2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Before the season, Recruiting
23 recruits signed letters of intent to UTSA for the 2012 season. Another three players decided to walk-on, bringing the recruiting class to a total of 26. Robert Singletary decided to transfer from Baylor to UTSA on June 8. He will sit out the 2012 season as required by NCAA transfer rules, but he brings the class total to 27.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Before the season, Football Fiesta Spring Game
The second UTSA Spring Game, called the Football Fiesta Spring Game, was held at the Alamodome on April 15, 2012 at 2:00 PM. It  featured the roster divided up into the white team, which would play offense, and the blue team, composed entirely of defense. Due to the composition of the teams, a different scoring system would be used. The white team received 6-points for a touchdown, 3 points for a field goal, 1 point for an extra point, and 1 point for a first down. The blue team received 6 points for a touchdown, 5 points for a takeaway or a safety, 3 points for a stop (meaning you prevent the other team from scoring), and one point for an extra point. The two squads matched up over 4 12-minute quarters with a 10-minute Halftime.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Before the season, Football Fiesta Spring Game
4,736 fans turned out to see what the UTSA team would have in the 2012 season. They weren't to be disappointed. Six UTSA quarterbacks combined to go 31 of 53 passing for 363 yards and 1 touchdown. After a shaky start the defense also was impressive. They would force 3 interceptions in the back-and-forth showdown. With 1 touchdown rushing, 1 touchdown passing and 2 additional field goals, the final would have been 20-0 in favor of the white team in a regular scoring setting. With the unique scoring system UTSA used, the final would be 44-42 thanks to two first downs before the interception on the White team's final offensive series.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Game summaries, South Alabama
In the opening game of the season, UTSA played the South Alabama Jaguars. The teams previously met in 2011, when South Alabama won 30–27 in double overtime. This was both teams' first ever game as provisional FBS teams, as well as each other's first FBS opponent.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Game summaries, Texas A&M–Commerce
In UTSA's first ever FBS home game, they hosted the D-II Texas A&M–Commerce Lions.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Game summaries, Georgia State
After UTSA's first home game of the season, they travelled to Atlanta to face the FCS opponent, the Georgia State Panthers. UTSA won the previous meeting between the teams 17–14 in overtime.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Game summaries, Northwestern Oklahoma State
After visiting Georgia, UTSA returned home to face the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers. Northwestern Oklahoma State was UTSA's sole NAIA opponent after the NCAA denied the Rangers D-II membership.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Game summaries, New Mexico State
UTSA began its first WAC schedule facing its first-ever full-FBS opponent, the New Mexico State Aggies.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Game summaries, Rice
Following its trip to Las Cruces, UTSA played its first non-conference FBS team, the Rice Owls. UTSA visiting Rice marked its progression to playing out of conference home-and-homes against FBS teams, where it will eventually play the majority of their non-conference schedule against AQ conference teams in 2013 and 2014.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Game summaries, San Jose State
After its visit to in-state Houston, UTSA hosted the San Jose State Spartans in its first-ever conference home game.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Game summaries, Utah State
After hosting the Spartans, UTSA hosted the Utah State Aggies.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Game summaries, Louisiana Tech
Following the Aggies game, UTSA went on the road to face the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Game summaries, McNeese State
After visiting Ruston, UTSA hosted its final non-conference team of the season, the FCS McNeese State Cowboys. UTSA has previously played McNeese State, where the Roadrunners lost 21–24.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Game summaries, Idaho
UTSA traveled to Moscow, Idaho to play the Idaho Vandals in their final road game of the season.


2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team, Game summaries, Texas State
In its final game of the year, UTSA hosted the Texas State Bobcats in the I-35 Orange vs. Maroon Rivalry's first ever football game.


2012 Uber Cup group stage
This article lists the complete results of the group stage of the 2012 Uber Cup in Wuhan, China.


2012 Ukrainian Amateur Cup
The 2012 Ukrainian Amateur Cup was the seventeenth annual season of Ukraine's football knockout competition for amateur football teams. The competition started on 15 August 2012 and concluded on 4 November 2012.


2012 Ukrainian Cup Final
The 2012 Ukrainian Cup Final was a football match that was played at the Olimpiysky NSC, Kiev, on 6 May 2012. The match was the 21st Ukrainian Cup Final and was contested by Metalurh Donetsk and Shakhtar Donetsk. This was the first time since 2007 that the Cup final had returned to Kiev. Since Shakhtar had qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League, Metalurh would qualify for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. In the draw, Metalurh was selected as the home team.


2012 Ukrainian Cup Final, Road to Kiev
As Ukrainian Premier League members, Shakhtar Donetsk and Metalurh Donetsk did not have to go through the qualification phase of the competition.


2012 Ukrainian Cup Final, Previous encounters
This was the first Ukrainian Cup final between the two teams. The two teams had also met in a semi-final in 2009–10 and in the Round of 16 in 1997–98 season in which Metalurh was able to overcome Shakhtar.


2012 Ukrainian Cup Final, Previous encounters
Metalurh had appeared only once in a Cup final without winning any trophies and their opponents Shakhtar had appeared in 11 Cup finals, winning seven.


2012 Ukrainian Cup Final, Post-match
On account of Shakhtar's victory and Metalurh's defeat in the Ukrainian Cup final, and with both team finishing as "good as they could" in the 2011–12 Ukrainian Premier League, the 2012 Ukrainian Super Cup will feature Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv.


2012 Ukrainian Figure Skating Championships
The 2012 Ukrainian Figure Skating Championships took place on December 21–22, 2011 in Kiev. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing on the senior level. The results may be used as part of Ukraine's selection process for the 2012 World Championships and 2012 European Championships.


2012 Ukrainian Super Cup
The 2012 Ukrainian Super Cup became the ninth edition of Ukrainian Super Cup, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Ukrainian Top League and Ukrainian Cup competitions.


2012 Ukrainian Super Cup
The match was played at the Avanhard Stadium, Luhansk, on 10 July 2012, and contested by league winner Shakhtar Donetsk and cup runner-up Metalurh Donetsk. Shakhtar won it 2–0.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election
The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012. Because of various reasons, including the "impossibility of announcing election results" various by-elections have taken place since. Hence, several constituencies have been left unrepresented at various times.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election
Unlike the two previous elections, this election used a parallel voting system (50% under party lists and 50% under simple-majority constituencies) with a 5% election threshold and the participation of blocs of political parties was not allowed any more. The method of 50/50 mixed elections was used previously in 1998 and 2002.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election
The election campaign was limited to 90 days. Every citizen of Ukraine 18 years of age or older was able to vote in 33,540 polling stations in Ukraine and 116 foreign polling stations in 77 countries.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election
The Party of Regions won the largest number of seats while Fatherland (with several parties together as an "umbrella" party) came second. The election was also noted for the rise of the far-right party Svoboda, which came in fourth. The new (on the national scene) party UDAR also enjoyed noticeable great success with its third place in the election. The Communist Party of Ukraine almost tripled its numbers of voters but because of the mixed election system used in the election it only won five more seats compared with the previous election. Because of this mixed system three small parties and 43 unaffiliated politicians also made it into parliament.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election
The new parliament was appointed and started its tasks on 12 December 2012 – six weeks after the elections. This was the last national Ukrainian election Crimea participated in prior to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Background, Political crises and canceled 2008 snap elections
On October 8, 2008 Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko tried to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) and called early parliamentary elections in Ukraine for the second time in as many years for December 7, 2008. The right of the President to dismiss the parliament was challenged in Ukraine's Constitutional Court. The President's decree has since lapsed as it was never put into action (the coalition supporting the second Tymoshenko Government was extended) and appeals to Ukraine's Constitutional Court were withdrawn.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Background, Political crises and canceled 2008 snap elections
Nevertheless, a snap election was predicted by Ukrainian politicians during the 2010 presidential election and after the dismissal of the second Tymoshenko Government. One of the arguments against holding early elections were the costs. Early elections were (in October 2008) estimated to cost approximately UAH₴417 million (about EUR€60 million or US$80 million).


