2012 Barcelona Ladies Open – Singles
Roberta Vinci was the defending champion, but lost in the second round to Simona Halep 6–1, 6–3. Sara Errani won the tournament, beating Dominika Cibulková 6–2, 6–2 in the final.


2012 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell
The 2012 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (also known as the Torneo Godó) was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 60th edition of the event and it was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2012 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, from 23 April through 29 April 2010. First-seeded Rafael Nadal won the singles title.


2012 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2012 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell – Doubles
Santiago González and Scott Lipsky were the defending champions but decided not to participate together. González partnered up with Christopher Kas but lost in the Quarterfinals, while Lipsky played alongside Rajeev Ram but lost in the first round. Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski won the tournament defeating Marcel Granollers and Marc López in the final.


2012 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell – Singles
Defending champion Rafael Nadal successfully defended his title, defeating David Ferrer in the final, 7–6(7–1), 7–5. It was his record-extending seventh title at the Barcelona Open.


2012 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell – Singles, Seeds
Top 9 seeds received a bye into the second round.


2012 Barcelona Sporting Club season
Barcelona Sporting Club's 2012 season was the club's 87th year of existence, the 59th year in professional football, and the 54th in the top level of professional football in Ecuador.


2012 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2012 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council in South Yorkshire, England. One third of the council will be up for election.


2012 Barum Czech Rally Zlín
The 2012 Barum Czech Rally Zlín was the ninth round of the 2012 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) season, and also a round of the European Rally Championship. The fifteen stage asphalt rally took place over 31 August - 2 September 2012. Other than the opening stage on Friday night, all stages were run in daylight.


2012 Barum Czech Rally Zlín, Results
Juho Hänninen took his third win in the 2012 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2012 proceeded according to rules most recently revised in July 2010. As in the past, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from a ballot of recently retired players, with results announced on January 9, 2012.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
The Golden Era Committee, the second of three new era committees established by the July 2010 rules change, replacing the Veterans Committee, convened early in December 2011 to select from a Golden Era ballot of retired players and non-playing personnel who made their greatest contributions to the sport between 1947 and 1972, called the "Golden Era" by the Hall of Fame.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
The induction class consisted of Ron Santo, elected by the Golden Era Committee, and Barry Larkin, elected by the BBWAA.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
The induction ceremonies were held on July 22, 2012, at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. On July 21, the Hall presented two awards for media excellence—its own Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters and the BBWAA's J. G. Taylor Spink Award for writers.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The BBWAA ballot was announced on November 30, 2011. The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1992 or later, but not after 2006; the ballot included candidates from the 2011 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last playing appearance was in 2006. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The ballot consisted of the 14 candidates who received at least 5% of the vote in the 2011 election, plus 13 first-time candidates. Voters were instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates. Under BBWAA rules, write-in votes were not permitted.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Results of the 2011 election by the BBWAA were announced on January 9, 2012. A total of 573 ballots were cast (including nine ballots which supported no candidates), with 430 votes required for election. A total of 2,921 individual votes were cast, an average of 5.10 per ballot - the lowest rate ever, breaking the record of 5.32 set in 1997. Any candidate who received votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be inducted. Those candidates who received less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated with a dagger (). The candidate who received at least 75% of the vote and was elected is indicated in bold italics; candidates selected in subsequent elections, if any, will be indicated in italics.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The newly eligible candidates included 20 All-Stars, 9 of whom were not on the ballot, representing a total of 33 All-Star selections. Bernie Williams was the only candidate selected to at least five All-Star Games; he was selected exactly five times. The new field of candidates featured a pair of four-time Gold-Glove winners (Williams in center, Mike Matheny at catcher) and a pair of Rookie-of-the-Year Award winners (Todd Hollandsworth and Tim Salmon), neither of whom was ever selected for an All-Star Game.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The biggest issue surrounding this election, as in elections in the recent past, was the controversy over use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). During the 2012 voting, debate about the influence of steroids on the game in the 1990s was widely believed to have affected the vote totals for several power hitters on the ballot, including McGwire, Bagwell, Walker, Palmeiro, and González, regardless of whether they had ever tested positive for steroid use or had even been accused of involvement with steroids. Of these players:


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The field of potential new candidates was considered to be weaker than it was in 2011. The most prominent new candidates included Bernie Williams, Rubén Sierra, Vinny Castilla, Eric Young, Tim Salmon, and Brad Radke. Williams was the only new candidate who received enough votes to remain on the ballot in 2013.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Players who were eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Manny Alexander, Edgardo Alfonzo, Pedro Astacio, David Bell, Giovanni Carrara, Mike DeJean, Einar Díaz, Joey Eischen, Scott Erickson, Carl Everett, Jeff Fassero, Alex Gonzalez, Danny Graves, Todd Greene, Jason Grimsley, Chris Hammond, Rick Helling, Dustin Hermanson, Jose Hernandez, Todd Hollandsworth, Damian Jackson, Kevin Jarvis, Steve Karsay, Tim Laker, Matt Lawton, Eli Marrero, Mike Matheny, Quinton McCracken, Dan Miceli, Jeff Nelson, Eduardo Pérez, Todd Pratt, Curtis Pride, Joe Randa, Mike Remlinger, Félix Rodríguez,  Michael Tucker, José Vizcaíno, Chris Widger, Tim Worrell and Esteban Yan. José Lima last played in 2006, but was eligible for consideration in 2011 due to his death on May 23, 2010.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
ESPN.com columnist Jim Caple noted several days before the announcement of the 2012 results that the PED issue and the BBWAA's limit of 10 votes per ballot was likely to result in a major backlog in upcoming elections:


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Due to the steroid issue and a general lack of consensus, the following players will probably be on the ballot in three years: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martínez, Randy Johnson, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Bagwell, John Smoltz, Edgar Martínez, Mark McGwire, Mike Mussina, Jeff Kent, Larry Walker, Alan Trammell, Fred McGriff, Rafael Palmeiro, Lee Smith, Tim Raines, Gary Sheffield, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and, of course, Bernie [Williams]. That's 21 players who warrant serious consideration. And that's not counting Barry Larkin, who might be [Ed.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
– and was] elected this year, and also assuming Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Craig Biggio and Frank Thomas make it their first years on the ballot. Finding room for Bonds, Clemens, Pedro, Johnson and others means I'll have to dump more good players from my ballot than the Marlins dumped after winning the 1997 World Series.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
In keeping with the restructured Hall of Fame voting procedure, the existing BBWAA-appointed Historical Overview Committee identified 10 Golden Era candidates who were judged to have made their greatest contributions between 1947 and 1972. Along with the 1947–1972 era, these rules defined the consideration set:


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
Historical Overview Committee (11 BBWAA members): Dave Van Dyck (Chicago Tribune); Bob Elliott (Toronto Sun); Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch); Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau); Bill Madden (New York Daily News); Ken Nigro (formerly The Baltimore Sun); Jack O'Connell (BBWAA secretary/treasurer); Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle); Claire Smith (ESPN); Tracy Ringolsby (FSN Rocky Mountain); and Mark Whicker (Orange County Register).


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
The Golden Era Ballot for election by the Golden Era Committee on December 5 was released on November 3, 2011, and the Hall of Fame announced the results on December 5, 2011.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
Kaat, Miñoso, Oliva, and Tiant were living when the ballot was announced.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
Golden Era Committee (16-member committee appointed by the Hall's Board of Directors) was announced at the same time as the Golden Era ballot:


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
The Committee convened at the 2011 winter meetings on December 5, 2011 with the standard 75% or 12 of 16 votes required for election and July 22, 2012 induction.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
The J. G. Taylor Spink Award has been presented by the BBWAA at the annual summer induction ceremonies since 1962. Through 2010, it was awarded during the main induction ceremony, but is now awarded the previous day at the Hall of Fame Awards Presentation. It recognizes a sportswriter "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing". The recipients are not members of the Hall of Fame but are featured in a permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Museum.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
The three nominees for the 2012 award were selected by a three-person BBWAA committee and announced at the BBWAA's annual All-Star Game meeting on July 12, 2011 at Chase Field in Phoenix. They were Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun; Paul Hagen, then of the Philadelphia Daily News; and Russell Schneider, formerly of The Plain Dealer of Cleveland. This was the fourth consecutive year Elliott had been nominated.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
Under BBWAA rules, the winner was to be announced either during the 2011 World Series or at the 2011 winter meetings. The winner of the 2012 J. G. Taylor Spink Award, announced at the winter meetings, was Bob Elliott, who received 205 votes from the 455 ballots cast. Hagen received 169 votes and Schneider 61. Elliott became the first Canadian recipient of the award.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
This is Elliott's second award for writing excellence from a major baseball hall of fame. He was the 2010 recipient of the Jack Graney Award, given irregularly for excellence in either writing or broadcasting, from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
The Ford C. Frick Award, honoring excellence in baseball broadcasting, has been presented at the induction ceremonies since 1978. Through 2010, it had been presented at the main induction ceremony, but is now presented at the Awards Presentation. Recipients are not members of the Hall of Fame but are permanently recognized in an exhibit at the museum. To be eligible, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, a network, or a combination of the two.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
The honor is based on four criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans. The recipient was announced during the 2011 winter meetings, following a vote by the same committee that selected seven of the finalists (below).


