, and with Team Katusha's Simon Špilak coming closest to Péraud in a time of 19' 59", having faded from a similar time at the intermediate point of the Col des Quatre Chemins, the stage battle ultimately came down to the two riders in contention for the overall honours; Wiggins and Vacansoleil–DCM's Lieuwe Westra.


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 8
Westra set off two minutes before Wiggins, and although noted as proficient in the time trial discipline, he left everything on the hill as he set the fastest time to the intermediate checkpoint; recording a time of 11' 29", taking around three seconds per kilometre out of Péraud's time of 11' 47".


2012 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 8
Two minutes later, Wiggins passed the same point two seconds slower than Westra, but a stronger second half to the stage sealed the victory for Wiggins; as the hill flattened, Wiggins' time-trial experience proved pivotal as he overhauled the deficit to Westra, and finished the stage with a two-second advantage over Westra, taking the stage win, overall victory and the points classification in one fell swoop. Movistar Team's Alejandro Valverde, who had held the lead of the points classification prior to the stage, could only muster sixth on the stage, but this result was good enough for him to claim the final remaining place on the podium.


2012 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership progress
In the 2012 Paris–Nice, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages, the leader received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2012 Paris–Nice, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.


2012 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership progress
Additionally, there was a points classification, which awarded a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists got points for finishing in the top 20 in a stage. Unlike in the better known points classification in the Tour de France, the type of stage had no effect on what points were on offer – each stage had the same points available on the same scale. The win earned 25 points, second place earned 22 points, third 20, fourth 18, fifth 16, and one point fewer per place down to a single point for 20th. In addition, points could be won in intermediate sprints; three points for crossing the sprint line first, two points for second place, and one for third.


2012 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership progress
There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a red and white polka-dot jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists. Each climb was categorised as either first, second, or third-category, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. For first-category climbs, points were awarded on a scale of 10 points for first across the climb, second place earned 8 points, third 6, fourth 4, and one point fewer per place down to a single point for seventh.


2012 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership progress
Second-category climbs awarded points on a scale of 7 points for first place, second place earned 5 points, third 3, and one point fewer per place down to a single point for fifth. Third-category climbs awarded points to the top three riders only; 4 points for first across the climb, second place earned 2 points, third place earned 1 point.


2012 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership progress
The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders born after 1 January 1987 were eligible to be ranked in the classification.


2012 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership progress
There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time.


2012 Paris–Roubaix
The 2012 Paris–Roubaix was the 110th running of the Paris–Roubaix single-day cycling race, often known as the Hell of the North. It was held on 8 April 2012 over a distance of 257.5 kilometres (160.0 miles) and was the tenth race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.


2012 Paris–Roubaix
Omega Pharma–Quick-Step's Tom Boonen won the race for a record-equalling fourth time, after riding alone for 53 km (32.9 mi). With 56 km (34.8 mi) to go Boonen had made a breakaway with teammate Niki Terpstra, but the latter quickly proved unable to follow the Belgian. Boonen continued solo to win in Roubaix by over a minute and a half. The second place was settled in a sprint finish with Team Europcar's Sébastien Turgot just edging out Alessandro Ballan of BMC Racing Team.


2012 Paris–Roubaix, Teams
Riders from 25 teams took part in the 2012 Paris–Roubaix. These are:


2012 Paris–Tours
The 2012 Paris–Tours was the 106th edition of this single day road bicycle racing event. Marco Marcato outsprinted Laurens De Vreese in the final meters to stay out of the grip of the chasing group and peloton. Marcato thereby won the biggest race of his career so far, after finishing second in 2011. He recorded the highest average speed ever in a race of over 200km in this race, and so was considered holder of the Ruban Jaune.


2012 Paros beating and rape
The 2012 Paros beating and rape of a teenage girl on the island of Paros, Greece, by a Pakistani illegal immigrant named Ahmed Waqas (alternate names reported including Ahmet Vaka, Ahmet Bakas, and Ahmet Vakash) The case attracted widespread attention due to the substantial injuries to the victim, who was usually referred to in the Greek press solely by her first name "Myrto" (Greek: Μυρτώ), which resulted in permanent disability.


2012 Paros beating and rape, The event
On 23 July 2012 a teenage girl, Myrto Papadomichelaki (Greek: Μυρτώ Παπαδομιχελάκη), was found partially clothed, beaten and in a coma, on one of the most popular beaches in the Greek island, Paros. Her head had been struck with a rock. The authorities ordered the girl to be transferred to a hospital in Athens. At first, police treated the incident as an accident, however, when a forensic specialist from Athens, Dr. Nikos Kalogrias announced that he had found semen on the girl's body, the focus of the investigation changed to rape and assault.


2012 Paros beating and rape, Suspects
According to the police report, initial suspects were 12 men, Greeks and foreigners, who either worked by the beach and the crime scene or had been seen by witnesses in the area. As the investigation continued, the suspects were narrowed down to four and police concluded, with the help of eyewitnesses, that the suspect was a man who worked by the crime scene. Specifically the mother of the teenage girl reported that she saw a man, wearing white trousers and a colorful shirt, walking away from the crime scene.


2012 Paros beating and rape, Suspects
Ahmed Waqas's co-workers said that he was wearing this kind of clothes at work the day of the incident. However, Ahmed had already left the island to go to Athens, ostensibly because of the serious illness of one of his relatives. Ahmed was picked up during a random check in Athens and DNA was used to identify him as the likely culprit.


2012 Paros beating and rape, Perpetrator
A few days later the police arrested Ahmed Waqas, in Nea Chalkidona, Athens. Police located him through his mobile phone and with the help of other immigrants. Ahmed's DNA matched that found on the girl's clothes and body, after which Ahmed confessed. Ahmed Waqas was reportedly calm and emotionless while describing the events of the crime to the police officers. As he stated, his first intention was to steal the girl's mobile phone but she tried to repel his attack. Then, he started beating her with a rock until she fell unconscious. While the girl could not fight anymore he raped her and then beat her again against the stones. The perpetrator had been scheduled for voluntary repatriation to Pakistan at the time of the arrest.


2012 Paros beating and rape, Perpetrator
After his confession, Ahmed Waqas was taken to the island of Syros where he testified again before the district prosecutor. While the police accompanied him from the ferry to the prosecutor's office, passersby shouted slogans against him. After the initial trial, the perpetrator was discovered to have lied about his age in order to be tried and punished as a juvenile.


2012 Paros beating and rape, Reaction
In the days following the identification of the perpetrator, Nikos Dendias, the Minister of Citizen Protection, announced a crackdown on illegal immigrants in Athens. He deployed 4,500 police, who arrested 7,000 people in 72 hours. According to The Guardian, the trigger event was the crime on Paros. Several news sources reported crimes against migrants in Greece as revenge, including the murder of an Iraqi man.