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Background, 2012 election date set
On February 1, 2011 the Verkhovna Rada set the election date for October 28, 2012. Several deputies whose votes were registered that day have stated they could not have taken part in voting because they were not in Kyiv (where the Verkhovna Rada building is located) on February 1, 2011. Voting by MPs in the place of absent MPs of the Verkhovna Rada is prohibited by law. On July 27, 2012 the Central Election Commission of Ukraine announced that campaigning for the elections would commence on July 30.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Background, Changes in the voting system
In June, 2011 the Venice Commission reviewed a proposed Draft Law on the election of Ukrainian parliamentary members. The proposal sought to re-instate a parallel voting system – used in the 1998 and 2002 elections – with the establishment of 225 local single-member districts elected (in one round) by a first-past-the-post electoral system (candidate with the highest vote total wins); and the remaining 225 parliamentary seats being elected nationwide on a proportional party-list system with a 5% support threshold; and excluding political blocs from all elections.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Background, Changes in the voting system
The option "Vote against all" was also made defunct in the proposal (according to a November 2012 opinion poll by Research & Branding Group (otherwise) 17% of the voters would have voted "against everybody" during the elections). The opposition and Ukrainian analysts accused the Party of Regions of "rewriting the law so that the president could secure a majority in the next Verkhovna Rada." In October 2011 the Venice Commission recommended Ukraine should not return to a mixed election system.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Background, Changes in the voting system
Nevertheless, on 17 November 2011 the Ukrainian Parliament approved an election law almost identical to the June 2011 proposed Draft Law. This new law satisfied the major opposition parties Batkivschyna and Front for Change; but was condemned by the core party of Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc, Our Ukraine. Candidates could be elected on party lists or through self-nomination. On 8 December 2011 President Viktor Yanukovych signed the new election law. Since then several parties merged with other parties.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Background, Changes in the voting system
The possibility to be simultaneously be nominated on a nationwide party list and in a single mandate constituency also was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on 10 April 2012.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Background, Changes in the voting system
Voters could temporarily change their place of voting without changing their permanent voting address.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Fraud suspicions and accusations
From 2011 to 2013 with liaison to Serhiy Lyovochkin, Alan Friedman, Eckart Sager, who was a one time CNN producer, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, and Manafort's senior aide Konstantin Kilimnik devised a strategy to discredit Yulia Tymoshenko along with Hillary Clinton who had been an outspoken critic of pro-Russia, pro-Kremlin, and pro-Putin supporters in Ukraine. Manafort's Global Endeavour Inc., a St. Vincent and Grenadines based consulting and lobbying company, his Lucicle Consultants Ltd., a Cyprus based consulting company, and three other of his companies were hired to provide support to Yanukovich and his Party of Regions.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Fraud suspicions and accusations
This strategy included: creating a fake think tank in Vienna, the Center for the Study of Former Soviet Socialist Republics (CXSSR), to support Yanukovich and his Party of Regions; using a social media blitz with Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, and altering the Google's search stack to disseminate articles and videos that undermine opponents of the Party of Regions and Yanukovich in Europe and the United States; rewriting wikipedia articles to smear Yanukovich opponents especially Tymoshenko; and using Breitbart News, RedState, and an article in The Wall Street Journal to discredit the Obama State Department and the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Fraud suspicions and accusations
Alan Friedman, who had not registered as a foreign agent in the United States, told Kostyantyn Gryshchenko that Friedman, who often wrote using the pen name Matthew Lina, published dozens of positive stories about the Party of Regions and Yanukovich and ensured that these were disseminated to over 2,000 publications and placed at the top of Google search stacks. Known as the Tymoshenko Files, Friedman sent Manafort a highly confidential two page letter detailing Friedman's efforts and that Friedman would claim to be Inna Bohoslovska to ghost pen articles on her behalf. In October 2012 after Hillary Clinton had supported Tymoshenko, Brietbart News released an article calling Hillary Clinton a “neo-Nazi Frankenstein”.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Fraud suspicions and accusations
Candidates and analysts predicted that bribery to secure votes would be rampant. A March 2012 poll by Research & Branding Group showed that 66% of the respondents believed that the election would not be fair, 18% disagreed with that. Following the elections the parties Fatherland, UDAR and Svoboda filled in an appeal at the Central Election Commission of Ukraine (CVK) with allegations of fraud in 13 simple-majority constituencies. Irregularities in the elections like cases of ballot stuffing, carousel voting, suspiciously high voter turnout and bribed voters have been reported.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Fraud suspicions and accusations
On 30 October 2012 the Committee of Voters of Ukraine stated that the elections saw a record number of cases of bribery of voters. They also insisted the elections had not brought the country closer to democratic standards. And that although there were no grounds to believe that the violations that were reported on polling day could affect the election results, the election results could seriously be affected by violations during the counting of votes.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Fraud suspicions and accusations
According to Opora the most common violations of the electoral law during the election campaign in August were using government resources for partisan purposes and vote buying. According to Opora the Party of Regions committed the most violations of the electoral law. On 28 October 2012 Party of Regions itself claimed to have documented 607 violations of the election legislation by its opponents. In June 2012 the Committee of Voters of Ukraine declared that the use of government resources for partisan ends would not be decisive in the (then upcoming) elections. According to Taras Kuzio Berkut riot police was used in attempts to destroy ballots.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Fraud suspicions and accusations
On 1 November 2012 the Deputy Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine (CVK), Zhanna Usenko-Chorna, stated that the elections are heavily falsified. She indicated that several electoral districts clearly demonstrate a depravity of the single-constituency district elections in Ukraine and that as of 1 November CVK still had not received results from 14 electoral districts. According to her that was the main reason why CVK could not announce the complete results of the elections on the scheduled time, 31 October 2012.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Fraud suspicions and accusations
In mid-February 2012 Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko deputy Roman Zabzalyuk stated that "if the results on Election Day can’t be sufficiently fixed" the Party of Regions had already made plans to bribe deputies to join the Party of Regions after their election into the Parliament; representatives of the Party of Regions denied allegations of bribery or plans to fix the election.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Issues at districts, Kyiv and its region
A notably reported scandal took place at the electoral district 215 where initially a win was awarded to the acting chairman of the Kyiv city council Halyna Hereha. After the results were challenged it was decided to recount the votes with about 30 law enforcement personnel to keep public order. Later everything was resolved and cleared that indeed the votes between the two candidates Hereha (independent) and Andriy Illyenko ("Svoboda") were switched around. On November 1, 2012 Halyna Hereha officially complained about the elections, but does not intend to take it to court.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Issues at districts, Kyiv and its region
To another electoral district 211 in Kyiv was sent an ambulance as a deputy chairman of the district electoral commission had a nervous breakdown. The commission of the district for three days had a difficult time to count all the votes.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Issues at districts, Kyiv and its region
Another big scandal with involvement of the riot law enforcement unit of Berkut took place at the 95th electoral district (a Kyivan suburban city of Irpin). The electoral commission at the district was the slowest and the public involvement surely did not help to speed up the process, however a possible miscounting was prevented. Previously, a possible riot from a big "youth group of athletic posture" was suspected by witnesses.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Issues at districts, Kyiv and its region
Another scandal took place at the 223rd district where some fist fighting took place, which was eventually extinguished with the help of law enforcement. Oleh Tyahnybok told Ukrayinska Pravda that "Svoboda" will be picketing "EpiCenter" supermarkets and apartments of the 223rd electoral district commission members. Because of the incident, the Radio Liberty (Radio Svoboda) conducts a live broadcasting from the headquarters of the district. In protest the district electoral commission refuses to continue its work.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Issues at districts, Southern Ukraine
At the 132nd district (Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast) peasants laid a siege around the building of the district electoral commission in the protest of post-electoral results.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Repeat elections in 5 constituencies
The Central Election Commission of Ukraine adopted a resolution on November 5 recognizing the impossibility of announcing election results in five single-seat constituencies (electoral districts 94, 132, 194, 197 and 223); it also recognized the need to hold repeat elections in these constituencies and asked parliament to take a decision on holding repeat elections in these constituencies. On November 6 the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution that proposed repeat elections. On 8 November the Central Election Commission stated that the Verkhovna Rada should thus make a respective law for this and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine should determine the amount of funding for these elections.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Repeat elections in 5 constituencies
On 29 December 2012, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine received a query from 54 Verkhovna Rada members concerning procedures for the five repeat elections. As of 21 March 2013 the Constitutional Court has not opened a case on this issue. The current Verkhovna Rada parliamentary majority refused to consider the scheduling of repeated elections in the five constituencies before the court issues its ruling on this issue.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Repeat elections in 5 constituencies
On 5 September 2013 the Verkhovna Rada set the date of (all, see below) 7 re-elections to 15 December 2013.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Repeat elections in 2 more constituencies
In early February 2013 the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine ordered the Central Election Commission of Ukraine to hold new elections in 2 more districts after the court removed the deputy mandates of United Centre member Pavlo Baloha (at the time a member of the Party of Regions parliamentary faction) and independent Oleksandr Dombrovsky. The Administrative Court established that the results in single-member districts number 11 (Vinnytsia Oblast; Dombrovsky) and number 71 (Zakarpattia Oblast; Baloha) after the 2012 elections had been "unreliable". On 3 July 2013 Baloha's and Dombrovsky's mandates were officially cancelled.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Repeat elections in 2 more constituencies
On 5 September 2013 the Verkhovna Rada set the date of (all, see above) 7 re-elections to 15 December 2013.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, By-election in constituency 224 (Sevastopol)
On 24 December 2012 President Viktor Yanukovych appointed Pavlo Lebedyev as Defense Minister. Lebedyev had been elected as a lawmaker in the single-seat constituency No. 224 (in Sevastopol) in the 2012 election (28 October 2012). On 22 March 2013 the Verkhovna Rada cancelled his parliamentary mandate. The by-election for the single-seat constituency No. 224 was held on 7 July 2013 and won by independent Vadim Novinsky with 53.41% with a turnout of 23.91%. Before the election Novinsky had stated he would join the Party of Regions if he won.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Repeat elections in constituency 133 (Odessa)
On 12 September 2013 the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine (under a lawsuit lodged by Yuriy Karmazin) ruled it impossible to reliably establish the results of the 28 October 2012 elections in single-mandate constituency No. 133 (in Odessa), at the time Ihor Markov had been declared winner of that constituency. The court overturned the Central Election Commission (CEC) decision of 23 November 2012 regarding Markov’s registration as a People's Deputy of Ukraine and ordered the CEC to take measures to organize, prepare for and hold repeat elections in constituency No. 133.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Repeat elections in constituency 133 (Odessa)
Police officers had documented the use of pens with disappearing ink in at least 40 polling stations in constituency No. 133 on 28 October 2012.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, Repeat elections in five constituencies of 15 December 2013
The Central Election Commission of Ukraine finalized the vote count on 12 November 2012 but simultaneously ordered – on recommendation of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) – repeat elections in five troubled single-mandate constituencies where it could not establish results. Because of occurrences in these five constituencies. In February 2013 the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine ordered to hold (additional) new elections in 2 more districts after the court removed the mandates of two seats. On 5 September 2013 the Verkhovna Rada itself set the date of these 7 re-elections to 15 December 2013. Hence, before 15 December 2013 of the 450 seats in parliament 443 deputies have been elected. But eventually only repeat elections were held in 5 constituencies on 15 December 2013.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, By-election in constituency 83 (West Ivano-Frankivsk)
In February 2014 Oleksandr Sych became Vice Prime Minister in the Yatsenyuk Government. Sych had been elected as a lawmaker in the single-seat constituency No. 83 (West Ivano-Frankivsk) in the 2012 election of 28 October 2012.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Issues, By-election in constituency 83 (West Ivano-Frankivsk)
The by-election for the single-seat constituency No. 83 was held on 25 May 2014 and won by independent Olexandr Shevchenko with 37.6% with a turnout of 37.66%. The candidate of the party of Sych, Svoboda, came third with 14.9%.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Campaign
Andriy Klyuyev was the chief campaign manager for the Party of Regions. The Party of Regions' campaign focused heavily on promoting its record as the ruling party, contrasting the "stability" of the (then current) Azarov Government with "chaos" during the Second Tymoshenko Government in 2007–10 (which it referred to as: "the chaos and ruins of 5 years of orange leadership",. It advocated a "balanced" approach to developing relations with Russia and the West, saying neither should be given priority over the other.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Campaign
Fatherland tried to paint the election as a battle of good against evil and pledged to impeach President Viktor Yanukovych. The party stated it advocated "European values" and promised to reverse the Azarov Government policy of raising the status of the Russian language.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Campaign
UDAR avoided sensitive and polarising subjects and focused instead on popular topics, such as more empowerment to ordinary Ukrainians and a ruthless campaign against corruption, the indifference of the authorities, the lack of local governance, inequality and poverty.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Campaign
Svoboda softened their rhetoric in the campaign but nevertheless promised to shake up the country's political status quo.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Campaign
One of the biggest spenders of the campaign was the party Ukraine – Forward!. One of their election billboards claimed that “an average wage of EUR€1,000 and a pension of €500” was realistic for Ukraine (the monthly average wage was €300 at the time).