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
Ten finalists were announced on October 5, 2011. In accord with guidelines established in 2003, seven were chosen by a committee composed of the living recipients along with broadcasting historians and columnists. Three were selected from a list of candidates by fan voting in September 2011 at the Hall's Facebook page.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
Five candidates were living when the ballot was announced—the active McCarver, Nadel, and Shannon; and the retired Cárdenas and Doucet.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
On December 7, Tim McCarver, the lead analyst for Major League Baseball on Fox since 1996, was named as the recipient. A catcher in MLB for 22 years, mostly with the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies, he joined the Phillies' local television broadcast team almost immediately after his first retirement as a player in 1979 (he would briefly return as a player late in the 1980 season). From there, he went on to the New York Mets' local broadcast team before moving to national network television. McCarver has been an analyst for all four of the major U.S. over-the-air broadcast networks during his career.


2012 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
McCarver became the second Frick Award winner, after 2009 recipient Tony Kubek, whose broadcasting career was exclusively in television.


2012 Basildon Borough Council election
The 2012 Basildon Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Basildon Borough Council in Essex, England. One third of the council seats was to be elected.


2012 Basildon Borough Council election, Overall results
All comparisons in vote share are to the corresponding 2008 election.


2012 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election
The 2012 Basingstoke and Deane Council election was held on 3 May 2012 to elect members of  Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in Hampshire, England. 21 out of 60 seats were up for reelection; Popley East had two council seats up for reelection. The Conservative Party retained control of the council with 32 out of 60 seats, losing one seat to the Labour Party in Buckskin and losing another seat in Bramley and Sherfield to an Independent. Labour overtook the Liberal Democrats to become the largest opposition party and won two seats from them in Brighton Hill South and Brookvale and Kings Furlong.


2012 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election, Ward results, Popley East
Popley East had two seats up for re-election due to a vacancy. Thus, unlike the other wards, it elected councillors with plurality at-large voting rather than first past the post. If the top candidate method is used to gauge the number of votes for party (i.e. assuming the number of votes in support of a party is equal to the number of votes for its most popular candidate) instead of the raw vote, then the party's vote shares are: Labour 72.3%, Conservatives 16.2% and Liberal Democrats 11.4%.


2012 Basque regional election
The 2012 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 21 October 2012, to elect the 10th Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with a regional election in Galicia.


2012 Basque regional election
Lehendakari Patxi López announced the parliament's dissolution half a year ahead of schedule as a result of the People's Party (PP) withdrawing their support from his government, prompting Galician president Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who had been scheduling a snap election in Galicia to be held at some point throughout late 2012, to make his decision to have a simultaneous vote.


2012 Basque regional election
The election saw a heavy defeat for the ruling Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE), with the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) retaining first place with a slightly diminished support. In the first electoral campaign without ETA—the band had announced a "definitive cessation of its armed activity" in October 2011—the abertzale left experienced a major breakthrough under the EH Bildu label nine years after the illegalization of Batasuna, obtaining a record result with 21 seats and 24.7% of the share.


2012 Basque regional election
The PP deepened on its long-term decline and, with 11.6% and 10 seats, scored its worst result since 1990, while Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) retained its single seat in parliament. Altogether, the bloc formed by the PSE–EE, PP and UPyD which had supported López in 2009 was reduced from 39 to 27 seats.


2012 Basque regional election
Iñigo Urkullu of the PNV became the new lehendakari, forming a minority government with the sole support of his party after three-and-a-half years in opposition. Under Urkullu, the PNV would see an ideological realignment from former lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe's sovereigntist stance and confrontational style towards more moderate, pragmatic and big tent positions.


2012 Basque regional election, Overview, Electoral system
The Basque Parliament was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of the Basque Country, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the regional Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a lehendakari.


2012 Basque regional election, Overview, Electoral system
Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in the Basque Country and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Additionally, Basques abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado). The 75 members of the Basque Parliament were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency.


2012 Basque regional election, Overview, Electoral system
Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, being allocated a fixed number of 25 seats each to provide for an equal representation of the three provinces in parliament as required under the regional statute of autonomy. This meant that Álava was allocated the same number of seats as Biscay and Gipuzkoa, despite their populations being, as of 1 July 2012: 319,786, 1,152,156 and 708,042, respectively.


2012 Basque regional election, Overview, Electoral system
The use of the D'Hondt method might result in a higher effective threshold, depending on the district magnitude.


2012 Basque regional election, Overview, Election date
The term of the Basque Parliament expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election was held on 1 March 2009, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 1 March 2013. The election decree was required to be published in the BOPV no later than 5 February 2013, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 31 March 2013.


2012 Basque regional election, Overview, Election date
The lehendakari had the prerogative to dissolve the Basque Parliament at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a lehendakari within a sixty-day period from the Parliament re-assembly, the Parliament was to be dissolved and a fresh election called.


2012 Basque regional election, Overview, Election date
The People's Party (PP), on whose confidence and supply the López's government relied, withdrew their support in May 2012 claiming "difficulties in finding meeting points" with the Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE), leaving López in a clear minority. While initially intending to reach the end of the legislature, mounting pressure from both the PP and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) led López to announce on 21 August that he would be dissolving parliament and call a snap election for 21 October 2012 over an impossibility to keep carrying out the government's legislative agenda.


2012 Basque regional election, Background
Following the 2009 regional election, Patxi López of the PSE–EE became lehendakari through a confidence and supply agreement with the PP, bringing an end to 30 years of uninterrupted rule by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and sending the party to opposition in the regional parliament for the first time since the Spanish transition to democracy. The local PSE–PP alliance endured the historical rivalry at the national level between the two parties, despite suffering from frequent clashes as the PP set out a series of conditions for maintaining their support, as well as a steady opposition from the PNV. In May 2012, some months after winning the 2011 Spanish general election and forming the new Spanish government, the PP terminated the alliance in retaliation to the PSOE's opposition to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's reform agenda, prompting Patxi López to announce a snap regional election for October 2012.


2012 Basque regional election, Background
On 5 September 2010, ETA declared a ceasefire at a time when it found itself militarily weakened by police action—the group had been unable to stage any attack in Spanish territory since 9 August 2009—and beleaguered by infighting, distrust in the operational capacities and reliability of its members and pressures from abertzale left groups (which were being kept politically outlawed by Spanish courts) for the band to stop the killings. On 10 January 2011, ETA proclaimed its will for the September 2010 ceasefire to be "permanent, general and verifiable" by international observers. Three days after the Donostia-San Sebastián International Peace Conference held on 17 October 2011, ETA would announce a "definitive cessation of its armed activity".


2012 Basque regional election, Background
In April 2011, following the illegalization of Sortu in March—perceived as a continuation of Batasuna, the banned political branch of the ETA terrorist group—Eusko Alkartasuna (EA), Alternatiba and groups and independent individuals from the abertzale left formed a coalition named Bildu to contest the incoming 2011 local elections. Despite an early ruling by the Supreme Court on 2 May which barred Bildu from contesting, the Constitutional Court overturned the ban and allowed the coalition to run in the elections, in which it secured a major breakthrough by obtaining 25.6% and a majority of town councillors in the Basque Country.


2012 Basque regional election, Background
Aralar would join the coalition in late 2011 ahead of the 20 November general election under the Amaiur umbrella, which came second in the Basque Country with 24.1% of the vote, behind the PNV with 27.4%; in seats, however, Amaiur came out in top with six against the PNV's five.


2012 Basque regional election, Background
Subsequently, the four main groups that constituted Amaiur, namely Sortu—which would be legalized by the Constitutional Court in June 2012—EA, Alternatiba and Aralar, announced the establishment of EH Bildu as a joint electoral list ahead of the next Basque regional election, with Laura Mintegi being nominated as the alliance's candidate for lehendakari.


2012 Basque regional election, Parliamentary composition
The Basque Parliament was officially dissolved on 28 August 2012, after the publication of the dissolution decree in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country. The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.


2012 Basque regional election, Parties and candidates
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.


2012 Basque regional election, Parties and candidates
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:


2012 Basque regional election, Opinion polls
The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Basque Parliament.


2012 Bassetlaw District Council election
The 2012 Bassetlaw District Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Bassetlaw District Council in Nottinghamshire, England as part of the 2012 United Kingdom local elections. One third of the council was up for election. After the election, the composition of the council was:


2012 Baton Rouge mayoral election
The 2012 Baton Rouge mayoral election was held on November 6, 2012 to elect the mayor-president of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor-president Kip Holden. Since Holden won an outright majority in the first round, no runoff was necessitated.


2012 Bauer Watertechnology Cup
The 2012 Bauer Watertechnology Cup was a professional tennis tournament played on carpet courts. It was the 16th edition of the tournament which was part of the 2012 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Eckental, Germany between October 29 and November 4 2012.


2012 Bauer Watertechnology Cup, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Bauer Watertechnology Cup – Doubles
Andre Begemann and Alexander Kudryavtsev were the defending champions but Kudryavtsev decided not to participate. Begemann played alongside Martin Emmrich. James Cerretani and Adil Shamasdin won the title, defeating Tomasz Bednarek and Andreas Siljeström 6–3, 2–6, [10–4] in the final.


2012 Bauer Watertechnology Cup – Singles
Rajeev Ram is the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Jan Mertl. Daniel Brands won the title, defeating Ernests Gulbis 7–6(7–0), 6–3 in the final.


2012 Bavet shooting
The 2012 Bavet shooting was the shooting of three striking garment workers, Keo Near, Buot Chinda and Nuth Sakhorn, in Bavet, Svay Rieng, Cambodia, by then-town governor Chhouk Bandith on February 20, 2012. The shooting and the following court cases received national attention in Cambodia and have been characterised as highlighting the "culture of impunity among Cambodian officials implicated in scandals and the reluctance of Cambodian courts to find justice for the victims of attacks on labour activists."