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Campaign
Many candidates in single-seat constituencies tended to focus on local issues, often distancing themselves from party agendas.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Campaign
Overall the election programs of the major parties bore many similarities; all pledged reforms to spur economic growth, higher wages, pensions and other benefits, better education and medical care.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Campaign
Two weeks before the (28 October) election UDAR withdrew 26 of its candidates running in single-member constituencies in favour of Fatherland candidates and they withdrew 26 parliamentary candidates in favor of UDAR in an attempt to maximise votes for the opposition.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Campaign, Costs
Political parties spent more than US$75 million on the election campaign in multi-member constituencies (according to the parties' official reports). The Party of Regions spent about US$27 million, Fatherland more than $13 million, UDAR more than $4 million, the Communist Party of Ukraine $9 million, Our Ukraine $8 million and Ukraine – Forward! $7.6 million. Svoboda claimed it had spent US$3 million on the campaign. The Ukraine of the Future did not spend anything on campaigning yet still managed to take the 15th spot amongst the 21 parties who participated in the nationwide list with 0.18% of the votes.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Campaign, Costs
Denys Kovrizhenko of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems – Ukraine stated the sum of money spend could be up to 10 times more than what parties report afterwards. According to OPORA “In general, candidates spend about three times more than they officially report to spend”. Political scientist Artem Bidenko estimated other figures; he believed that the Party of Regions had spent around $850 million, Ukraine – Forward some $150 million, and the election campaigns of the rest of the political parties $350 million, while candidates in majority constituencies had spent some $900 million on the election campaign. About half of the single-constituency candidates submitted reports about their campaign spending.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Campaign, Costs
In October 2008 Ukrainian experts estimated that a small political party who wants to win seats in parliament would spend up to US$30 million on the campaign and large political parties would spend up to $100 million. Political analyst Pavlo Bulhak stated then that a party's election budget will be spent on advertising on television, bribing voters, organizing rallies and party propaganda.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Results
On 8 November the Central Election Commission of Ukraine completed and released all results of the nationwide party list the constituencies (the elections took place on 28 October). Meanwhile, the Central Election Commission refused to establish the election results for the first-past-post results in 5 constituencies. The Central Election Commission of Ukraine finalized the vote count on 12 November 2012 but simultaneously ordered - on recommendation of the Verkhovna Rada - repeat elections (on a yet unknown date) in five troubled single-mandate constituencies where it could not establish results. Because of occurrences in these five constituencies.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Results
Hence, on 12 November 2012 445 deputies had been elected of the 450 seats in parliament. On 8 February 2013 the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine deprived 2 more deputies of power. They were banned from parliament on 3 July 2013. On 5 September 2013 the Verkhovna Rada itself set the date of all 7 re-elections to 15 December 2013.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Results, Electoral districts
Next to the 87 political parties 1150 independent candidates took part in the 225 electoral districts.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Results, Electoral districts
Several lawmakers elected into the new parliament have family ties with other lawmakers or other family members in the executive branch of Ukrainian politics.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Results, Turnout
The total voter turnout in the election was 57.99%; about average for parliamentary elections in Ukraine. On election day turnout had reached 22.43% by noon local time. The number of reported participating voters varied somewhere between 20.76 million and 20.78 million, while the number of invalid ballots accumulated to about 1.2 million (5.74%) for party list voting and voting at districts.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Results, Turnout
The lowest turnout was in Crimea (with 49.46%), the highest in Lviv Oblast (67.13%). Local disparities in turnout did occur: for example, the voting turnout figures in two adjacent districts in Donetsk were 39.8% and 84.5%.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Results, Forming of new government
On 9 December President Viktor Yanukovych nominated Mykola Azarov for a new term as Prime Minister. This nomination was approved by parliament on 13 December 2012. 252 deputies of the 450 deputies supported the nomination; the whole factions of Party of Regions (210 deputies) and Communist Party (32 deputies) and ten independent deputies.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Results, Forming of new government
The second Azarov Government was appointed by Yanukovych on 24 December 2012.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Reactions
Fatherland, UDAR and Svoboda stated 12 November they did not recognize the results and will challenge them in local and international courts. In a joint statement the three parties vowed to work towards the impeachment of President Viktor Yanukovych, the resignation of the Azarov Government and chief prosecutor Viktor Pshonka, and the release from jail of Yulia Tymoshenko "and other political prisoners".


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Reactions
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and President Yanukovych praised the elections; Azarov claimed “neither democratic norms nor legal democratic procedures were in fact violated” and according to Yanukovych the elections "took place well from the technical viewpoint".


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Reactions
Party leader Petro Symonenko of the Communist Party of Ukraine believed on 8 November that the new parliament could not work better than the present one, as "there will be a confrontation between the financial, political and clan groups who got seats in the new parliament." He also stated then that his party will not form any coalition with other groups in the new parliament.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Reactions
Civil movement "Chesno" stated on 5 December 2012 that 331 out of the 450 deputies elected on 28 October fell short of its criteria for honesty; according to "Chesno"'s parameters, 114 of them violated the rights and freedoms of citizens, 30 earlier changed their political position while working in parliament or on local councils, 233 had been involved in corrupt practices, 185 had nontransparent incomes and expenses, 156 did not personally take part in voting in previous parliaments, and 101 had shirked work in parliament.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Reactions
Party of Regions politician Sergei Tigipko stated in December 2012 "the parliamentary elections showed that politics in Ukraine is becoming more ideological".


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Reactions, International reactions
European Union – On 12 November 2012 the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule stated "We express our concern about the conduct of the post electoral process, which was marred by irregularities, delays in the vote count and lack of transparency in the electoral commissions". The also expected to see "swift and determined action" to bring Ukraine's electoral legislation "into line with European norms and standards on the basis of an Election Code".


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Reactions, International reactions
United States – United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated in late October 2012 about the election: "We share the view of OSCE monitors that Sunday's election constituted a step backward for Ukrainian democracy". Vice President of the United States Joe Biden voiced concerns over the elections in a call with President Viktor Yanukovych on 13 November 2012 and end urged Ukraine to "end selective prosecutions".


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Reactions, International reactions
European Parliament – A resolution adopted by the parliament on 13 December 2012 stated: "(We) expresses regret at the fact that, according to the OSCE, PACE, NATO Parliamentary Assembly and European Parliament observers, the election campaign, electoral process and post-electoral process failed to meet major international standards and constitute a step backwards compared with the national elections in 2010. Poland – According to President Bronislaw Komorowski the results of the elections showed "the success of pro-European spirit in the country". Because all political parties that made it into parliament, but the Communist Party of Ukraine, declared European integration of the country as one of their goals.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, International observers
On election day (28 October) there were 3,500 accredited foreign observers. The observers from the European Academy for Elections Observation (most of whom where European Parliament members), stated it was "a good election, not perfect but clearly acceptable", and that it was "in compliance with democratic norms".


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, International observers
On 29 October the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) (who had monitored the election with 600 observers) stated in a preliminary report that "certain aspects of the pre-election period constituted a step backwards compared with recent national elections" and that the election was marred by "the abuse of power and the excessive role of money". It complained of "a lack of a level playing field, caused primarily by the abuse of administrative resources, lack of transparency of campaign and party financing, and lack of balanced media coverage". This contrasted sharply with the international observers' conclusions on Ukraine's February 2010 presidential election, judged then to have been transparent, unbiased and an "impressive display" of democracy.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, International observers
Ten thousand foreign observers where expected to observe the elections. Some 100 long term observers from OSCE member states arrived in Ukraine starting from the middle of September 2012, followed by 600 short-term observers who will arrive a week before the elections to monitor the election process at voting stations.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, International observers
Poland is to send observers to Ukraine to monitor the elections, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski stated on 8 February 2012. German Ambassador to Ukraine Hans-Jürgen Heimsoeth stated "Germany is planning to send a numerous group of official supervisors" on 13 March 2012.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, International observers
The total number of registered observers on October 9, was 1053 persons. The largest mission of international observers from CIS-EMO was 197 people.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, International observers
On 2 October 2012 CIS-EMO observers presented the Interim report of the CIS-EMO Election Monitoring Mission. The report, in particular, noted that "The majority of detected violations are connected not with a political struggle of party lists but with the struggle of single-seat candidates". An impression that “antidemocratic power” clash with “democratic opposition” imposed by European and world society has a very relative nature that, as a rule, doesn’t distinct the real situation. In nowadays Ukrainian “peripheral capitalism” model such classes as “power” and “opposition” are conventionality. When the “Power Elite” is unconsolidated and disconnected and there is an open internal war between leading financial-industrial groups and corporations of Ukraine to get leverage of real state authority, all existing political parties only play the role of institutionalized political framework of realization of oligarchs’ economic interests.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, International observers
On 5 October 2012 the CIS-EMO report was presented at the annual meeting of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Shortly before the presentation of CIS-EMO interim report web-site of CIS-EMO had been subjected to a massive DDoS-attack. The report was published on the official website of the OSCE in English and Ukrainian and also in Russian.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, International observers
The ENEMO (European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations) mission for the 2012 parliamentary elections in Ukraine began its work on 23 July 2012 with the arrival of four Core Team members. ENEMO is the first international election observation mission registered for the Parliamentary Elections 2012 by the Central Election Commission (CEC). 35 LTOs (long-term observers) arrived to Kyiv on 5 August 2012 and were deployed throughout Ukraine. Long-term observer teams cover one or two oblasts of Ukraine. On E-day, October 28, ENEMO deployed 43 STO (Short-term observer) teams throughout all oblasts of Ukraine.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Factions in parliament after elections
According to the amendment to parliamentary regulations adopted in November 2012, the smallest faction of parliament can be formed out a party with the smallest number of deputies elected by a party list and a single constituency vote. That amendment to regulations can also be interpreted as "either or" meaning that the smallest faction can be formed either based on party list or a single constituency election. In that case the smaller parties' deputies that were elected to the parliament will be able to form factions of their own, making it more challenging to form a coalition in the Ukrainian parliament.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Factions in parliament after elections
On 27 November 2012 Party of Regions parliamentary leader Oleksandr Yefremov claimed that 223 members of the Verkhovna Rada had already expressed their desire to work in his party's fraction; according to earlier press reports 38 of the 43 unaffiliated politicians elected into parliament would join the Party of Regions faction.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Factions in parliament after elections
The Communist Party of Ukraine faction was dissolved 24 July 2014 two days after parliament had changed its regulations.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Factions in parliament after elections, Removing deputies from parliament after 2012 election
Since 8 February 2013 four parliamentarians have been deprived of their mandate by the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Registered parties
In contrast with the 2007 parliamentary elections, candidates in this election could be elected on party lists or through self-nomination. There were 87 parties registered for the elections to compete in electoral districts. For the nationwide list the voters could choose between 22 parties. Several parties united together under "umbrella" parties. For example, the election list of All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" included members of Reforms and Order Party, People's Movement of Ukraine, Front of Changes, For Ukraine, People's Self-Defense, Civil Position and Social Christian Party. This electoral list was the result of negotiations within the opposition Dictatorship Resistance Committee.


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Registered parties, Nationwide list
The Central Election Commission of Ukraine had registered 22 parties who would participate on the nationwide list. On 15 October 2012 Ukrainian Platform "Assembly" withdrew itself from the national list (it had received ballot number 1) but the other ballot numbers did not change. So the ballot numbers were:


2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Public opinion polls
Note that on 17 November 2011 the Ukrainian Parliament approved an election law under which 225 members of Parliament would be elected under party lists and 225 would be winners of constituencies. Simultaneously the option to vote "Against all" had been made defunct; furthermore candidates could be elected on party lists or through self-nomination.


2012 Ulsan Hyundai FC season
The 2012 season was Ulsan Hyundai FC's thirtieth season in the K-League in South Korea. Ulsan Hyundai is competing K-League, Korean FA Cup, AFC Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup.


2012 Ulsan Hyundai FC season, Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2012 Ulsan Hyundai FC season, Current squad, Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2012 Ulsan Hyundai FC season, Transfer, In
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2012 Ulsan Hyundai FC season, Transfer, Out
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2012 Ulster Grand Prix
2012 Ulster Grand Prix races to be held on the Dundrod Circuit between 6–11 August 2012 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The event will celebrate its 90th Anniversary this year with a Bike Week Festival with practicing commencing on Wednesday 8 August 2012 followed by the Dundrod 150 Races on Thursday 9 August and culminating with the Ulster Grand Prix on Saturday 11 August 2012.


2012 Ulster Senior Football Championship
The 2012 Ulster Senior Football Championship was the 124th installment of the annual Ulster Senior Football Championship held under the auspices of the Ulster GAA. It was won by Donegal who defeated Down in the final to retain the title they won the previous year. The winning Donegal team received the Anglo-Celt Cup, and automatically advanced to the quarter-final stage of the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. They progressed from there to the semi-final then on to the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final where they claimed the Sam Maguire Cup.


2012 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship
The 2012 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship was the 67th installment of the annual Ulster Senior Hurling Championship held under the auspices of the Ulster GAA. Antrim were the defending champions and successfully claimed their eleventh consecutive title, beating finalists Derry.


2012 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship, Format
The draw for the Ulster championship was seeded, and took place in a single elimination format. Antrim received a bye to the final, Down to the semi-final.


2012 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship, Format
There was no entry from the Ulster Championship to the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship proper. Antrim instead entered that competition through the preliminary round of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.


2012 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship, Format
The other Ulster teams were not eligible, and took part in the 2012 Christy Ring Cup, the second tier All-Ireland hurling championship. Unlike in 2011, only four teams entered the competition this year.


2012 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election
The election for the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) was held on 31 March 2012. The UUP holds an election for the office of Leader each year at its Annual General Meeting, which is normally returns the incumbent unopposed. The contested election was triggered after incumbent Leader Tom Elliott, elected in 2010, unexpectedly announced  on 8 March 2012 that he would not be seeking re-election. Nominations closed on 16 March 2012.


2012 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election
The most likely candidates were considered to be Strangford MLA Mike Nesbitt and Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea (who lost to Elliott in the 2010 leadership election, where he was considered the more liberal alternative to Elliott); Newry and Armagh MLA Danny Kennedy (the party's only minister at Stormont, holding the office of Minister for Regional Development) was also considered to be a likely candidate, and was placed favourite by bookmaker Paddy Power early on. South Down MLA John McCallister (UUP Whip in the Assembly) might also stand, with some considering him best suited to give the party a fresh start.


2012 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election
As the nominations deadline drew closer, McCallister announced he would run for the post, while "sources close to" Kennedy, considered the favourite, said that he would also; McCrea was now considered to be unlikely to stand. McCallister has announced he would withdraw the UUP from the government at Stormont and form the opposition. McCrea announced his support for McCallister; Kennedy was seen as the proponent of cooperation between the UUP and the DUP, while McCallister was seen to stand for a clearer contrast.