2012 Bavet shooting, Shooting
In February 2012, thousands of workers were protesting for a pay raise and better working conditions in Manhattan Economic Zone in Bavet, Svay Rieng. Police used tear gas against some of the strikes, and on February 20, workers arriving for work at Kaoway Sports factory, a supplier of Puma, found the factory closed and guarded by police. The police told the workers they were there on the orders of city governor Chhouk Bandith. Throughout the morning, additional workers kept arriving, and around 7:55 am police notified Bandith.


2012 Bavet shooting, Shooting
Bandith was driven from his residence nearby to the scene and arrived around 8:00 am. Apparently noticing a group of workers attempting to destroy several video cameras, he shouted at the workers to stop and made their way towards them through the crowd. Once he arrived within a few meters of them, witnesses reported him drawing a gun from his waist and opening fire at the crowd. He hit Buot Chinda in the chest, piercing her lung, Nuth Sakhorn in the back and Keo Near in the arm. Witnesses also reported that Bandith attempted to further shoot his gun, but that a technical malfunction prevented him from doing so.


2012 Bavet shooting, Shooting
Bandith then fled and escaped a group of workers pursuing him while Near, Sakhorn and Chinda were taken to a hospital.


2012 Bavet shooting, Criminal proceedings, First case
Bandith went back to work before Near, Sakhorn and Chinda were released from hospital. All three also said town officials had tried to buy their silence, offering them between $500 and $1,000 if they did not press charges. Near, Sakhorn and Chinda all filed complaints against Bandith, demanding $45,000 in compensation.


2012 Bavet shooting, Criminal proceedings, First case
Bandith was publicly named as suspect by Interior Minister Sar Kheng on March 1, 2012. His removal as town governor, in order to prevent him from influencing the ongoing trial, was announced on March 8. However, with the same decree, he was also given an unspecified position in the Svay Rieng province administration.


2012 Bavet shooting, Criminal proceedings, First case
On March 15, Bandith was summoned for questioning to Svay Rieng provincial court. There, he confessed to the shooting, but was afterwards let go. "He confessed to the shooting but he gave me many for reasons for that", the Provincial Prosecutor said. "It is my right not to arrest [him]. I don't see it as important." Government officials meanwhile said the decision of arresting a suspect was up to the court. On the same day, numerous trade unions and civil society organisations called for Bandith's arrest.


2012 Bavet shooting, Criminal proceedings, First case
Still, on April 19, charges were filed against Bandith. On May 14, the prosecutor announced that Bandith "had not intended to injure the three women" and he would therefore be charged with the misdemeanour offence of "causing injury without intent". Meanwhile, the workers' lawyers said Special Economic Zone personnel did not allow them to collect evidence at the crime scene.


2012 Bavet shooting, Criminal proceedings, First case
In August, the chief of penal police in Bavet was also put under court supervision on the same charges as Bandith. He was finally convicted of the illegal use of a weapon, fined and sentenced to six months' imprisonment.


2012 Bavet shooting, Criminal proceedings, First case
On December 18, the case against Bandith was dropped without explanation. This was swiftly condemned by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch. Government officials again said the decision was in the hands of the court.


2012 Bavet shooting, Criminal proceedings, Second case
After a public outcry, the Court of Appeals announced it would take on the case on January 2, 2013. On March 4, Bandith was charged again and the case sent back to Svay Rieng Provicinal Court. The case was repeatedly delayed because neither Bandith nor his lawyers appeared for the proceedings.


2012 Bavet shooting, Criminal proceedings, Second case
The verdict of the second case was announced on June 25. Bandith was convicted of "causing unintentional bodily harm" and sentenced to a fine and one and a half years in prison. Cambodian civil rights organisations, including Licadho and ADHOC, protested against this light sentence. The latter also said the sentence meant little as long as Bandith remained at large. The court also, for the first time, ordered Bandith's arrest, but Bandith remained at large. He still managed to appeal his conviction.


2012 Bavet shooting, Imprisonment in 2015 and aftermath
Bandith remained at large from 2013 to 2015. In March 2015, Interpol issued a red notice for him. In July 2015 Near, Chinda and Sakhorn petitioned parliament regarding the case, saying they were living in fear of Bandith's retribution and that they were still not able to work again full time. On August 3, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly called for Bandith's arrest after years of silence on the matter. Days later, on August 8, 2015, Bandith turned himself in to police and began his prison term in Svay Rieng Provincial Prison on the same day. The arrest was praised by trade unions including C.CAWDU.


2012 Bavet shooting, Imprisonment in 2015 and aftermath
According to NGO reports, Bandith enjoyed preferential treatment in prison and was allowed considerably more freedom than other inmates. He had also not paid the $9,279 he was ordered to pay to Near, Chinda and Sakhorn as compensation. He finished his 18-month jail term on February 8, 2017. On July 23, 2020, Phnom Penh Appeal Court announced it had ruled in favour of Bandith's rehabilitation, nullifying any remaining part of his sentence. It was unclear whether this meant he would be reinstated into his former position as governor of Bavet.


2012 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election
The 2012 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election occurred on February 11, 2012. PDP's Seriake Dickson won election for a first term, defeating other party candidates. Dickson received 89% of the total vote.


2012 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election
Seriake Dickson emerged the PDP candidate in the gubernatorial primary election. His running mate was Gboribiogha John Jonah.


2012 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, Electoral system
The Governor of Bayelsa State is elected using the plurality voting system.


2012 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, Primary election, PDP primary
The PDP primary election was scheduled to be held on November 19, 2011. The two main contenders were: Timipre Sylva and Henry Seriake Dickson. Sittinɡ governor, Seriake Dickson, was appointed by the party's working committee in the state as their candidate.


2012 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, Primary election, PDP primary
Timipre Sylva, the immediate past governor was disqualified from contesting in the primaries by the Supreme Court, after winning the party's primary election in 2011, just two months to the 2012 election.


2012 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, Results
PDP candidate Seriake Dickson won the election for a first term, defeating other party candidates. Dickson received 89% of the votes. Voters turnout statewide was put at about 72%.


2012 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, Results
The total number of registered voters in the state was 591,870. Total number of votes cast was 467,004.


2012 Bayern–Rundfahrt
The 2012 Bayern–Rundfahrt was the 33rd edition of the Bayern–Rundfahrt, an annual cycling road race. Departing from Traunstein on 22 May, it concluded in Bamberg on 27 May. The 801.9 km long stage race was part of the 2012 UCI Europe Tour, and was rated as a 2.HC event. It was eventually won by Michael Rogers of Team Sky.


2012 Bayern–Rundfahrt, Teams
19 teams were invited to participate in the tour: 9 UCI ProTeams, 5 UCI Professional Continental Teams and 5 UCI Continental Teams.