2012 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election
Nesbitt announced he would be a candidate later the same week. Kennedy withdrew from the race shortly before nominations closed on 16 March 2012, with speculation being that the decision was sparked by Nesbitt's growing momentum. Nesbitt took over as the clear favourite to win the leadership election.


2012 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election
Nesbitt called for a referendum on introducing an Official Opposition into Stormont; McCallister supports a similar idea.


2012 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election
McCallister has stated he would expel David McNarry if elected leader, who had been in a public conflict with the outgoing leader Elliott. Shortly before polling Nesbitt stated that he would be unlikely to offer McNarry the whip following a period of suspension handed down by the disciplinary committee.


2012 Under 21 Men's Australian Championships
The 2012 Under 21 Men's Australian Championships was a men's field hockey tournament. The competition was held in the Tasmanian city of Hobart.


2012 Under 21 Men's Australian Championships
Queensland won the gold medal after defeating Western Australia 3–0 in the final. Following a 5–5 draw, New South Wales won the bronze medal with a higher percentage of games won, finishing ahead of Tasmania.


2012 Under 21 Men's Australian Championships, Competition format
The tournament was played in a single round-robin format, with each team facing each other once. Final placings after the pool matches determined playoff positions.


2012 Under 21 Men's Australian Championships, Competition format
The bottom four teams moved to the classification round. Teams played in crossover matches, with the losing teams playing off for seventh place, and the winners for fifth. Meanwhile, the top four teams contested the medal round, with teams contesting in semi-finals. The winners played in the gold medal match, while the losers played off for bronze.


2012 Under 21 Men's Australian Championships, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 185 goals scored in 36 matches, for an average of 5.14 goals per match.


2012 Under 21 Women's Australian Championships
The 2012 Under 21 Women's Australian Championships was a women's field hockey tournament held in the South Australian city of Adelaide, from 10–21 July.


2012 Under 21 Women's Australian Championships
NSW won the gold medal after defeating SA 3–1 in the final. QLD won the bronze medal by defeating the ACT 3–1 in the third place match.


2012 Under 21 Women's Australian Championships, Statistics, Final standings
As per statistical convention in field hockey, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.


2012 Under 21 Women's Australian Championships, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 130 goals scored in 36 matches, for an average of 3.61 goals per match.


2012 Under-19 Cricket World Cup
The 2012 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was a one-day cricket competition for sixteen international U-19 cricketing teams which was held in August 2012. This was the ninth time that the tournament was held since its inception back in 1988. The tournament was held in Australia for the second time after previously hosting it in 1988 with the tournament being held across three cities (Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Townsville).


2012 Under-19 Cricket World Cup
Six teams qualified from the qualifying event as they joined the full members that automatically qualified through to the World Cup. The teams were separated into four groups of four with the top two teams qualifying through to the Super League while the bottom two will compete in the Plate Championship. After finishing second in their group, India beat Australia in the final by six wickets to win their third title after previously winning in 2000 and 2008. India's Unmukt Chand scored 111 not out, facing 130 balls and was awarded Man of the Final. Australian captain Will Bosisto was awarded Man of the Series. Canada was originally scheduled to be the host of the event, after being selected as hosts in 2007.


2012 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, Qualification
16 teams participated in the competition. The 10 nations with ICC Full Membership automatically qualified for the tournament. Ten further teams competed in the qualifying event which was held in Ireland with only the top six teams qualifying through to the 2012 World Cup. Scotland (winners), Nepal, Ireland, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Namibia all finished in the top 6 to book their spot into the World Cup.


2012 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, Groups
The following groups were chosen for the World Cup 2012 by the International Cricket Council. The number alongside gives the rank of the team. The tournament will begin with a league stage consisting of four groups of four. Each team will play each of the other teams in its group once.


2012 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, Final standings
Teams in Green Qualify for the 2014 U-19 World Cup as full members.


2012 Under-19 Cricket World Cup squads
This is a list of the squads picked for the 2012 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Players with international caps are listed in bold.


2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship
The 2012 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was contested from 13 July to 27 October 2012. The tournament featured the Under-19 players from the fourteen Currie Cup unions.


2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division A
There were seven participating teams in the 2012 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship Division A. These teams played each other twice over the course of the season, once at home and once away.


2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division A
Teams received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that scored 4 or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by 7 points or less. Teams were ranked by points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).


2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division A
The top 4 teams qualified for the title play-offs. In the semi-finals, the team that finished first had home advantage against the team that finished fourth, while the team that finished second had home advantage against the team that finished third. The winners of these semi-finals played each other in the final, at the same venue as the 2012 Currie Cup Premier Division Final.


2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division A
The bottom team in Division A played a play-off game at home against the winner of the Division B final for a place in Division A in 2013.


2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division B
There were seven participating teams in the 2012 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship Division B. These teams played each other once over the course of the season, either at home or away.


2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division B
Teams received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that score 4 or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by 7 points or less. Teams were ranked by points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).


2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division B
The top 4 teams qualified for the title play-offs. In the semi-finals, the team that finished first had home advantage against the team that finished fourth, while the team that finished second had home advantage against the team that finished third. The winners of these semi-finals played each other in the final, at the same venue as the 2012 Currie Cup First Division Final.


2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division B
The winner of the final played a play-off game away from home against the bottom team in Division A for a place in Division A in 2013.


2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, Teams, Team Listing
The following teams took part in the 2012 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship competition:


2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship
The 2012 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship will be contested from 13 July to 27 October 2012. The tournament will feature the Under-21 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa.


2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division A
There are seven participating teams in the 2012 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship Division A. These teams will play each other twice over the course of the season, once at home and once away.


2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division A
Teams will receive four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points are awarded to teams that score 4 or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lose a match by 7 points or less. Teams are ranked by points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).


2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division A
The top 4 teams will qualify for the title play-offs. In the semi-finals, the team that finish first has home advantage against the team that finish fourth, while the team that finish second has home advantage against the team that finish third. The winners of these semi-finals will play each other in the final, at the same venue as the 2012 Currie Cup Premier Division Final.


2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division A
The bottom team in Division A will play a play-off game at home against the winner of the Division B final for a place in Division A in 2013.


2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division B
There are seven participating teams in the 2012 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship Division B. These teams will play each other once over the course of the season, either at home or away.


2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division B
Teams will receive four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points are awarded to teams that score 4 or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lose a match by 7 points or less. Teams are ranked by points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).


2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division B
The top 4 teams will qualify for the title play-offs. In the semi-finals, the team that finish first has home advantage against the team that finish fourth, while the team that finish second has home advantage against the team that finish third. The winners of these semi-finals will play each other in the final, at the same venue as the 2012 Currie Cup First Division Final.


2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship, Competition, Division B
The winner of the final will play a play-off game away from home against the bottom team in Division A for a place in Division A in 2013.


2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship, Teams, Team Listing
The following teams will take part in the 2012 ABSA Under-21 Provincial Championship competition:


2012 UniCredit Czech Open
The 2012 UniCredit Czech Open was a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the 19th edition of the tournament which was part of the 2012 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Prostějov, Czech Republic between 4 and 10 June 2012.


2012 UniCredit Czech Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 UniCredit Czech Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received entry as an alternate into the singles main draw:


2012 UniCredit Czech Open – Doubles
Sergei Bubka and Adrián Menéndez were the defending champions but Bubka decided not to participate. Menéndez played alongside Steve Darcis. Hsieh Cheng-peng and Lee Hsin-han defeated Colin Ebelthite and John Peers 7–5, 7–5 in the final to win the title.


2012 UniCredit Czech Open – Singles
Yuri Schukin was the defending champion but decided to compete in the Fürth Challenger instead. Florian Mayer won the title by defeating Jan Hájek 7–6(7–1), 3–6, 7–6(7–3) in the final.


2012 Union budget of India
Union budget of India for the year 2012–2013 was presented by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on March 16, 2012.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election
The 2012 leadership election of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), a political party in France was held on 18 November 2012. It renewed the leadership structures of the UMP following Nicolas Sarkozy's defeat in the 2012 presidential election and the party's defeat in the subsequent legislative election. The disputed results led to the first open crisis in the UMP since its creation in 2002.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election
Incumbent General Secretary Jean-François Copé defeated former Prime Minister François Fillon.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Organization
While the UMP's two previous congresses in 2002 and 2004 had been held at the Bourget, there was no physical congress organized in 2012 and the congress was decentralized in each departmental federation of the UMP.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Organization, Presidency of the UMP
Nicolas Sarkozy was the UMP's last president, between 2004 and 2007. Following his election to the presidency of France in 2007, the UMP modified its statutes to create a collegial presidency led by a secretary-general during the duration of his term in office. His defeat meant that the UMP needed to hold a new presidential election.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Organization, Presidency of the UMP
Candidates seeking to run for the party presidency needed to win the endorsements of at least 3% of party members (as of 30 June 2012), or 7,924 members, from at least 10 different departmental federations. Each candidate created a "ticket" with two other party members for the offices of vice-president and secretary-general of the UMP.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Organization, Presidency of the UMP
Candidacies, including all endorsements, were due before 18 September 2012.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Organization, Movements
The UMP's original statutes in 2002 allowed for the organization of formal factions or movements within the party, to represent the various political families of which it was made up. However, fearing leadership rivalries and divisions, Juppé, Chirac and later Sarkozy 'postponed' the creation of such organized movements indefinitely. Nevertheless, prior to the organizations of formal "movements" in November 2012, there existed informal groupings of like-minded members, either through associations, political clubs, associated political parties or even informal factions.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Organization, Movements
Prior to Sarkozy's defeat on 6 May, the UMP's secretary-general Jean-François Copé announced that he supported the creation of internal "movements" within the party and the organization of primaries for the next presidential election.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Organization, Movements
Jean-François Copé allowed for the organization of formal movements within the party following the congress. According to the party's statutes, motions backed by at least 10 parliamentarians from 10 departmental federations and which obtain at least 10% support from members at a congress are recognized as movements. They are granted financial autonomy by way of a fixed grant and additional funding in proportion to the votes they obtained; but the sum of funds transferred by the party to its movements can be no larger than 30% of the annual public subsidies the UMP receives from the state.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Organization, Movements, Valid motions (declarations of principles)
Six motions representing various ideological tendencies within the party ran to be recognized as official movements following the November 2012 congress.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Organization, Charter of Values
Members were also called to approve or reject amendments to the party's charter of values.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Campaign
The campaign between Fillon and Copé lasted two months. Fillon had a strong lead in polls of UMP 'sympathizers' (as opposed to actual members, who would be the only eligible voters) and was backed by most UMP parliamentarians while Copé claimed he was the candidate of party activists rather than party 'barons'. However, Copé remained as secretary-general and retained control of the party machinery.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Campaign
While Fillon's campaign was regarded as more consensual, moderate and centre-right; Copé campaigned as the candidate of the droite décomplexée ('uninhibited right') and introduced issues such as anti-white racism. However, both candidates received support from moderate and conservative members of the party and their main differences were in rhetoric, style and temperament. Copé, again, appeared more militant and activist, saying that he would support and participate in street demonstrations while Fillon disagreed with his rival.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Results, COCOE results
The vote on 18 November saw high turnout but was quickly marred by allegations of irregularities and potential fraud on both sides. Both candidates proclaimed victory within 20 minutes of each other on the night of the vote.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Results, COCOE results
24 hours later, the control commission in charge of the vote (COCOE) announced Copé's victory by only 98 votes.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Results, COCOE results
While Fillon initially conceded defeat, by 21 November his campaign claimed victory anew, with a 26-vote advantage over Copé. Fillon's campaign argued that the COCOE had failed to take into account votes cast in three overseas federations.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Results, CONARE/CNR results
Alain Juppé accepted to lead a mediation between both candidates on 23 November, but it failed within two days. Fillon's announced "precautionary seizure" of ballots cast "to protect them from tampering or alteration" and threatened to take the matter to court.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Results, CONARE/CNR results
On 26 November, the party appeals commission (CONARE or CNR) - led by a close supporter of Copé - decided in Copé's favour and rejected Fillon's arguments. The CNR voided the results in three precincts favourable to Fillon (two in Nice, the other was New Caledonia) and reintegrated the results from Mayotte and Wallis-et-Futuna.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Crisis
On 27 November, 72 filloniste parliamentarians in the National Assembly announced the creation of a new parliamentary group, the Rassemblement-UMP, led by Fillon. Copé took up former President Nicolas Sarkozy's proposal of organizing a referendum on a revote, but he saw the creation of the dissident filloniste group as a casus belli and took back his proposal. Luc Chatel, the new vice-president and a Copé supporter, later announced that he supported a new presidential vote and a modification of party statutes.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Crisis
The next day, Copé announced that he favoured organizing a referendum the modification of party statutes and a reduction of his own term as president to two years (until November 2014); while Fillon welcomed the "consensus on the organization of a new election" he rejected his rival's timeline and called for a new election before 2014. 'Unaligned' members of the UMP led by Bruno Le Maire and Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet appealed for the organization of a new election in the spring of 2013 and a reform of the party statutes.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Crisis, Resolution
Both rivals reached an agreement at the end of December 2012, with Copé agreeing to the organization of a new election and a modification of party statutes while Fillon agreed to dissolve his parliamentary group.


2012 Union for a Popular Movement leadership election, Crisis, Resolution
The party's leadership was reorganized in January 2013 to accommodate Copé and Fillon's supporters: Laurent Wauquiez and Valérie Pécresse joined Luc Chatel and Michèle Tabarot as vice-president and secretary-general respectively. Christian Estrosi, Gérard Longuet, Henri de Raincourt (pro-Fillon), Jean-Claude Gaudin, Brice Hortefeux and Roger Karoutchi (pro-Copé) also became vice-presidents. Other positions in the party hierarchy were divided between supporters of both candidates. New leaders were also nominated in February 2013.


2012 United Bowl
The 2012 United Bowl was the fourth title game of the Indoor Football League (IFL). It was played on July 14, 2012, at the Sioux Falls Arena in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The top seed in the United Conference, the Sioux Falls Storm, defeated their Intense Conference counterpart Tri-Cities Fever, by a score of 59–37.


2012 United Football League
The 2012 United Football League was the third season of the UFL since its establishment as a semi-professional league in 2009. Global FC won their first Division 1 league title on goal difference against runners-up Kaya, after a 1–1 draw with third-placers Loyola Meralco Sparks on 26 June 2012. Pachanga won the Division 2 league title after being unbeaten in all its matches.


2012 United Football League, Teams
Seven new clubs entered the league after the successful third season of UFL Cup. Manila Nomads, Stallion and Pasargad was promoted to 2012 UFL Division 1 after they reached the knockout stage of 2011 UFL Cup. The season opened on January 14, 2012, and ended on June 30, 2012.


2012 United Football League, Season Awards, Team Awards
The following teams are awarded by the United Football League in the ceremony.


2012 United Football League, Season Awards, Individual awards
The following players are awarded by the United Football League Committee in the ceremony.


2012 United Kingdom budget
The 2012 United Kingdom budget was delivered by George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on Wednesday 21 March 2012.


2012 United Kingdom budget
It was the third budget of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government that was formed in 2010, and also the third to be delivered by Osborne.


2012 United Kingdom budget
Its key points included a rise in the personal tax allowance, a cut in the top rate of income tax and in the rate of corporation tax, and a new level of stamp duty on high-value properties.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Key measures, Taxes
Osborne announced that from April 2013, the annual personal income tax allowance will be raised from £8,105 to £9,205. It was estimated this would make 24 million people better-off by up to £220 per year. The 40% tax band will become applicable for incomes over £41,450 per year (a reduction of £1,025 from £42,475) and the top tax band for high-earners will be reduced to 45% from 50%; Osborne said the 50% rate introduced by the previous Labour government was "damaging" the country's competitiveness and had raised only one-third of the £3 billion it had intended to raise. From 2014, income tax-payers will receive a 'personal tax statement' outlining how their income tax and National Insurance contributions were spent.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Key measures, Taxes
Also from April 2013, people over 65 years of age will not get an enhanced personal income tax allowance, known as the age allowance. However, those who have an age allowance under the previous tax rules will not lose their age allowance. HM Revenue and Customs estimated that 4.4 million pensioners would become worse-off in real terms by up to £83 in 2013–14.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Key measures, Taxes
The Chancellor introduced, with immediate effect, a new rate of stamp duty of 7% on properties purchased for over £2 million. The rate increases to 15% if any such property is bought through a company. This was a common tax avoidance strategy where individuals could set up a limited liability company which bought the property, thereby avoiding paying stamp duty, and then immediately sold it back to the individual. Osborne said this abuse "roused the anger of many of our citizens".