2012 Bayern–Rundfahrt, Stages, Stage 1
23 May 2012 – Traunstein to Penzberg, 215.7 km (134.0 mi)'


2012 Bayern–Rundfahrt, Stages, Stage 2
24 May 2012 – Penzberg to Kempten, 195.6 km (121.5 mi)'


2012 Bayern–Rundfahrt, Stages, Stage 3
25 May 2012 – Kempten to Treuchtlingen, 196.4 km (122.0 mi)'


2012 Bayern–Rundfahrt, Stages, Stage 4
26 May 2012 – individual time trial (ITT) in Feuchtwangen, 26.4 km (16.4 mi)'


2012 Bayern–Rundfahrt, Stages, Stage 5
27 May 2012 – Feuchtwangen to Bamberg, 167.8 km (104.3 mi)'


2012 Baylor Bears football team
The 2012 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Art Briles and played its home games at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. The Bears were members of the Big 12 Conference. The conference slate began with a trip to Morgantown, West Virginia to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers, and concluded at home against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. On December 2, Baylor accepted a berth in the 2012 Holiday Bowl to face #17 UCLA, where they defeated the Bruins, 49–26, on December 27.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, SMU
Baylor came into the game 71–35–4 in season openers; in the series history between Baylor and SMU, SMU held a slim lead at 36–35–7, including an 18–17–3 record in Waco. The Bears struck first, going ahead 14–0 in the first quarter on touchdown passes from quarterback Nick Florence to wide receiver Lanear Sampson and tight end Jordan Najvar. In the second quarter, SMU scored a field goal to make the score 14–3. In a subsequent drive, the Mustangs advanced to the Baylor 9-yard-line before a tipped Garrett Gilbert pass was intercepted.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, SMU
Baylor scored a touchdown on the ensuing 75-yard, 39 second, three play drive to increase its lead to 21–3. That touchdown represented the first of 31 unanswered Baylor points in the second and third quarters, leaving Baylor with a commanding lead of 45–3 before SMU scored a touchdown with 1:58 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Both teams would tack on a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, with both teams' last touchdowns coming on passes from their backup quarterbacks (Baylor's Brice Petty and SMU's Conner Preston). The Bears' 59–24 win was their 7th consecutive win since the team's loss to Oklahoma State (October 29, 2011), and the fifth consecutive game that the Baylor offense scored 40 points or more.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Sam Houston State
The Bears and Bearkats met each other for the fourth time in school history. All 4 games have been in Waco. Baylor owned a 3–0 advantage. SHSU was led by quarterback Brian Bell, the younger brother of former Baylor quarterback Shawn Bell (2003–2006). The teams traded field goals in a low-scoring first quarter, and SHSU dominated the second quarter, taking a 20–10 lead into the half.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Sam Houston State
Baylor, however, dominated the second half, outscoring the Bearkats 38–3, with Florence chalking up two touchdown passes and running backs Glasco Martin IV and Lache Seastrunk adding touchdown runs of 5 and 15 yards, respectively. Darius Jones provided the Bears' final touchdown, returning an interception 73 yards to seal a 48–23 Baylor victory.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Louisiana–Monroe
The Bears and the Warhawks had never met prior to this Friday night game in the fourth week of the 2012 season. In the preceding two weeks, the Warhawks had stunned the college football world by defeating then #8 Arkansas 34–31 in overtime and taking Auburn to overtime in a 31–28 loss at Auburn. With excitement surrounding the Louisiana-Monroe program at an all-time high, the Bears traveled to Monroe to face the Warhawks in their home opener before a Malone Stadium-record crowd of 31,175. ULM struck first, capitalizing on two interceptions to take a 14–0 lead in the 1st quarter.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Louisiana–Monroe
Baylor outscored the Warhawks 34–14 in the next two quarters, and took a 34–28 lead into the fourth with ULM driving. The Warhawks would score on their drive spanning the third and fourth quarters to go ahead 35–34, but the Bears would answer with a 14-play, 73-yard drive of their own to go ahead 40–35 (a two-point conversion attempt failed). Baylor subsequently forced a fumble and drove down the field for another touchdown to make the score 47–35.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Louisiana–Monroe
ULM, fighting to the end, struck back to score a touchdown and pull within 5 points of Baylor; however, with only 6 seconds remaining, the subsequent onside kick was recovered by the Bears. The victory represented Baylor's ninth consecutive win, which at the time was the second-longest winning streak in the nation behind TCU. The game also represented the Bears' seventh consecutive game in which they scored more than 40 points.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, West Virginia
In this first-ever meeting of the two schools, #25 Baylor traveled to Morgantown, West Virginia to take on early Heisman favorite Geno Smith and the #9 ranked Mountaineers in their Big XII conference debut. With the teams featuring offenses among the best and defenses among the worst that the FBS had to offer, the stage was set for an offensive shootout. After an early Nick Florence interception led to a WVU drive capped by a missed field goal, the offenses matched each other score for score in a first half which saw 10 touchdowns in 15 drives.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, West Virginia
The half concluded dramatically: with WVU leading 35–28, Florence was forced from the pocket and, inches from crossing the line of scrimmage, unleashed a 67-yard touchdown pass while scrambling as time expired. The teams went into the half tied 35–35. West Virginia pulled away in the 3rd quarter with 21 points to Baylor's 7 and clung tenaciously to the lead, scoring two more touchdowns in the 4th to Baylor's three.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, West Virginia
The Mountaineers' victorious Big XII debut proved to be a record-setting affair: Geno Smith tied a conference record with eight passing touchdowns (having completed 45/51 attempts, he finished the game with more touchdown passes than incompletions); Nick Florence and Geno Smith set school records for single-game passing yardage (581 and 656 yards, respectively); West Virginia set a school record for total yardage (807 yards); Stedman Bailey hauled in a school record 5 touchdown receptions; and Bailey also set a Big XII conference record for single-game receiving yards (303 yards) only to see that surpassed moments later by Baylor's Terrance Williams, who finished with 314 receiving yards. Following the game, WVU moved to #8 in the AP poll, and Baylor dropped from the rankings. With 133 points combined, this game was the highest-scoring FBS game of 2012.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, TCU
Following their first defeat of the season, the Bears returned to Waco to take on the second Big 12 newcomer, a TCU Horned Frogs team suffering from attrition both on and off the field. Veteran TCU quarterback Casey Pachall had been suspended from the team less than two weeks prior, and freshman Trevon Boykin was slated to start his second game ever against Baylor. The game started well for the Bears, as Florence connected with Williams for a touchdown on the second offensive play of the game.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, TCU
But then the Baylor offense began to implode as Boykin and TCU responded to tie the game at 7–7 after the first of 4 Florence interceptions and 6 total turnovers on the day. TCU tacked on another touchdown to go into the half leading 14–7. During the third quarter the teams traded scores evenly to go to the fourth with the score 28–21 in favor of TCU. The fourth quarter was dominated by the Horned Frogs, who scored 3 touchdowns and held Baylor scoreless. The loss snapped Baylor's home winning streak and ended Baylor's streak of games in which they scored 40+ points.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Texas
A wild shootout in Austin ended with Baylor falling just short of a third consecutive victory over the Longhorns. Texas scored first on an 84-yard touchdown rush by Daje Johnson on the first play from scrimmage, and forced a Baylor punt. However, the Bears stopped the ensuing Texas drive, and an errant long snap with the Longhorns in punt formation led to an 8-yard Florence touchdown rush to tie the game. The teams scored a combined 10 touchdowns in a first half that ended with an Aaron Jones field goal to bring the Bears to within 11 points of Texas.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Texas
In the third quarter, Baylor scored nine points on a field goal and a touchdown (failed two-point conversion) to close to 40–42. But Texas held, scoring two more touchdowns and holding Baylor to a field goal on a subsequent scoring drive to maintain a 6-point lead. The 106 points scored was the most in any Longhorn football game since 1950, and the Longhorns yielded the most points in school history (50) in a winning effort.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Iowa State
After three straight losses, the Bears travelled to Ames, Iowa to take on an Iowa State team that had beaten TCU at home and played respectably against conference leader Kansas State. The game, played on a cold October night, had more than its share of dropped passes and offensive miscues. Iowa State attempted an onside kick to open the game that was recovered by Baylor; however, a Florence fumble in the end zone meant that the Bears would have to wait until more than midway through the first quarter to put up the game's first points.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Iowa State
Iowa State scored a touchdown in the first quarter to tie the game, and scored two more to Baylor's one in the second quarter to take a 21–14 lead into the half. The Bears continued to fight in the second, stopping a Cyclone drive with an interception in the red zone, but in a low-scoring second half Baylor's offense was able to reach the end zone only once more. In the meantime, ISU quarterback Steele Jantz set career highs for passing and touchdowns, tacking on two more passing touchdowns in the second half to go with his three from the first, and preserving the 35–21 victory for Iowa State.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Kansas
Back in Waco against the Jayhawks, Baylor jumped out to a 14–0 lead early behind two stops by the defense. A 59-yard touchdown rush by Kansas put them back in the game, but Baylor drove back down the field for a field goal and then stopped a Jayhawk drive early in the 2nd quarter that ended with a failed fake field goal rush at the Baylor 14-yard line. Subsequent offensive drives for both teams stalled until Kansas' Cummings, despite injuring his leg on the run, limped ahead of the Baylor defense into the end zone to make the game 17–14.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Kansas
Baylor managed another field goal to increase its lead to 6, and the teams went into the half with Baylor up 20–14. Lightning delayed the start of the second half for about 30 minutes; by the time the teams resumed play, a steady drizzle had begun. The Bears came up with a big stop on the first Jayhawk drive of the second half, with Kansas turning the ball over on downs near the Baylor 45. Baylor promptly punched the ball into the endzone on a Bryce Petty rush to make the score 27–14.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Kansas
A Joe Williams interception offered the Bears the chance to increase their lead, but their ensuing drive stalled. However, the Bears picked off Cummings again on the next drive, this time the interception coming from Ahmad Dixon, and Nick Florence added a rushing touchdown on the subsequent drive. Baylor would add one more touchdown in the 4th quarter, while holding Kansas scoreless throughout the second half to snap a 4-game losing streak.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Oklahoma
Following their 4th win of the year against the Jayhawks in Waco, Baylor traveled to Norman to face a tough #12 Oklahoma Sooners team that had two home losses on the season (Kansas State and Notre Dame). The teams alternated scoring in the first half, with Oklahoma holding Baylor to a field-goal on their first scoring drive to take a 28–17 lead into the half. In the third quarter, Baylor struck first, scoring a field goal and then a touchdown to pull to within 2 of the Sooners (an attempted two-point conversion following the touchdown failed).


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Oklahoma
Oklahoma's offense answered the challenge, however, with two touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters, one a 55-yard Blake Bell rush. Lache Seastrunk added a rushing touchdown late in the game and Nick Florence rushed for a successful two-point conversion to bring the Bears to within a touchdown of Oklahoma, but with less than 1:30 left in the game, Oklahoma ran out the clock for the win. Baylor fell to 4–5 on the season.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Kansas State
One week after falling in Norman, and almost a year to the day after the Bears' BCS-shaking first victory against Oklahoma, the Bears again took on a top 5 opponent in Waco. This time the opponent was 10–0 Kansas State, ranked #1 in the BCS after an Alabama loss the previous week and clear favorites in their final two games of the year, at Baylor and vs. Texas. As so often during the season, the quick-strike Baylor offense put the Bears ahead early on a 38-yard Florence pass to Tevin Reese.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Kansas State
Kansas State answered when then-Heisman favorite Collin Klein completed a touchdown pass to tie the game 7–7. Baylor subsequently put up 21 unanswered points to go ahead 28–7 before the Wildcats managed 10 more points in the final two minutes of the first half. In the third quarter, Baylor put up another touchdown (a 4-yard Glasco Martin IV rush) and forced a Kansas State punt that pinned Baylor on their own 1-yard line.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Kansas State
Two plays later, Florence attempted a quick pass to Terrance Williams that was intercepted on the 2-yard line, setting up a Collin Klein touchdown rush that made the score 35–24 in Baylor's favor. The Bears went on to rack up 17 more points in the third quarter, the last touchdown coming on an 80-yard Lache Seastrunk rush after Joe Williams intercepted Klein in the endzone (the third of Klein's three interceptions on the night).


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Kansas State
With 58 seconds remaining in the third quarter following Seastrunk's touchdown, Kansas State embarked upon an 8-minute, 21 play, 74-yard drive that brought the Wildcats to first-and-goal from the Baylor 6-yard line. An inspired Baylor defense turned in the goal-line stand of their season, halting four straight Collin Klein rushes and forcing a turnover on downs. Baylor would subsequently almost completely run down the clock, picking up 4 first downs on 10 straight rushes before punting the ball back to Kansas State with only 32 seconds left in the game.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Kansas State
The victory was Baylor's first ever over a #1 ranked opponent (the 1956 team defeated #2 Tennessee in the 1957 Sugar Bowl, and the 1941 team tied #1 Texas) and represented only the fifth time in the BCS era that the #1 ranked team lost to an unranked opponent. The win took Baylor to 5–5 on the season, needing one more victory for bowl eligibility.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Texas Tech
The Bears and Red Raiders again met at Cowboys Stadium to renew their rivalry. Texas Tech jumped out to an early 21–7 lead after the Red Raider defense shut down the Baylor offense in the red zone and Aaron Jones missed two field goals early in the game. Near the end of the second quarter Texas Tech was driving to go into halftime up by three touchdowns; however, a fumble inside Baylor territory led to a quick-strike Baylor scoring drive capped by a 39-yard Florence touchdown pass to Tevin Reese.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Texas Tech
Texas Tech got the ball to start the second half and put themselves ahead by 10 with a field goal. After Baylor answered two drives later with a touchdown, Leon Mackey fielded the ensuing kickoff and returned it for a 97-yard touchdown. The Bears answered with a touchdown drive to close the deficit to 28–31 with just over 2 minutes left in the 3rd. Subsequently, Baylor linebacker Eddie Lackey returned a Seth Doege interception for a touchdown to give Baylor its first lead of the game.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Texas Tech
Baylor picked up another TD and the Red Raiders tacked own two touchdowns before Aaron Jones kicked his only good field goal of the night, a 22 yarder that tied the game up at 45. With 2:48 left in the game, Texas Tech began a drive which ended with another Doege interception, this time a screen pass deflected off a Red Raider lineman's helmet into Lackey's arms. After Jones missed a game-winning field goal, Baylor scored on its opening overtime possession on a Glasco Martin IV touchdown rush. Texas Tech subsequently failed to convert on 4th and 5, giving Baylor its 6th win of the season.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Oklahoma State
With bowl eligibility already assured, Baylor now looked to improve their bowl berth against Oklahoma State. The teams traded field goals, and then Eddie Lackey, the previous week's Big 12 defensive player of the week, returned a Clint Chelf interception for a touchdown. Baylor tacked on two more touchdowns, scoring 24 unanswered points before Oklahoma State again found the end zone. The subsequent Baylor drive stalled after a controversial Seastrunk fumble, and the Cowboys capitalized again to make the score 17–24 in favor of the Bears.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Oklahoma State
Fighting back, Baylor scored another touchdown and added a second interception, this time by Mike Hicks. An Aaron Jones field goal attempt following the interception was blocked, and the teams entered the half with the score Baylor 31, Oklahoma State 17. In the second half, Oklahoma State fought to close the gap, drawing to within 7 of the Bears before Seastrunk rushed 76 yards for a touchdown despite suffering a quadriceps cramp with 45 yards to go. Oklahoma State scored once more to again close to within 7 but with just over a minute left in the game, Baylor was able to run out the clock to cap a 7 win season.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Holiday Bowl
On December 2, 2012, Baylor accepted its first-ever berth in the Holiday Bowl. The Bears would face the #17 UCLA Bruins, winners of the Pac-12 South Division, for the first time in school history. After both teams' first drives ended in punts, Baylor's Glasco Martin IV rushed for a touchdown from 4 yards out to cap the Bears' second drive. That touchdown represented the first of 21 unanswered points for Baylor, including touchdown receptions by Tevin Reese and Antwan Goodley.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Holiday Bowl
Sterling defensive play by Baylor held UCLA scoreless until midway through the 2nd quarter – Baylor's defense, which had tallied 13 total sacks all season, recorded 5 sacks of UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley in the first half while shutting down UCLA's attempts to rush. UCLA finally got on the board with just over six minutes left in the first half, scoring a touchdown on a 2-play, 21-yard drive set up by a Jordan Najvar fumble. Baylor would answer on its subsequent two drives, with Martin IV adding a 26-yard touchdown run and Lache Seastrunk rushing for a 43-yard touchdown. With time winding down in the first half, UCLA tacked on a field-goal and the teams went to halftime with Baylor leading 35–10.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Holiday Bowl
UCLA received the ball to start the second half, but turned the ball over on downs at the Baylor 48. The Bears' ensuing drive faltered, however, and Baylor was forced to punt the ball back to the Bruins, who put together a 9-play, 58-yard drive culminating in a second UCLA field goal. Late in the 3rd quarter, Glasco Martin IV rushed the ball in for his third touchdown of the game, this time from 1 yard out. In the 4th, UCLA added a touchdown following a Baylor fumble, but an attempted 2-point conversion failed.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Holiday Bowl
Nick Florence tacked on Baylor's final touchdown of the game with a 1-yard rush of his own at the 7:46 mark of the 4th. After UCLA turned the ball over on downs in their ensuing possession, Baylor took possession and ran the clock down to 8 seconds before turning the ball over on downs at their own 34. With time for one play left in the game, Hundley completed a pass to Logan Sweet for a 34-yard touchdown. The play was not reviewed during the game, but replays appeared to show that Sweet was down at the 1-yard line.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Holiday Bowl
While the score of the game is officially 49–26, Baylor Head Coach Art Briles ignored the final touchdown and had the score changed to 49–19 on the championship rings presented to Baylor players commemorating the victory. CBSSports.com called the changing of the score "an arrogant move."


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Holiday Bowl
Baylor finished the game with 494 total yards, 306 of which came on the ground. 138 of those yards came from Lache Seastrunk, who finished with one rushing touchdown and was named the offensive player of the game. The Bears' offense, typically known for its aerial attack, attempted only 13 passes for 10 completions and 188 yards. That passing yardage, however, was sufficient to allow Nick Florence to finish the season with 4,309 passing yards, overtaking Robert Griffin III's school record 4,293 passing yards, set during his 2011 Heisman-winning campaign.


2012 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Holiday Bowl
The Baylor defense, which entered the game ranked among the worst of FBS schools, allowed the Bears to overcome three turnovers. Although the defense created no turnovers of its own, Baylor sacked Hundley 6 times, limited UCLA to only 33 total yards on the ground, and allowed the Bruins to convert on only 1 of 17 third downs. Two of Baylor's sacks came from defensive end Chris McAllister, who was named the defensive player of the game. The victory gave the Bears bowl wins in consecutive seasons for the second time in school history (1985 Liberty Bowl, 1986 Bluebonnet Bowl; 2011 Alamo Bowl, 2012 Holiday Bowl).


2012 Beach Handball World Championships
The 2012 Beach Handball World Championships was a twelve-team tournament in both men's and women's beach handball, held at Muscat, Oman from July 8–13, 2012. It was the fifth edition of the event. Matches were played in sets, the team that won two sets was the winner of a match. When teams were equal in points the head-to-head result would be decisive.


2012 Beach Handball World Championships, Format
The twelve teams were split into two groups of six teams. After playing a round-robin, the three top ranked team advanced to the Main Round. Every team kept the points from preliminary round matches against teams who also advanced. In the main round every team had 3 games against the opponents they did not face in the preliminary round. The top four teams advanced to the Semifinals. The three bottom ranked team from each preliminary round group were packed into one group. The points won against the teams who were also in this group were valid. Every team played three games and after those round there were placement matches from 7th–12th place.


2012 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup
The 2012 Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup was the second edition of the new tournament, following the success of the initial Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup. It took place at a temporary stadium at Dubai Festival City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 30 October to 3 November 2012. Eight teams participated in the competition. The stadium had a capacity of 2,500 spectators.


2012 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup, Draw and Schedule
The draw to divide the eight teams into two groups of four was conducted on 9 October 2012. The subsequent schedule was determined on 11 October 2012.


2012 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup, Group stage
All matches are listed as local time in Dubai, (UTC+4)


2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl
The 2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, the fifth edition of the game formerly known as the  St. Petersburg Bowl, was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on December 21, 2012 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, as part of the 2012–13 NCAA Bowl season.


2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl
The game, broadcast at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, featured the UCF Knights from Conference USA and Ball State Cardinals from the Mid-American Conference. It was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. The Knights advanced to the game after losing to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the Conference USA Championship Game.


2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, Teams
Since the game's inception in 2008, the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl has had its current setup with a team from Conference USA playing a team from the Big East Conference. Ball State was chosen as a replacement for the potential Big East team, because the conference did not have enough bowl-eligible teams to send a representative to St. Petersburg.


2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, Teams
This was the fourth meeting between these two teams. The all-time record is tied 2-2. The last time they played was in 2004, when UCF was with Ball State in the MAC (UCF was a football-only member of the MAC).


2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, Teams, UCF
Initially, the Knights were ineligible for the postseason because of recruiting violations in both football and basketball under previous athletic director Keith Tribble. Almost immediately afterwards, the university appealed; because its hearing was delayed until 2013, the Knights were bowl-eligible for 2012. Finishing as C-USA East Division Champions with a 7–1 conference record, the Knights would go on to the Conference USA Championship Game for the fourth time in eight years. After losing to Tulsa 33–27 in overtime, the Knights advanced to the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl per the C-USA's bowl contingency plan.


2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, Teams, UCF
This was the Knights' second Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, they had previously played in the 2009 game, losing to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights by a score of 45–24. It was also the Knights' final game as a member of Conference USA before they move to the American Athletic Conference in 2013.


2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, Teams, Ball State
Ball State entered the game with 9–3 record, losing only to Clemson, Kent State and BCS-buster Northern Illinois. It was the Cardinals first bowl game since the 2009 GMAC Bowl.


2012 Beijing Guoan F.C. season
The 2012 Beijing Guoan F.C. season was their 9th consecutive season in the Chinese Super League, established in 2004 season. They competed in the AFC Champions League and Chinese FA Cup, getting knocked out in both competitions.


2012 Beijing Guoan F.C. season, Players, First team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2012 Beijing Guoan F.C. season, Players, Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2012 Beijing Guoan F.C. season, Players, Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2012 Beijing Hyundai International Youth Football Tournament
The 2012 Beijing Hyundai International Youth Football Tournament was an under-19 age group competition that took place 7-9 September 2012.


2012 Beijing Hyundai International Youth Football Tournament
The competition was sponsored by Hyundai, a corporate sponsor of the China national football team.


2012 Beijing International Challenger
The 2012 Beijing International Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the third edition of the tournament which was part of the 2012 ATP Challenger Tour and the 2012 ITF Women's Circuit. It took place in Beijing, China between 28 July and 5 August 2012.


2012 Beijing International Challenger, ATP singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Beijing International Challenger, WTA entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Beijing International Challenger, WTA entrants, Other Entrants
The following player received entry from A Lucky Loser spot:


2012 Beijing International Challenger – Men's Doubles
Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana successfully defended their title, defeating Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan 7–6(7–3), 2–6, [10–6] in the final.


2012 Beijing International Challenger – Men's Singles
Farrukh Dustov was the defending champion was beaten in the Second Round by Yuichi Sugita. Grega Žemlja won the title, defeating Wu Di 6–3, 6–0 in the final.


2012 Beijing International Challenger – Women's Doubles
Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan were the defending champions, but only Hao-ching chose to participate that year.


2012 Beijing International Challenger – Women's Doubles
Hao-ching played with Makoto Ninomiya, but lost in the semifinals to Chan Chin-wei and Han Xinyun.


2012 Beijing International Challenger – Women's Doubles
Liu Wanting and Sun Shengnan won the title, defeating Chan Chin-wei and Han Xinyun 5–7, 6–0, [10–7] in the final.


2012 Beijing International Challenger – Women's Singles
Hsieh Su-wei was the defending champion, but opted to play at the London Summer Olympics instead.


2012 Beijing International Challenger – Women's Singles
Wang Qiang won the title defeating Chan Yung-jan in the final 6–2, 6–4.


2012 Belarusian First League
The 2012 Belarusian First League is the 22nd season of 2nd level football in Belarus. It started in April and finished in November 2012.


2012 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2011 season
The winners of last season (Slavia Mozyr) were promoted to Belarusian Premier League. They were replaced by last-placed team of 2011 Belarusian Premier League table (Dnepr Mogilev).


2012 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2011 season
The runners-up of last season (Partizan Minsk) won the promotion/relegation play-off against Vitebsk (11th-placed Premier League team). Partizan Minsk were thus promoted to Premier League and replaced in the First League by Vitebsk.


2012 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2011 season
Two teams that finished at the bottom of 2011 season table (Belcard Grodno and Baranovichi) relegated to the Second League. They were replaced by two best teams of 2011 Second League (Bereza-2010 and Lida).


2012 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2011 season
Klechesk Kletsk withdrew from the league due to lack of financing and joined Second League. No team was invited to replace them and the league was reduced to 15 teams for the season.


2012 Belarusian First League, League table, Promotion play-offs
The 11th placed team of 2012 Premier League (Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino) played a two-legged relegation play-off against the runners-up of 2012 Belarusian First League Gorodeya for one spot in the 2013 Premier League and won the series 4–1 on aggregate.


2012 Belarusian Premier League
The 2012 Belarusian Premier League was the 22nd season of top-tier football in Belarus. It began on 24 March 2012 and ended on 25 November 2012. BATE Borisov were the defending champions, having won their 8th league title last year.


2012 Belarusian Premier League, Teams
Dnepr Mogilev were relegated to the Belarusian First League after finishing the 2011 season in last place, leaving the league for the first time since the competition's establishment in 1992. They were replaced by 2011 First League champions Slavia Mozyr, who make their return to the league after a five-year absence.


2012 Belarusian Premier League, Teams
Vitebsk, as the 11th-placed team, had to compete in the relegation/promotion playoffs against First League runners-up Partizan Minsk. Partizan Minsk won the playoff, 3–2 on aggregate, and returned to the league after a one-year absence while Vitebsk were relegated after six years in the top flight. In early 2012 Partizan was abandoned by their main sponsor Vladimir Romanov and consequently wasn't able to keep any of the first team players or obtain the Premier League license. Partizan withdrew from the Premier League, leaving it with only 11 teams.


2012 Belarusian Premier League, Teams
Dinamo Brest changed their name to Brest due to troubles with further usage of Dinamo brand name.


2012 Belarusian Premier League, League table, Relegation playoffs
The 11th team of the league Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino will play a two-legged relegation play-off against the runners-up of the 2012 Belarusian First League Gorodeya for one spot in the 2013 Premier League.


2012 Belarusian Premier League, Results
Each team will play three times against every other team for a total of 30 matches.


2012 Belarusian Super Cup
The 2012 Belarusian Super Cup was held on 6 March 2012 between the 2011 Belarusian Premier League champions BATE Borisov and the 2010–11 Belarusian Cup winners Gomel. Gomel won the match 2–0 and became the first team other than BATE to win a trophy.


2012 Belarusian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 23 September 2012. At stake were the 110 seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Assembly of Belarus.


2012 Belarusian parliamentary election, Electoral system
According to the 1994 electoral law, the 110 members of the House of Representatives were elected in single-member districts. Winning candidates had to achieve an absolute majority of the vote in their constituency and turnout was required to be 50% or more. If neither were achieved, a second round would have been held, contested by the two candidates from the first round with the most votes. For the second round the turnout threshold was reduced to 25%, except in cases in which there is only one candidate contesting the second round, in which case it was abolished. If only one candidate ran in the second round, they still had to achieve a majority of the vote.


2012 Belarusian parliamentary election, Electoral system
The voting age was set at 18, whilst candidates had to be at least 21. Members of the Council of the Republic and members of a local councils were ineligible for election to the House of Representatives. Candidates had to collect at least 1,000 signatures from voters in the constituency they intended to run in.


2012 Belarusian parliamentary election, Electoral system
Voting centres were open from 08:00 to around 20:00. Four previous days of early voting for students, armed service staff and police resulted in at a voter turnout of at least 19%, according to the election commission.


2012 Belarusian parliamentary election, Campaign
The elections were contested by the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, the United Left Party "A Just World", the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, the Republican Party of Labour and Justice, the Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party and the Agrarian Party. The BPF Party and the United Civic Party both pulled out of the election a week before polling day. Sixteen seats were uncontested.


2012 Belarusian parliamentary election, Campaign
Following the 2010 presidential election and the consequent arrests of activists and candidates, including Andrei Sannikov and Vladimir Neklyayev were reportedly absent from the political limelight. Alexander Milinkevich, who ran in the 2006 presidential election tried to register as a candidate for the elections but was disqualified for "technical reasons."


2012 Belarusian parliamentary election, Campaign
The two main opposition parties, including the United Civic Party (UCP), called for voters to go fishing or pick mushrooms in avoiding to vote so as not to give the election and new parliament legitimacy. The UCP posted a video on YouTube that showed its activists picking mushrooms, playing chess and reading books as an alternative to voting. Party leader Anatoly Lebedko also said that protests were banned and groups could not hand out leaflets, with those who tried being stopped by police and the leaflets being seized.


2012 Belarusian parliamentary election, Campaign
President Alexander Lukashenko reacted by saying that the opposition parties were "afraid of going to the people." In turn, opposition activists accused the government of inducing higher education students to vote sometimes under the threat of losing subsidies for accommodation. In the week prior to the election, state security police broke up gatherings of activists that had sought to urge potential voters to cook borshch instead, while several of them were arrested along with media photographers. Some of photographers were later released after about two hours. Independent political analyst Alexander Klaskovsky was quoted as saying: "The opposition is virtually broken. It has few resources and there is no real programme."


2012 Belarusian parliamentary election, Results
109 of 110 MPs were elected receiving an absolute majority with the necessary turnout, with only the constituency of Novobelitsky failing to elect a candidate in the first round. Of the independent candidates, 63 were members of Belaya Rus.


2012 Belarusian parliamentary election, Results
The Central Election Commission declared voter turnout had been at least 65.9%, thus validating the result. However, other independent monitors suggested a turnout of 30%. Vitaly Rymashevsky, the co-chairman of the Belarus Christian Democracy party, said: "The election commission is unscrupulously lying as these figures are so radically different from those of observers." On 23 September, Lidya Yermoshina, the head of the CEC, said that with a final tally for 109 seats it was "doubtful" that the opposition won any seats.


2012 Belgian Cup Final
The 2012 Belgian Cup Final, named the Cofidis Cup after the sponsor, was played on 24 March 2012 between Kortrijk and Lokeren. It was the 57th Belgian Cup final and was won by Lokeren.


2012 Belgian Cup Final
The match started intensely, with both teams attacking from the start. Kortrijk already had a scoring chance within the first minute, while Lokeren scored an early goal through Hamdi Harbaoui which was correctly disallowed for offside. The major talking point of the match happened after 19 minutes, when a linesman signalled a foul by Lokeren forward and Belgian international Benjamin De Ceulaer, who was subsequently dismissed by referee Jérôme Efong Nzolo with a red card.


2012 Belgian Cup Final
Nzolo followed the instructions of his assistant and initially showed the red card to a Kortrijk player, when the linesman made clear it should have been De Ceulaer. Both spectators in the stadium and through radio and television broadcast were left unsure about the exact reason as initial replays showed a struggle between Brecht Capon and De Ceulaer, for which a red card seemed very harsh. Although Lokeren played more defensively after the red card, a moderate Kortrijk was not able to create any major chances for the remainder of the first half.


2012 Belgian Cup Final
During the second half, Kortrijk did push for the goal and almost scored, with Nebojša Pavlović just missing the cross from Mohamed Messoudi, Ernest Nfor testing the reflexes of Lokeren goalkeeper Copa and Dalibor Veselinović heading a chance wide. In the attacking department of Lokeren, Hamdi Harbaoui was left to handle it on his own, not managing to create any danger.


2012 Belgian Cup Final
However, with just over an hour played, Lokeren coach brought in Baye Djiby Fall to strengthen the attack and after 77 minutes a play between Fall, Nill De Pauw and Harbaoui set up the latter to lob the ball over Kortrijk goalie Darren Keet. Lokeren was under moderate pressure during the final minutes, but ultimately held on without giving away any major chances. With that, Lokeren had won its first Belgian Cup.


2012 Belgian Cup Final
Right after the match, Benjamin De Ceulaer stated that "I'm very happy for our team and president. But for me... the referee took away the most beautiful moment of my career. I will never forgive him. I hope I never meet him again. I refuse to look him in the eye from now on. ", but zoomed in replays of the phase indeed showed that De Ceulaer had kicked the legs of Brecht Capon while the ball was nowhere near. Referee Nzolo also stated that he stood behind his decision and although he was forced to follow the judgement of his linesman anyway, he also believed that the linesman made the right judgement and De Ceulaer had been sent off for valid reasons.


2012 Belgian Figure Skating Championships
The 2012 Belgian Figure Skating Championships (Dutch: Belgisch Kampioenschap 2012; French: Championnat de Belgique 2012) took place between 25 and 26 November 2011 for singles and pairs and on 18 February 2012 for ice dance and synchronized in Deurne. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles and ladies' singles across the levels of senior, junior, advanced novice, as well as the age-group levels of minime/miniem A, B, and C.


2012 Belgian Grand Prix
The 2012 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the 2012 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that took place at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium on 2 September 2012, the first race after a five-week summer break. It was the twelfth race of the 2012 season, and the seventy-seventh running of the Belgian Grand Prix.


2012 Belgian Grand Prix
Jenson Button started from pole position and won the race. Sebastian Vettel finished second and Kimi Räikkönen third. The race featured a five-car collision at La Source, for which Romain Grosjean received a race ban.


2012 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso led the championship by forty points from Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, with fourth-placed Lewis Hamilton a further seven points behind.


2012 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought its silver-banded hard compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the white-banded medium compound tyre as the softer "option" tyre.


2012 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Dani Clos replaced Narain Karthikeyan at HRT in the first practice session, while Valtteri Bottas drove Bruno Senna's Williams once again.


2012 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
The first free practice session began in wet conditions. Kamui Kobayashi ended the session fastest, having chosen to stay out early while other drivers pitted to begin work on their car setup. Ferrari's Felipe Massa failed to set a lap time when his car ground to a halt as he was about to enter the pits at the end of the installation lap. The second practice session saw even more rain fall, and large puddles of standing water on the circuit made running impractical. Only a handful of drivers set lap times, with Marussia's Charles Pic finishing the session fastest. The third and final session on Saturday morning was dry, allowing teams just one hour to complete as much of their testing programmes as possible ahead of qualifying and the race. Fernando Alonso went on to finish the session fastest.


2012 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race, Accident
Pastor Maldonado let his clutch slip a fraction too soon and started his race before the lights had gone out, passing the Saubers. Grosjean made a good start and moved up to the inside of La Source, but in doing so, squeezed Hamilton between himself and the pitwall. The two touched wheels, both drivers losing control. Grosjean then speared into the back of Pérez and became airborne, crashing heavily into Alonso, missing Alonso's head by a few inches. Grosjean came to rest at the outside wall. Hamilton crashed into Kobayashi as well as Alonso after Grosjean's heavy impact.


2012 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race, Accident
Pérez lost his rear wing from Grosjean's hit and touched Maldonado when the accident happened, making Maldonado spin. Only Kobayashi and Maldonado emerged from the crash, Kobayashi with a substantial hole in the side of his car. Kobayashi, who had started on the front row for Sauber, pitted after the accident and resumed in last place.


2012 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race, After the accident
Once Maldonado recovered from his spin he hit Timo Glock after the safety car restart. Narain Karthikeyan's HRT spun off backwards and hit into the tyre wall late in the race after a wheel came loose. After starting the race in 14th, Felipe Massa fought hard to get the fifth place, ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber. Bruno Senna had eighth position secured but due to a slow puncture he had to make a pitstop with only four laps left in the race, dropping him to 12th.


2012 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race, After the accident
Button, who started on pole, was never under threat as Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel fought from 10th to 2nd, ahead of Lotus's Kimi Räikkönen.


2012 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Romain Grosjean was fined €50,000 and was given a one-race ban at the Italian Grand Prix for his role in the crash at the start.


2012 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Pastor Maldonado was given two five-place grid penalties at the Italian Grand Prix, the first of which was for his jump start and the second for causing an avoidable collision with Glock.


2012 Belgian Super Cup
The 2012 Belgian Super Cup is a football match that was played on 22 July 2012, between 2011–12 Belgian Pro League winners Anderlecht and 2011–12 Belgian Cup winners Lokeren.


2012 Belgian Super Cup
In a dull first half without many chances, Anderlecht took the lead after 25 minutes when Dennis Praet scored the opening goal. Anderlecht had possession, but was not able to create any chances, while Hamdi Harbaoui almost equalized before half time.


2012 Belgian Super Cup
Immediately after the break, Jérémy Taravel was wearing the wrong tape around his ankles and asked to change it by the referee, while play continued. Anderlecht used the extra man situation, allowing Dieumerci Mbokani to head in the 2-0. Lokeren coach Peter Maes was furious with Taravel, but could smile again soon after as Ivan Leko lobbed the ball into the Anderlecht goal. On the hour mark, Leko scored the equalizing goal, although Harbaoui had touched the ball with his hands during the play, without being noticed by the referee.


2012 Belgian Super Cup
Anderlecht then again took control of the match and scored the 3-2 winner 15 minutes from the end through Guillaume Gillet, who shot the ball perfectly into the top corner of the goal. Lokeren was unable to score thereafter, with Anderlecht coming close to a fourth goal as Mbokani hit the post. It stayed 3-2, allowing Anderlecht to win their 10th Belgian Supercup trophy.


2012 Belgian local elections
The Belgian provincial, municipal and district elections of 2012 took place on 14 October. As with the previous 2006 elections, these are no longer organised by the Belgian federal state but instead by the respective regions:


2012 Belgian local elections
In the municipalities with language facilities of Voeren, Comines-Warneton and the 6 of the Brussels Periphery, the aldermen and members of the OCMW/CPAS council are directly elected.


2012 Belgian local elections
Mayors are not directly elected, instead the respective regional government (of Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia) appoint one of the elected municipal councillors. The councillors usually propose a candidate.


2012 Belgian local elections
The result in Wallonia was largely a continuation of the major parties, without any big power shifts. In Flanders however, the nationalist party N-VA, which won in previous regional and federal elections, continued their success and became (one of) the largest party in many municipalities and the largest in three out of five provinces.


2012 Belgian local elections, Electoral system, Parties
National political parties are mostly separated by language community. A lot of municipalities have local parties as well as a presence of national parties. Here are the most important national parties:


2012 Belgian local elections, Electoral system, Foreign residents
For the third time, non-Belgian EU residents may vote and be candidate for the municipal elections under the same conditions as Belgian residents, and for the second time non-Belgian non-EU residents may vote, but not be candidate, after 5 years residency. As voting is compulsory and Belgium may not impose voting on foreign residents, would-be voters from both categories have to fill a document and go to their municipal administration before August 1, 2012 to be included on the list of electors. Non -EU residents have to sign a document accepting to conform to Belgian laws and Constitution. The percentage of foreign residents who are enlisted as electors has severely declined from 2006 to 2012: from 20.9% to 14.85% for EU residents, from 15.7% to 6.30% for non-EU residents (still including Bulgarians and Rumanians in 2006).


2012 Belgian local elections, Brussels
The Brussels-Capital Region is made up of 19 municipalities (of which one is the city of Brussels) which are not part of any province.


2012 Belgian local elections, Brussels
In these municipalities, French-speaking parties are usually the largest ones, mostly PS and MR. FDF, previously forming a cartel with MR and also strong in Brussels municipalities, will now contend on its own, but dissidents from both former partners are contending on the other party's list, particularly in the municipalities where they are currently part of the majority coalition.


2012 Belgian local elections, Brussels
Dutch-speaking parties will in some municipalities form a cartel either with their French counterpart or in a larger "Mayor's List", as is the case this time between Ecolo and Groen! in all 19 municipalities, and with PS and SP.A in 17 out of 19. The only Dutch-speaking list with support from most Dutch-speaking parties is Samen (CD&V, Open VLD, SP.A and independents) in Auderghem. N-VA announced it will contend on its own in at least 10 out of the 19 municipalities. 78 Dutch-speaking Dutch-speaking candidates were elected this time in the municipal councils.


2012 Belgian local elections, Brussels
There were 613,768 registered voters, an increase of 21,746 compared to 2006. Despite compulsory voting, only 508,575 or 82.86% cast a vote, of which 29.370 were invalid votes (6.13% of votes cast). The lowest turnout was in Ixelles (80.11%), whereas Woluwe-Saint-Pierre featured the highest (87.27%). Sint-Jans-Molenbeek had the highest proportion of invalid votes (9.71%), whereas Woluwe-Saint-Pierre had the lowest (2.70%).


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders
The five provincial councils were up for election, as well as the municipal councils of all 308 municipalities along with the district councils in the city of Antwerp and the OCMW councils in seven municipalities with language facilities for French speakers.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Background and general trends
The nationalist party N-VA became the largest party in the 2010 federal election. It was expected that the party would now achieve a number of seats in many Flemish municipalities, which was indeed the case. Local lists include cartels between two parties and independents, varying from one municipality to another, e.g. SP.A and CD&V in the city of Antwerp, but SP.A and Groen! in the districts of Antwerp and in Ghent, Open VLD and Groen! (and a splinter group from the CD&V) in Mechelen.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Background and general trends
Parties on the right, CD&V, Open VLD and Vlaams Belang, generally lose votes in previous elections whereas N-VA has grown a lot.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Background and general trends
The socialist party SP.A is especially successful in large cities, but has slightly been losing votes in previous elections too.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Background and general trends
The green party Groen remains stable with a relatively low percentage of votes.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Background and general trends
Voting being mandatory but unenforced, turnout was lowest in Antwerp city (85.56%), specifically the city centre district (82.98%), as well as Oostende (85.98%), followed mostly by the linguistically sensitive municipalities in the Brussels Periphery.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Provincial elections
The provincial councils of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, East Flanders, West Flanders and Limburg were elected. The number of councillors has been reduced.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Provincial elections
In East Flanders, Flemish Brabant and especially Antwerp, N-VA became the largest party in the province, followed by CD&V. In Limburg and West Flanders, CD&V remained the biggest party followed by N-VA.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Provincial elections
† In Limburg: coalition SP.A - Groen. Only one of the 13 elected candidates (Hassan Amaghlaou) is a member of Groen.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Municipal elections
Below are the results for the municipal council elections of the eight most populous cities, which include the five provincial capitals.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Municipal elections, Aalst
After the election, Christoph D'Haese became mayor of Aalst (in East Flanders), succeeding Ilse Uyttersprot.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Municipal elections, Antwerp
A lot of attention goes to the city of Antwerp, where Bart De Wever, the president of N-VA, wants to become mayor and put an end to decades of socialist mayors, the current one being Patrick Janssens (sp.a). Christian-democrat CD&V and socialist sp.a will form one list. Also Wouter Van Besien (president of Groen) is contending for the position of mayor, and Filip Dewinter of extreme-right Vlaams Belang is campaigning in Antwerp. According to a poll, N-VA would get 42,9% of the votes, giving 26 out of 55 seats in the municipal party, and 46,5% would like to see De Wever become the new mayor.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Municipal elections, Bruges
In Bruges (capital of West Flanders), the incumbent mayor Patrick Moenaert (CD&V), who led a coalition of CD&V/N-VA, SP.A and VLD (which were all represented parties except Groen and VB), quit so all possibilities remained open. Polls gave CD&V, SP.A and N-VA as major parties.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Municipal elections, Gent
In Ghent (capital of East Flanders), the incumbent mayor Daniël Termont is very popular. SP.A, his party, now formed a cartel with Groen. Polls predict the cartel will get about 43% of the votes. The parties Open VLD of Mathias De Clercq and N-VA of Siegfried Bracke follow after a gap.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Municipal elections, Kortrijk
Vincent Van Quickenborne became mayor of Kortrijk (in West Flanders), with a coalition of Open Vld, N-VA and sp.a, defeating incumbent mayor Stefaan De Clerck and his CD&V, thereby ending a 150-year period of Catholic and Christian democratic mayors in the city.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Municipal elections, Leuven
In Leuven (capital of Flemish Brabant), polls indicated that SP.A, the party of incumbent mayor Louis Tobback, would still be the largest. N-VA, CD&V and Groen follow after a gap.


2012 Belgian local elections, Flanders, Municipal elections, Mechelen
Bart Somers (Open Vld), mayor since 2001, continued after the elections with his "vld-Groen-m+ city list", but with N-VA and CD&V as coalition partners instead of sp.a. Sp.a became opposition, along with a significantly reduced Vlaams Belang.


2012 Belgian local elections, Wallonia
PS and MR are generally the two largest parties, followed by Ecolo and CDH. In the province of Luxembourg, CDH is generally more successful. No major trends or shifts were expected nor happened.


2012 Belgian local elections, Wallonia, Provincial elections
The provincial councils of Namur, Walloon Brabant, Liège, Hainaut and Luxembourg were elected. The number of councillors has been reduced.


2012 Belgium Tour
The 2012 Loto-Decca Tour was the first edition of Lotto-Decca Tour, a women's cycle stage race in Belgium. The tour was held from 25 August to 27 August, 2012. The tour with an UCI rating of 2.2 started in Nijlen, and ended in Geraardsbergen. 158 cyclists started and 74 of them finished the tour.


2012 Belgium Tour, Stages, Stage 1
The first stage started at 14:00 and was scheduled to end between 16:28 and 16:38. Thestage was a flat race and consisted of one lap of 28.3 km (17.6 mi) and five laps of 14.2 km (8.8 mi). The race had four intermediate sprints. The race ended in a bunch sprint, won by Kirsten Wild ahead of Ellen van Dijk and Jolien D'Hoore.


2012 Belizean general election
General elections were held in Belize on 7 March 2012 to elect all 31 members of the Belize House of Representatives as well as offices in the various local governments. The election was run by the Elections and Boundaries Commission's Elections and Boundaries Department. Dean Barrow and his United Democratic Party (UDP) were re-elected, but lost eight seats to the opposition People's United Party (PUP) to maintain a slim 17-14 majority in the Belize House. The upper house of the Belize National Assembly, the Senate, was appointed after the election by the UDP-led government in accordance with the Constitution of Belize.


2012 Belizean general election, Contesting parties
Prime Minister Dean Barrow's United Democratic Party (UDP) was the incumbent in the election with his party holding 25 seats at dissolution. The opposition People's United Party (PUP), led by Francis Fonseca since late 2011, held the other seats in the Belize House. An unrepresented coalition of smaller parties ran in nine of the 31 constituencies under the banner of the Belize Unity Alliance.


2012 Belizean general election, Campaign
The UDP's primary campaign promise was to renegotiate the terms of a US$550 million bond repayment, which Barrow said would be his first task if re-elected. The bond accounted for 40% of Belize's economic output and half of the national debt, making Belize the 13th most indebted state in the world in 2012. The interest on the debt was scheduled to cost US$46 million in the year, which was 12% of the country's revenues at the time affected its ability to raise future funds after credit rating agencies downgraded the sovereign credit status to "junk." Conversely, Fonseca said that he would abide by the obligation to pay off the debt with promises to grow the country's current US$1.25 billion economy.


2012 Belizean general election, Campaign
Another campaign theme was the issue of oil drilling off the coast of the country within proximity of the Belize Barrier Reef after Belize started exporting oil in 2006. However, opinion polls showed opposition to further oil exploration. Barrow promised to hold a referendum on the issue, while Fonseca pledged a moratorium over continued exploration.


2012 Belizean general election, Campaign
The Belize Unity Alliance actively campaigned in such locales as San Pedro, the biggest town on Ambergris Caye, off the Belize coast, supporting independent candidates and calling for votes for the party. However, the coalition failed to make significant inroads and was not competitive in any of the 31 Belize House constituencies under the country's first past the post electoral system.


2012 Belizean general election, Campaign, Unofficial referendum
On 29 February, Oceana, a member of the Belize Coalition to Save Our National Heritage, held an informal referendum that they called the "People's Referendum". The "referendum" consisted of 51 polling stations, including two mobile polling stations, manned by volunteers over the issue of oil drilling. A previous attempt to hold the referendum alongside the election was rejected after 40% of the petitioned signatures were disqualified due to double signatories and mismatched names with the official voter rolls. The voter turnout was 28,000. The group's vice president, Audrey Matura-Shepherd, said that the referendum sought to use "the law to force the government to hear the people."


2012 Belizean general election, Opinion polls
Opinion polls suggested a tight race with many undecided voters.


2012 Belizean general election, Opinion polls
A poll conducted on 17 February 2012, the day of nominations for running in the election by former politician Derek Aikman, showed that the UDP held a majority of 16 seats and the PUP leading in nine seats, including Orange Walk Central, which they had won in the last poll; Fort George, Pickstock, Belize Rural South, Corozal Southeast, Corozal Bay, Cayo North, Cayo West, and Orange Walk North. The UDP led in Queen's Square, Port Loyola, Caribbean Shores, Mesopotamia, Collet, Lake Independence, Corozal North, Belmopan, Cayo Northeast, Cayo Central, and Orange Walk South. The other seats that could play the role of kingmaker included Albert, Freetown, Belize Rural North and Central, Dangriga and Stann Creek West, Toledo East and West, Corozal Southwest, Cayo South and Orange Walk East.