2012 United Kingdom budget, Key measures, Taxes
Corporation tax was cut to 24% from 26% with effect from April 2012. The rate will reduce to 22% by 2014, which Osborne described as "dramatically lower" than the UK's competitors. He announced a consultation on simplifying the tax system for smaller businesses. The television production, video gaming, and animation industries benefited from new tax reliefs, designed to keep creative talent in Britain.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Key measures, Taxes
From January 2013, the bank levy will increase to 0.105%, raising £2.5 billion in revenue.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Key measures, Taxes
Duty on tobacco was raised immediately by 5% above inflation, but there was no change to the already planned increase of alcohol duty by 2% above inflation. A new duty was introduced on gaming machines at a standard rate of 20%, reduced to 5% on small jackpot games.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Key measures, Taxes
The planned increase in fuel duty of 3.02p per litre would still go ahead from 1 August 2012, with road tax to rise in line with inflation. Osborne said he would welcome private investment in Britain's roads. Another already planned increase in Air Passenger Duty would also go ahead in April 2012.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Key measures, Benefits
According to a sliding scale, less child benefit will be applicable when one person in a household has an annual income over £50,000. The benefit will be reduced by 1% for each £100 earned above £50,000 per year, so the benefit will be zero for an income above £60,000.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Key measures, Benefits
The British Armed Forces will benefit from savings made by the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. An extra £100 million would be invested in military accommodation; the families' welfare grant was doubled; and service personnel serving overseas will receive 100% relief on average council tax bill.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Economy
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) revised upward its forecast for economic growth in the UK for 2012 from 0.7% to 0.8%. It estimated growth of 2% in 2013, 2.7% in 2014, and 3% in each of the two following years.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Economy
The OBR also forecast that the unemployment rate would peak at 8.7% in 2012 before falling each year to 6.3% by 2016/17. Over the coming five years, one million new jobs would be created.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Economy
Government borrowing for 2011/12 was estimated to reduce by £1 billion to £126 billion, with further reductions to £120 billion in 2012/13, then £98 billion in 2013/14 and ultimately to £21 billion by 2016/17.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Economy
Osborne forecast that inflation would fall from 2.8% in 2012 to 1.9% in 2013.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Reactions
Labour's Ed Miliband, the Leader of the Opposition, said the coalition government's budget "failed the fairness test" and that cutting the top rate of income tax to 45% from 50% showed it was a "millionaire's budget which squeezes the middle".


2012 United Kingdom budget, Reactions
Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat business secretary, stated that reducing the top income tax rate was "sensible", though it would not have been his "priority" had it been his budget. Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, called the coalition's budget one that "every liberal can be proud of".


2012 United Kingdom budget, Reactions
There was mixed reaction in the business sector. The Institute of Directors welcomed the cut in corporation tax to 24% from 26% with further reductions to 22% by 2014, and the Confederation of British Industry's director-general said Osborne's budget "provided a much-needed confidence boost". The national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses said his organisation was "pleased with some" aspects of the budget, while business owners in the brewing and pub industry criticised the already planned increase in alcohol duty.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Reactions
Teachers' unions the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, National Union of Teachers and NASUWT said the chancellor had failed to deliver a budget for promoting children's and young people's policies and wanted more investment in schools.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Reactions
The plan to go ahead with a rise in fuel duty in August 2012 was met with dismay by motor industry figures. The AA's president said the move would "force drivers off the road" and "makes no allowance for car-dependent, rural and disabled drivers". The chief executives of several airlines attacked the government for proceeding with an 8% rise in Air Passenger Duty, which the Airport Operators Association warned would harm the country's tourism industry and "needlessly jeopardise the recovery of the economy".


2012 United Kingdom budget, Reactions
The Daily Telegraph reported that the capping of tax relief at 25% for individuals claiming more than £50,000 per year was effectively a "25 per cent minimum tax rate" and was a Tycoon Tax in all but name.


2012 United Kingdom budget, Reactions
As the year progressed, several of the measures in the budget were reversed, provoking further reaction from opposition politicians. Labour Party leader and Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband MP, in a speech to the House of Commons during Prime Minister's Questions on 18 April 2012 said:


2012 United Kingdom budget, Reactions
On charities, the reality is that the Prime Minister is not making the rich worse off. He is making charities worse off. Over the past month we have seen the charity tax shambles, the churches tax shambles, the caravan tax shambles and the pasty tax shambles, so we are all keen to hear the Prime Minister’s view on why he thinks, four weeks on from the Budget, even people within Downing Street are calling it an omnishambles Budget.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis
In March 2012 Unite trades union warned it was considering a strike over health and safety standards. Unite represents around 2,000 tanker drivers, who deliver fuel to 90% of Britain's forecourts. Although no strike took place, Government action precipitated panic-buying and a woman was very seriously injured after following a minister's advice to store extra petrol.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Background
Towards the end of 2007, fuel prices exceeded £1 per litre with a two-pence rise in fuel tax in October, resulting in the highest diesel prices and the fourth highest for petrol in Europe. New protests were planned by two unconnected groups, one called Transaction 2007 and the Road Haulage Association (RHA). The RHA is currently headed by Chief Executive Mr Geoff Dunning. Protesters claimed that forecourts and oil firms were profiteering. Tanker drivers also claimed felt that they were being neglected and over worked. They were also concerned about the outsourcing in the haulage industry has triggered relentless pressure on cutting costs, with firms likes of Asda, Shell and Esso all contracting out their deliveries to low quality rivals.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Background
Union representatives and tanker drivers revealed that some vehicles can weigh 44 tonnes and can carry around 36,000 to 40,000 litres of fuel. Some drivers can start at two in the morning and work until two in the afternoon, with one weekend off every 14 weeks.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Background
News of the planned industrial action days after George Osborne had outlined the imposition of 20 per cent VAT on hot pies, more public sector cuts, council workers' pension cuts and the planned NHS reforms in mid-March.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Background
The Panic buying at forecourts across the UK in March 2012 began after Unite members threatened to vote to strike. According to their critics (including the AA), both statements from UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Cabinet Minister Francis Maude, and poor media coverage, encouraged tens of thousands of motorists to panic buy, leading to a number of forecourts running out of fuel.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Background
Unite members must legally give seven days' prior notification of a strike; no such notification had been given as of 30 March.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Background
Panic buying and long queues at garages were reported in Banbury, Christchurch and Crawley.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Background
The Unite trades union threatened a strike over health and safety standards earlier in March 2012. Unite represents around 2,000 tanker drivers, who deliver fuel to 90% of Britain's forecourts.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 25 March
The Cabinet Office Minister, Francis Maude, called upon both the Unite union, who was balloting for a drivers' strike at seven fuel distribution firms, to seek an agreement with distribution companies via ACAS. The Unite Union's rep's argued that the outsourcing in the haulage industry has triggered relentless pressure on cutting costs, with firms likes of Asda, Shell and Esso all contracting out their deliveries to low quality rivals.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 25 March
The Government said preparations were underway, the army tanker fleet was put on standby as petrol tanker drivers at 5 of the 7 firms voted on strike action.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 25 March
The Petrol Retailers Association, whose membership represents more than 5,500 petrol stations, said that it knew nothing about any form of planned government contingency plans and was advising members to keep fuel levels high. The group's chairman, Brian Madderson told the BBC: "We have had no word from the Department of Energy and Climate Change whatsoever."


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 27 March
Ministers consider plans to train up military personnel to ensure that fuel supplies are maintained at a cabinet meeting. Confused statements from UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Cabinet Minister Francis Maude, and later poor quality/alarmist media coverage lead to tens of thousands of motorists panic buying in Banbury, Christchurch and Crawley.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 27 March
By midday, Francis Maude had told drivers that they should make sure they have enough fuel in their vehicles and "maybe a little bit in their garage as well in a jerry can". However, both the AA and fire-fighters have now called on him to withdraw the advice, because of the risk of explosions in garages. The shadow transport secretary, Maria Eagle, warned of a danger of panic fuel buying, as did the AA after the government urged motorists to be ready for a strike-induced shortage. The AA also warned of the danger of panic-buying.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 27 March
Andrew Howard, its spokesman, said: "If people begin panic-buying we could well have shortages in fuel even before the strike.". As the day progressed there were scenes of long queues at petrol pumps in Liverpool, Preston and Kent, while pumps ran dry in Wilmslow in Cheshire and Llandudno Junction in North Wales.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 27 March
Some garages capped individual sales to stretch reserves, by using methods such as a 25-litre or £20 maximum spend on any one purchase.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 27 March
Other forecourts had introduced 'minimum spend' rules of £35, to try and prevent motorists who have a half-full tank from filling up again, as well as to turn an extra profit in a time of crisis.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 28 March
That morning David Cameron told a press conference that the fuel tanker drivers' strike has no justification and was part of a supposed Labour party plot to undermine his government.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 28 March
Later on BBC Radio 4's World at One, Maude denied that he had earlier told people to fill jerry cans.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 28 March
Petrol ran low in some Dorset, Hertfordshire and Herefordshire forecourts.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 29 March
Petrol Retailers Association said petrol sales increased by more than 170% and sales of diesel were up by almost 80%. Babu Jha, manager of MPK Filling Station in Leicester's Dysart Way, said on the 29th: "We have been really busy, probably three times as much as usual. People seem to be panicking." as demand rose heavily in Leicester. The Aintree forecourt attendant Farhaan Mohammed, 21, said expected petrol to have run out by the end of trading and that there was no guarantee from Esso of more fuel. Worried motorists in Crawley and Horley queued for petrol.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 29 March
The Texaco garage in Telscombe Cliffs ran out of fuel and customers began rowing outside the petrol station at Asda in Hollingbury after accusations of queue jumping, as the stretched from the forecourt in to Carden Avenue.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 29 March
Taxi drivers reported long petrol queues in Clarence Place, Coroporation Road and parts of Maindee in Newport. ABC Taxis told drivers to top up amid fears stations would sell out.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 29 March
A van driver in Leeds said he had to wait for 30 minutes to get fuel, while a forecourt on the outskirts Harrogate had run out of fuel by 11.30am.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 29 March
Retail store Halfords reported "high" sales of fuel cans. Sales of all cans have soared by 225% compared with this time last year, with motorists buying in "the thousands", while sales of jerry cans are up by more than 500%.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 29 March
The Energy Secretary, Ed Davey urged motorists to "Keep tanks two-thirds full, but don't panic. ".


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 29 March
The London Fire Brigade urged businesses to place legal warnings on websites and petrol cans. Chief Inspector Nick Maton of Dorset Police warned motorists not to panic.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 30 March
That morning, Crawley's MP, Henry Smith said to the local newspaper's reporters that he supported the Government was right to warn people to prepare for a potential fuel strike, backed up France's Maude's advice (despite criticism that it caused panicked queues of spooked drivers and shortages at several petrol pumps). He also condemned the Labour Party's funding by the Trades Unions and accused the tanker drivers of being "lazy fat cats".


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 30 March
Later, the Government and national media went on to claim that the panic buying had led to an incident in which a woman from Moorgate, in Acomb, near York was badly burned at home, when petrol ignited as she transferred it between containers in her kitchen on 30 March. The North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service issued a warning online and on Radio 5 over the storage of petrol.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 30 March
Diesel ran out in Banbury and Adderbury. Petrol and diesel both ran out in Hammersmith Bridge in South Shields and Newcastle upon Tyne. Long queues occurred in several places such as Banbury, Crawley and Gateshead in N.E. England.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 30 March
Police in southwest England asked many petrol stations to close temporarily amid violent and desperate panic buying by hysterical and fear-crazed motorists (A phenomenon called 'fuel rage' by police and forecourt staff). Later that evening the Tesco filling station at Inshes, Inverness, finally ran out of fuel. Motorists in Crawley and Horley queued for petrol.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 30 March
By mid-day the Unite's leadership ruled out Easter fuel strikes and negotiations were started at ACAS. and talks were planned for the next week.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 30 March
Morrisons in Freemen's Common, Leicester, and Asda at Fosse Park, used supermarket staff to act as marhals in an attempt manage motorists panicked motorists pumps. The Shell garage on the A6, near Leicester Racecourse, by midday and Tesco filling station in Hamilton, near Leicester, was out of both petrol and diesel by the evening, with later reports of several other stations exhausting their supplies. Queuing also occurred at the Shell Trocadero in Uppingham Road, Leicester.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 30 March
300 Army personnel were eventually trained to drive fuel tankers and were placed on standby to help maintain essential supplies.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 30 March
During the middle of the day London's Mayor, Boris Johnson called for the creation of a National Emergency Plan.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 30 March
Labour peer Lord Harris called for Francis Maude to resign in the wake of Diane Hill burning herself.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 30 March
The UK Petroleum Industry Association described fuel crisis as "self-inflicted insanity and condemned the Department of Energy's poor handling of the crisis. Several business leaders also said in a press release late that evening, warning that a strike would destroy the economy, cause a recession, and close small businesses.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 31 March
The government told people via the Department for Energy and Climate Change web page to stop panic buying after the Unite union ruled out a strike over Easter.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 31 March
There was still little sign of the situation easing as drivers formed queues of up to half a mile at those filling stations still holding supplies. Many forecourts were rationing drivers to as little as £10 each, while others imposed a minimum spend of £25. A Cornish garage even refused to serve anyone who was "not local" after the owner decided to turn away holidaymakers in favour of regular customers and account holders as supplies in Cornwall began to dry up.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 31 March
Trade at Banbury's Texaco and Adderbury's Esso had slackened, but were still out of diesel. Some afternoon queues and shortages at the petrol stations in Leeds, Tonbridge in Kent, Egham, Bromley in south-east London, Finchampstead in Berkshire and St Albans. PCSOs manned the pumps at Esso Tesco Express petrol station on Soundwell Road, Bristol.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 31 March
Evening demand for fuel appeared to be dropping, with unleaded petrol sales down from 172% above normal on Thursday to 57% above normal on 30th, according to independent retailers' group RMI Petrol. Diesel sales were down from 77% above normal on 29th to 29% above normal on the 30th. The AA estimated that one in five stations ran out of fuel that day.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 31 March
A BP spokesperson stated that there had been a reduction in demand on the forecourts but some were still low or had completely run out of stock and were awaiting deliveries.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 31 March
Motoring organisations also warned of a 2-3-day backlog as tanker crews attempt to refuel petrol stations.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 31 March
Several Labour MPs have also called for the resignation of the Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude over comments he made advising storing petrol in jerrycans.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 1 April
The planned strike was abandoned in the face of continuing talks at ACAS. The government introduces new taxes to make up for 'lost' tax revenue.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 2 April
Conciliation talks were planned between UNITE and Bosses at ACAS on 4 April according to an ACAS spokesperson.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 2 April
The RMI chairman, Brian Madderson, warning of a repeat of the previous week's fuel panic if talks failed.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 18 April
Talks began to break down between the Unite Union and bosses at the Acas summit. A conference of 60 oil tanker drivers Unite's London headquarters rejected the proposals made by fuel distributors. The tanker drivers asked for the Health and Safety Executive and to create a tanker driver accreditation licence or "passport".


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 8 May
A Unite spokesman said that 57.5% of members on a turnout of 79.5% voted for action short of strike in the union's re-ballot on the issue.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 11 May
Unite members voted by 51% in favour of the boss's proposals, which included the introduction of an industrywide accreditation covering health safety and training, a Unite said in a statement issued at its website.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, The event, 12 May
Unite chairwoman Diana Holland said the narrow vote would lead to no strike action taking place.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Public Safety issues
An AA statement said: "A lady about 75 was seen filling up 20 empty one-gallon paint tins with plastic lids and also a tray of jam jars in her boot with petrol". The incident was in Macclesfield, Cheshire.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Public Safety issues
One motorist tried to fill a pair of 1 gallon glass flagons with petrol in South Wales. The nozzle of the pump was, in fact, bigger than the neck of the flagon, and the fuel was spilt over the surrounding ground.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Public Safety issues
A motorist in Ilkley, Yorkshire, was ejected from a garage forecourt after he had snatched the pump out of the hand of another driver.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Public Safety issues
Firefighters were called to deal with a fuel spillage after a car was overfilled with petrol in Deerswood Road, Crawley, West Sussex.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Public Safety issues
Firefighters were called to deal with a fuel spillage after a motorist was ejected from a garage because he had snatched the pump out of the hand of an elderly driver.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Aftermath
It was estimated that the panic buying would bring in £32 million in fuel excise duty.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Aftermath
The government announced new taxes on 1 April to compensate for 'lost' strike related tax revenue. The APD tax for short-haul flights went up from £12 to £13, while the tax on a long-haul rose to between £62 (to the United States) to £92 (to Australia). An increase in NHS prescription charges in England of 25p to £7.65.


2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Aftermath
A new Northern Irish Assembly business levy on large stores comes into force in Northern Ireland on 2 April. It revalued rates on commercial premises that have a rateable value of more than £500,000. The proceeds will be used to reduce rates for smaller businesses, affecting 76 and is thought it will cost big shops an average of £66,000 a year. Ikea claimed that Finance Minister Sammy Wilson could be putting jobs at risk.


2012 United Kingdom local elections
The 2012 United Kingdom local elections were held across England, Scotland and Wales on 3 May 2012. Elections were held in 128 English local authorities, all 32 Scottish local authorities and 21 of the 22 Welsh unitary authorities, alongside three mayoral elections including the London mayoralty and the London Assembly. Referendums were also held in 11 English cities to determine whether or not to introduce directly elected mayors.


2012 United Kingdom local elections
The BBC's projected national vote share put Labour on 38%, the Conservatives on 31%, the Liberal Democrats on 16% and others on 15%. Rallings and Thrasher of Plymouth University estimated 39% for Labour, 33% for the Conservatives, 15% for the Liberal Democrats, and 13% for others.


2012 United Kingdom local elections
The inaugural election of police and crime commissioners for 41 of the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales took place separately, in November 2012.


2012 United Kingdom local elections, Electoral process
All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on Thursday 3 May 2012 were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those who were temporarily away from their ordinary address (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) were also entitled to vote in the local elections, although those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors cannot vote in the local elections.


2012 United Kingdom local elections, Electoral process
It is possible to register to vote at more than one address (such as a university student who had a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) at the discretion of the local Electoral Register Office, but it remains an offence to vote more than once in the same local government election.


2012 United Kingdom local elections, Electoral process
The deadline to register to vote in the election was midnight on Wednesday 18 April 2012, though anyone who qualified as an anonymous elector had until midnight on Thursday 26 April 2012 to register.


2012 United Kingdom local elections, England
The local authorities having elections in 2012 (excluding mayoral elections) covered about 40% of the total English electorate, with 15.9 million electors entitled to vote. Turnout overall was 31.0%.


2012 United Kingdom local elections, England
In summary, the accumulated local authority vote and seats won by political party was: