2012 Dhaka garment factory fire, Response
Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers protested at the site of the fire, calling for better workplace safety. The protests continued for three days and blocked a major highway. Two hundred factories closed their doors during the protest to pay respect to the victims. The factory owners wanted to protect the equipment inside since the protests had become chaotic with stone throwing and smashing of vehicles. In addition, the government declared 27 November 2012 a national day of mourning with the country flag flying at half-mast to honor the victims.


2012 Dhaka garment factory fire, Response
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association announced plans to expel 850 factories from its membership due to noncompliance with safety and labor standards. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have also urged the U.S. Trade Representative's office to complete its review of Bangladesh's compliance with eligibility requirements for the Generalized System of Preferences.


2012 Dhaka garment factory fire, Response
In December 2013, 13 months after the fire, Bangladesh police filed a warrant for the arrest of Delwar Hossain, the owner and managing director of Tazreen Fashions Ltd. Fourteen months after the fire, Hossain was charged with the death by negligence of the victims, and he is awaiting trial in prison. This is the first time in Bangladesh that a factory owner has been formally charged in response to the death of workers. Saydia Gulrukh, an academic who has worked to bring Hossain to court, stated that "International pressure definitely influenced [the case]"; with the international populations evolving attitudes towards workers rights pushing the case into the global spotlight.


2012 Dhaka garment factory fire, Revised regulations
In November 2013, three safety regulation groups, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety and the National Tripartite Action Plan, agreed to look into adopting a new unified set of workplace safety standards for clothing manufacturing factories. The new standards would call for increased training of factory inspectors. The inspections would be carried out by two different inspectors with their experience in the field each being a minimum of five years and combining for a minimum total of 20 years. They would also regulate the spacing of exits making sure that there are ways to escape the building from multiple sides and the amount of machinery on each floor will have a cap allowing easy access to each exit.


2012 Dhaka garment factory fire, Revised regulations
As a move to increase factory and worker well-being, over 24 U.S. companies initiated by Wal-Mart and Gap Inc. have signed a pact. The pact holds them accountable to invest in factory inspections and upgrades and personally oversee the inspections of 600 of Bangladesh's clothing factories. Over 100 European brands have agreed to maintain their contracts with Bangladesh's factories and to pay a share of the upgrade and maintenance costs for a two-year period while overseeing the inspection of approximately 1,600 clothing factories. The National Government of Bangladesh pledged to inspect 1,200 more factories, which means that well over half of Bangladesh's 5,000 clothing factories will be inspected with these new regulations in the near future.


2012 Dhaka garment factory fire, Related occurrences
On 8 May 2013, a fire swept through another garment factory in Dhaka, killing at least seven people.


2012 Dhaka garment factory fire, Related occurrences
On 24 April 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-story building in the suburb of Savar which housed multiple clothing manufacturing companies along with a bank and some apartments, collapsed killing over 1,100 workers and injuring 2,000 more. The building was evacuated days earlier due to a large crack spotted on one of the outer walls. After the accident, the owner of the building was arrested for not possessing adequate safety permits when constructing Rana Plaza, and the clothing factory managers were detained for making their employees come to work in an unsafe environment.


2012 Dhaka garment factory fire, Related occurrences
On 3 February 2016 a fire broke out on the 7th floor at the Matrix Sweaters factory in Gazipur at around 7.30 am killing at least four workers. Because of the early hour, most of the 6,000 workers had not yet arrived, preventing a much greater loss of life.


2012 Dharmapuri violence
On 8 November 2012, about 268 houses were set on fire in Natham, old and new Kondampatti and Annanagar Dalit colonies in Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu. When a Vanniyar girl from Sellankottai village, and a Dalit boy, from the neighbouring Dalit colony of Natham, fled due to parental opposition to get married, a caste panchayat held on the morning of 7 November by leaders from both communities ruled that the girl be returned to her family. Distraught at her decision to stay with her husband, her father allegedly committed suicide.


2012 Dharmapuri violence
The discovery of his body later that day is said to have provoked a 1,500-strong mob to rampage through Natham and two smaller Dalit settlements, Kondampatti and Anna Nagar, where it set ablaze over 200 houses, damaged at least 50 others, and allegedly looted valuables and cash worth lakhs of rupees. The mob rampaged for four hours and was brought under control after arrest of 90 men and an additional deployment of 1000 policemen.


2012 Dharmapuri violence
While Ramadoss, belonging to Vanniyar political outfit Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), had rubbished allegations that his party orchestrated the incident, many Dalits believe otherwise. His party is said to have fomented tension between Vanniyars and Dalits by publicly condemning marriages between the two.


2012 Dharmapuri violence
Many of the victims had blamed the fecklessness of the police and the district administration as this was a planned incident where a caste mob had been mobilised from 22 neighbouring villages. Though around 300 policemen were present on the spot anticipating trouble, they failed to control the violent gathering as the mob was eight times higher than the number of deployed forces. The Sub-inspector of Police, belonging to same caste of boy, and the constables responsible for maintaining peace in the area have since been transferred or suspended.


2012 Dharmapuri violence
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) described the attack as well- organized and pre-planned.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Background
The Vanniyars are an intermediate caste dominant in northern Tamil Nadu and form 12-13% of the state's population. The Adi Dravidar community, formerly called Paraiyars, make up approximately half of the state's Dalit population and form around 10% of the state's population. Vanniyars who were renowned for their opposition to untouchability and discrimination, were now lured by caste identities and the promise of power. Thus began an era where Dalits were made vulnerable by radicalised groups and Vanniyars turned sanctimonious about their perceived position in society. This inevitably led to clashes between the communities. These caste attitudes were strengthened by politicians, especially those of Vanniyar political outfit  PMK. In April 2012, PMK MLA, Kaduvetti Guru incited caste fanaticism when he asked the members of community to kill non-Vanniyar men who marry Vanniyar women at a Vanniyar youth meeting held in Mamallapuram.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Incident
The unrest was sparked with the eloping of 20 year-old Divya, a Vanniyar from Sellankottai village, with 19 year-old E. Ilavarasan, a Dalit from the neighbouring Natham colony. Both were college students, and had been in a relationship for a long time. Their relationship was known to Ilavarasan's parents for at least a year before their elopement. The couple fled from the area when their parents opposed the marriage, and got married in a Salem temple on 12 October 2012. After their flight, Ilavarasan's parents fled too, fearing an outburst of violence from the Vanniyars.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Incident
Two weeeks later, on 7 November, a caste panchayat of both communities was gathered, in which the couple were ordered to come home. When they refused, many Vanniyar community members taunted Divya's father, G. Nagaraj, for bringing "shame" to the community. Facing humiliation and distraught over the refusal of his daughter to return, he hung himself on the same evening.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Incident
His body was discovered the next day. For his funeral, Vanniyars from 22 other villages had gathered. That afternoon, a 1500-strong Vanniayar mob marched towards the Natham colony, bearing Nagaraj's body, shouting caste slogans and cutting trees to block the Tirupattur highway. At the time, most of the Dalit men, who were daily-wagers in Coimbatore and Bangalore, were away, and the women and children that were there fled into nearby fields. Around 4:30, the mob charged into Natham bearing petrol and weapons. They looted every house, and torched many of them.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Incident
The mob then moved on to Anna Nagar, 1.5 km away, and repeated the process while shouting obscenities. 36 out of 50 houses in the colony were set on fire. In Kodampatti, the mob was able to torch 14 houses but broke apart when a police team arrived. The head of the Sellankottai village claimed the villagers of Sellankottai had nothing to do with the violence.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Aftermath
As many as 268 homes of Dalits (of the Adi Dravida community) near Naikkankottai in Dharmapuri district were torched by the higher-caste group. The victims have alleged that ‘systematic destruction’ of their properties and livelihood resources has taken place. Around 1500 who were homeless after the incident were put up in a ground nearby and were provided food and clothing  and also sanctioned Rs 50,000 as relief from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The affected people staged a fast demanding Chief Minister to visit the affected areas and to increase compensation.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Reactions
The attack was a planned one. Inter-caste love marriage was not the sole reason behind it. Rather, the attack was the result of a chain of events. The PMK functionaries are found to have instigated and carried out the attacks. While the police is yet to arrest all the culprits behind the attack, they have booked a few innocents who are not connected with the incident


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Reactions
It also blamed the state government for not taking enough steps to restore normalcy or implementing relief measures.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Probe and court proceedings
The Tamil Nadu government transferred the probe from local police to Crime Branch CID. More than 90 persons were arrested and cases were filed against over 200 people. The Madras High Court has stated the incident as serious and instructed the state authorities to submit a status report and the counter affidavit on that date. A PIL was filed seeking the suspension of District collector and Superintendent of police for inaction.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Probe and court proceedings
On 3 December 2012, The district collector told the court that adequate relief measures were provided to victims and steps have been taken to maintain law and order in the area. The Superintendent of Police said cases have been registered and 142 people have been arrested. High Court termed the relief insufficient and ordered the state to provide a relief of 7.32 crore. A fresh PIL was filed asking for effective monitoring of offenses under SC-ST act and transfer the probe to CBI. The petition was posted along with the other petitions in the case.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Probe and court proceedings
Tamil Nadu govt then declared solatium to individuals were ready to the tune of 7.32 crore as per court order. On 9 February 2013, 91 people including some of whom who were falsely arrested for passing by near the violence area were let off and asked to appear before the CBCID. On 29 March, the high court gave bail to 28 accused in the case. No one was convicted.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Ilavarasan's death
On 15 March 2013, Divya's mother filed a petition in the Madras Court claiming Ilavarasan had kidnapped her daughter. In June, Divya visited her mother and eventually decided to separate from Ilavarasan, which, according to her, was because of the lingering weight of her father's suicide. On 3 July, Divya declared she had "no more feelings" for Ilavarasan. The next day, his body was found on the Coimbatore railway track. Three days after his death, the Superintendent of Police ruled the death to be a suicide.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Ilavarasan's death
Four days after the incident, the Jaylalitha-led AIADMK government set up a one-man commission led by Justice S. R. Singaravelu to determine the cause of Ilavarasan's death. On 28 June 2014, the police arrested four Dalits from Natham in the case, claiming to have found Naxalite pamphlets in their houses. Villagers claimed they had been forced to dig a grave at the spot where his body was found. In November 2016, a CID report claimed he committed suicide while drunk, a claim strongly rejected by Ilavarasan's family.


2012 Dharmapuri violence, Ilavarasan's death
The Singaravelu commission delivered its report in 2019 claiming his death was caused by him jumping onto the railway tracks in depression, and being hit by a passing train. However, the commission's findings were against contested by Ilavarasan's family and social activists, who continued to suspect Ilavarasan's death was an "honour" killing. In particular, one forensic pathologist who examined his body thought the injuries present were too few to have been causing by hitting a train.


2012 Dhivehi League
Statistics of Dhivehi League in the 2012 season. According to the FAM Calendar 2012, Dhiraagu Dhivehi League will start on April 18 and is set to end on September 27. The winner will qualify for the AFC Cup and 2nd place will qualify for AFC Cup play-offs.


2012 Dhivehi League, Teams, Personnel
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2012 Dhivehi League, League table
Format: In Round 1 and Round 2, all eight teams play against each other. Top six teams after Round 2 play against each other in Round 3. Teams with most total points after Round 3 are crowned the Dhivehi League champions and qualified for the AFC Cup. The top four teams qualify for the President's Cup. Bottom two teams after Round 2 play against top two teams of Second Division in Dhivehi League Qualification for places in next year's Dhivehi League.


2012 Dhivehi League, Results, Round 1 results
A total of 28 matches will be played in this round.


2012 Dhivehi League, Results, Round 2 results
A total of 28 matches will be played in this round.


2012 Dhivehi League, Results, Round 3 results
A total of 15 matches will be played in this round.


2012 Dhivehi League Round 1
In Round 1, all eight teams play against each other. A total of 28 matches will be played in this round.


2012 Dhivehi League Round 2
In Round 2, all eight teams play against each other. A total of 28 matches will be played in this round.


2012 Diamond Head Classic
The 2012 Diamond Head Classic was a mid-season eight-team college basketball tournament played on December 22, 23, and 25 at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was the fourth annual Diamond Head Classic tournament and was part of the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. No. 3-ranked Arizona defeated No. 17-ranked San Diego State to win the tournament championship. Solomon Hill was named the tournament's MVP.


2012 Diamond Jubilee Honours
The list of Diamond Jubilee Honours 2012 was released on 13 September 2012 and made appointments and promotions within the Royal Victorian Order to recognise contributions to the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012. The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood recognising distinguished personal service to the Sovereign, and remains in the personal gift of the monarch.


2012 Diamond League
The 2012 IAAF Diamond League (also known as the 2012 Samsung Diamond League for sponsorship purposes) was the third edition of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings.


2012 Diamond League
The series began on 11 May in Doha, Qatar and ended on 7 September in Brussels, Belgium.


2012 Diamond League, Results
Events not included in the Diamond League are marked in grey background in the below tables.


2012 Dick Smith Sandown 500
The 2012 Dick Smith Sandown 500 was a motor race for the Australian sedan-based V8 Supercars. It was the tenth event of the 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship. It was held on the weekend of 14–16 September at the Sandown Raceway, in Melbourne, Victoria.


2012 Dick Smith Sandown 500
It was the 42nd event to be held in the history of the Sandown 500 and the first to be held for V8 Supercars since 2007.


2012 Dick Smith Sandown 500
Craig Lowndes won his fifth Sandown 500, while co-driver Warren Luff broke through for his first victory in V8 Supercars, with the duo taking their Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore to the win over the Ford Performance Racing pair of Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards.


2012 Dick Smith Sandown 500
This was the first endurance race held at the Sandown circuit to have a race average speed above 150 km/h. The 2012 record was finally broken in 2018


2012 Division 1 (Swedish football)
The 2012 Division 1, part of the 2012 Swedish football season, was the 7th season of Sweden's third-tier football league in its current format. The 2012 fixtures were released on 12 December 2011. The season began on 15 April 2012 and ended on 28 October 2012.


2012 Division 1 (Swedish football), Teams
A total of 28 teams contested the league divided into two division, Norra and Södra. 20 returning from the 2011 season, two relegated from Superettan and six promoted from Division 2. The champion of each division qualified directly for promotion to Superettan, the two runners-up has to play a play-off against the thirteenth and fourteenth team from Superettan to decide who plays in Superettan 2013. The bottom three teams in each division qualified directly for relegation to Division 2.


2012 Division 1 (Swedish football), Positions by round, Norra
Note: Some matches were played out of phase with the corresponding round, positions were corrected in hindsight.


2012 Division 1 (Swedish football), Young Player Teams of the Year
At the end of each Division 1 season an all-star game is played called "Morgondagens Stjärnor" (English: "The Stars Of Tomorrow"). The two teams playing against each other consist of the best young players from each of the two leagues.


2012 División de Honor de Béisbol
División de Honor de Béisbol 2012 is the 27th season since its establishment. 2012 season started on February 25.


2012 División de Honor de Béisbol
El Llano BC was promoted from 1ª División and replaces relegated team Sevilla Red Sox. After FC Barcelona baseball team was disbanded, the players created a new team called Béisbol Barcelona.


2012 División de Honor de Béisbol
The two first teams of the regular season will play a best-of-five series playoff for the title. The last team will be relegated to 1ª División.


2012 División de Honor de Béisbol, Regular season standings, Final playoffs
The regular season leader will play at home games number 3, 4 and 5.


2012 Djurgårdens IF season
In the 2012 season, Djurgårdens IF competes in the Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen. Magnus Pehrsson is managing the team for the second year.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions
The 2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions were a series of co-ordinated explosions in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine on 27 April 2012. The bombs went off between 11:50 and 13:00 near four tram stations. The attackers' motivations are not publicly known.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Chronology of the attacks
On 27 April, beginning at around 11:50, four home-made bombs went off in different locations within Dnipropetrovsk. The first bomb went at 11:50 a.m. local time and the last bomb went off at 1:00 pm. The bombs were all placed in trashcans near four tram stations, belonging to the same line:


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Chronology of the attacks
Minutes after the explosion, panic began spreading in Dnipropetrovsk. People remained in their offices following a rumor that there were more blasts coming. Students remained at school. Several buildings were placed into "lockdown mode".


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Chronology of the attacks
Internet connections in the area went down for hours after the explosions. Telephone networks jammed up quickly, and as of 28 April, telephone companies were still struggling to restore functionality to their networks. Furthermore, Ukrainian authorities jammed the signal in certain parts of the city, in response to the theory that the bombs may have been triggered by cellphones.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Chronology of the attacks, Victims
Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry initially reported that 27 people were injured, but authorities revised the figure to 26 the day after the explosions. Among those injured were 9 teenagers. 22 people remained in hospital as of 28 April, including three who were in a serious condition.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Chronology of the attacks, Victims
According to security experts interviewed by Interfax, the nature of the injuries received by the victims suggests that the devices did not contain damaging elements, and the resulting injuries were probably caused by the debris of trash bins and other items.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Chronology of the attacks, Investigations
The authorities reported that several suspects were placed under arrest.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Chronology of the attacks, Investigations
On 27 April the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych assembled a committee to carry out an investigation of the explosions, with members including Viktor Pshonka, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine; Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine, Igor Kalinin; Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, Raisa Bohatyryova; and Serhiy Lyovochkin, Head of the Presidential Administration.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Chronology of the attacks, Investigations
The Dnipropetrovsk regional prosecutor opened a criminal case on counts of terrorism. The criminal case on the grounds of an offense under Part 2 of Art. 258 of the Criminal Code (terrorist act), was transferred to the organization of pre-trial investigation in the investigative unit of the central apparatus of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). In April 2012 SBU investigators sought three men on suspicion of committing a crime, whose sketch were created and published. It is known that they were all men.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Chronology of the attacks, Investigations
One of them was about 30 years, another about 40, the third from 35 to 45 years. In May 2012 police officers arrested four residents of Dnipropetrovsk. According to Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Pshonka this arrest closed the criminal case and it had solved the crime. All 4 men were also accused of organizing three terrorist attacks in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhia in October–November 2011. Lev Prosvirnin and Dmytro Reva were charged with a terrorist attack committed on preliminary collusion by a group of persons. Prosvirnin and Reva pleaded not guilty.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Chronology of the attacks, Investigations
According to the SBU the men "did not agree with the social and political regime in Ukraine. They wanted to cause chaos and provoke protests of the public against authorities. They also insist that their goal was to frustrate the hosting of Euro 2012 in Ukraine". The prosecutor's office in Dnipropetrovsk opened in March 2013 criminal proceedings because Reva had complained against falsified testimonies against him. Late February 2013 the European Court of Human Rights received a complaint from lawyers for Reva against long-term groundless detention. Prosvirnin and Reva were released on 11 March 2014 after the court removed their charges.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Background
Ukraine has not been afflicted with political terrorism, but there had been previous explosions connected to criminal extortion; in a previous attack in January 2011, two pre-dawn explosions outside an office of a coal mining company and then a shopping center in the Ukrainian city of Makiivka caused no casualties. Authorities then received letters demanding money in exchange for an end to the blasts. The perpetrators were arrested and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Background
The Dnipropetrovsk attacks came 40 days ahead of the UEFA Euro 2012 games, hosted in Poland and Ukraine. This raised security concerns over the safety of the games, though no match was actually scheduled to be held in Dnipropetrovsk. UEFA anyway dismissed any hypothesis of moving the championship anywhere else because of security reasons. Hryhoriy Surkis, head of the Football Federation of Ukraine declared he believed the blasts aimed "to torpedo the tournament in Ukraine at all costs and compromise our country in the eyes of the international community." Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk remarked: "This issue [tournament security] needs to be treated with the utmost seriousness".


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Reactions, In Ukraine, Politics
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich declared "We... understand that this is another challenge to us, to the whole country. We will think how to respond accordingly. Speaking in Dnipropetrovsk on 28 April, Yanukovich offered 200.000 euro to citizens able to provide the authorities with useful information on the authors of the attack.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Reactions, In Ukraine, Politics
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov declared that the explosions "are profitable to those forces that are interested in destabilizing the situation in the country. ".


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Reactions, In Ukraine, Politics
Mykola Tomenko, deputy parliament speaker and member of the opposition, suggested the blasts were orchestrated by the government in order to quiet Western criticism of Yulia Tymoshenko's imprisonment: "I don't rule out that the authorities and law enforcement bodies may be among the organizers of a scenario, which involves deflecting the attention of the world and Ukraine form Tymoshenko's case on the whole and her beating in particular." Volodymyr Yavorivsky, head of the Culture Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament and member of the opposition, accused the government parties to have staged the attack in order to jeopardise the October 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election and install an authoritarian regime.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Reactions, In Ukraine, Experts and analysts
According to Vadim Karassev, director of the Ukrainian Institute of Global Strategies, the blasts might have been prepared by the secret services in order to spread panic, fear, and confusion in Dnipropetrovsk and in Ukraine. This strategy of tension might be instrumental in limiting political activism and oppositional mobilisation in Ukraine under the pretext of terrorism.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Reactions, In Ukraine, Experts and analysts
Kirill Frolov, director of the Ukraine desk of the Institute for the studies of the CIS countries, supported the hypothesis of a political motivation for the attack, but also condemned the cynicism of the opposition in accusing the government for the attack. According to Frolov, the Yanukovich regime did not need such an event, as his political manifesto for the upcoming elections would be based on the good conduct of UEFA Euro 2012.


2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions, Reactions, Abroad
Matthew Rojansky, on CNN, suggested several possible motivations for the attack, ranging from random acts of violence, or the work of gangs from Ukraine's criminal underworld and endlessly feuding oligarchs, to international terrorism linked to al-Qa'eda, up to the eventual involvement of Russian secret services.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election
Presidential elections were held in the Dominican Republic on 20 May 2012. They were the fifth quadrennial elections for the presidency and vice-presidency since 1998, when a change in the electoral law separated the presidential from the congressional and municipal elections.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election
As specified in the new constitution ratified in January 2010, the presidential elections of 2012 coincided with the election of Overseas Deputies in Dominican expatriate communities. Since 1974, elections in the Dominican Republic took place on 16 May every four years. Nevertheless, the constitutional reform of 2009 stipulated in article 209 that the elections would be held on 20 May 2012 to avoid their falling on a work day. Candidates for the presidency competed for the highest number of votes, with the leader needing more than 50% of valid ballots to avoid a second round.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election
Danilo Medina of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party was elected president with a majority of votes in the first ballot.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election
This was the first election to involve participation by Dominican citizens abroad. In addition to voting for the president and vice-president, Dominican expatriates participated in by-elections for seven new seats (within three overseas constituencies) in the Chamber of Deputies.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election, Background
In 2008 Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Liberation Party defeated candidates Miguel Vargas Maldonado of the Dominican Revolutionary Party; Amable Aristy Castro of the Social Christian Reformist Party; Eduardo Estrella of the Revolutionary Social Democratic Party; Trajano Santana of the Independent Revolutionary Party; Guillermo Moreno of the Movement for Independence, Unity and Change; and Pedro de Jesús Candelier of the Popular Alliance Party in the presidential elections, while the Dominican Liberation Party maintained a considerable majority in both houses of Congress. The main topics of the campaign of 2008 were the issue of reelection, the macroeconomic stability maintained by the Fernández government, and the alleged corruption which dominated the political landscape. The Santo Domingo Metro and other national matters were also important topics, especially during the final months of the campaign.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election, Background
During Fernández's third presidential term several public works projects were carried out, a second line of the metro was opened, tourism grew, and free-trade zones were expanded. There was a constitutional reform, new judges were appointed to the Supreme Court, and the Electoral and Constitutional Tribunals were created. Several treaties were ratified, including seven bilateral accords with the government of Haiti on the Bolivarian Solidarity Fund to finance projects, border security, commerce, migration, health, the environment, and agriculture, as well as an accord with Colombia on air transport. Also passed was a law granting fiscal amnesty to all employers behind on their payments into the Social Security system; nonetheless, the attempt to apply it in its entirety failed.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election, Background
In the congressional and municipal elections of 2010, the Dominican Liberation Party won the majority of representatives in both houses of Congress, while the Dominican Revolutionary Party only managed a few seats in the Chamber of Deputies and none in the Senate.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election, Background
A 2011 poll found that the majority of Dominicans were unhappy with the government. Nevertheless, although many Dominicans believed that Fernández could lead them through the economic difficulties, they showed themselves to be dissatisfied with his program.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election, Background
The internal crisis of the two main contending parties led to divisions within both of them, unleashing mutual defections among their members. The PRD was afflicted with the most complicated internal conflict. In spite of agreeing to campaign in a civil fashion in a resolution signed by both parties in March 2012, this was not observed and the parties pursued an aggressive campaign strategy.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election, Electorate
6.5 million Dominican voters were eligible to vote in the 2012 election. There were 14,470 polling places open for the election: 13,865 precincts were located within the Dominican Republic, while an additional 605 precincts were open overseas. Approximately 300,000 expatriates, making up around 5% of the total electorate, were eligible to vote abroad. The election board had set up official precincts for Dominicans voters living in the United States, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Panama, Switzerland and Venezuela. More than 100,000 of the eligible voters resided in the U.S. state of New York.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election, Political parties
A total of 24 political parties were represented on the electoral ballot, including the two large parties and 22 small parties. The small parties are those which do not receive more than 10% of the vote and which are clearly not directly rivaling the main candidates. These parties generally choose to ally themselves with one of the large parties. Thirteen parties were previously rejected by the Central Electoral Commission.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election, Primary elections
The Dominican Liberation Party and Dominican Revolutionary Party held primary elections with the following results.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election, Candidates
Six candidates ran in the election, with former president Hipólito Mejía of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) and ex-parliamentarian Danilo Medina of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) being considered most likely to win. Mejía and Medina had already faced each other in the 2000 election. The constitution barred incumbent president Leonel Fernández of the PLD from running for a third term.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election, Reactions
After the PLD declared victory, supporters of Mejía complained about cases of fraud, including vote-buying, and announced to contest the result. Mejía refused to concede to Medina and doubted the result. The PRD representative on the Central Electoral Commission claimed that the official result reflected much fewer votes than Mejía should have had received, and indicated that the head of the commission was a partisan of the PLD.


2012 Dominican Republic presidential election, Reactions
Amid an overall orderly electoral process, there were some reports of adherents of both major parties offering money to voters in exchange for voting for their candidate or for passing their vote cards. Incidents of vote-buying were confirmed by the observers from the Organisation of American States (OAS), headed by Uruguay's ex-president Tabaré Vázquez. However, they considered the cases not sufficient to distort the overall result, and described the election by and large as "successful".


2012 Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2012 Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect one third of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council in South Yorkshire, England. This was on the same day as other 2012 United Kingdom local elections.


2012 Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council election
The Labour Party retained its control of the council with an increased majority after increasing its vote share by 21.7% and gaining three seats from the Liberal Democrats and five from various independents. The Conservatives held the three seats it was defending with a reduced vote share. After the election, the composition of the council was:


2012 Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council election, Ward results
The results in each ward are shown below. Changes are compared with the previous election in 2008. Spoilt ballots are not included in the below results.


2012 Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council election, Mayoral referendum
Alongside the council election, and election took place to decide whether to have an elected mayor in Doncaster. Doncaster was one of the two cities on the night to vote 'Yes'.


2012 Donegal Senior Football Championship
The 2012 Donegal Senior Football Championship was contested by senior Gaelic football clubs under the auspices of Donegal GAA.


2012 Donegal Senior Football Championship, Format
There was a preliminary round. The first round involved eight two-legged ties played home and away. The eight winning teams progressed to the quarter-finals from which the four winning teams progressed to the semi-finals from which the two winning teams progressed to the final.


2012 Donegal Senior Football Championship, Format
The 2012 Senior Championship finished later than usual, postponed due to the Donegal senior inter-county team's involvement in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, which they won on 23 September 2012. The 2012 Senior Championship got back underway a week later. With interest in Gaelic football at an all-time high after the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, the Senior County Final was broadcast live nationwide on TG4.


2012 Donegal Senior Football Championship, Draw
The draw for the first round (as well as a preliminary round) was made at the RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta studios in Derrybeg.


2012 Donegal Senior Football Championship, Results, Final
St Eunan's defeated Naomh Conaill in the final, held at MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey on 4 November 2012. The decisive goal in the final was scored by young Lee McMonagle in the 50th minute of the game, following a layoff from full-forward Ross Wherity, who received the ball via a long pass from Rory Kavanagh. The teams were level on many occasions until Mark McGowan scored the winning point in freak circumstances. Brendan McDyre of opponents Naomh Conaill attempted to backpass to his goalkeeper Stephen McGrath only for the ball to drift out for a '45'.


2012 Donegal Senior Football Championship, Results, Final
McGowan stepped up to punish. As the game ended he was photographed celebrating—stooped, wild-eyed with open mouth, sweat-soaked, bare thighs tensed, veins throbbing, mud-stained legs apart and clenched fists turned upwards. As Donegal Champions, Eunan's progressed to the Ulster quarter-final the following week, where they were defeated by Crossmaglen Rangers at Armagh's Athletic Grounds.


2012 Donegal county football team season
The 2012 Donegal county football team season was the franchise's 108th season since the County Board's foundation in 1905. The team ended the season as All-Ireland champions after winning Sam Maguire MMXII.


2012 Donegal county football team season
Jim McGuinness returned for his second season as the team's manager. Pioneer of the game's revolutionary tactic The System, he entered the season having won the 2011 Ulster Senior Football Championship in his first season at the helm. Consecutive Ulster titles were a possibility, a first in team history, and the 2012 Ulster Senior Football Championship duly followed. McGuinness then became only the second manager, after Brian McEniff at the helm of the fabled Sam MCMXCII side, to lead Donegal to the All-Ireland title.


2012 Donegal county football team season, Dr McKenna Cup
Conor McManus from Cork was part of the panel after transferring to Cill Chartha due to work commintments and being called into McGuinness's panel. He made his Donegal debut against UUJ at O'Donnell Park on 8 January, playing in midfield beside Neil Gallagher. He was half-time substitute against Cavan at Breffni Park on 15 January. His third and final appearance for the county came as a corner-forward against Derry at MacCumhaill Park on 18 January. McManus did not participate in Donegal's league campaign as by then his work brought him to Limerick, allowing him to return to his native club Clonakilty.


2012 Donegal county football team season, Post-season
Played under floodlights at Casement Park in Belfast on Saturday 3 November 2012, this game was held in memory of Michaela McAreavey. Donegal, in their first outing as All-Ireland champions, played a team comprising players from the rest of Ulster in an event intended to raise funds for The Michaela Foundation.


2012 Donegal county football team season, Panel
↑ Squad as per Donegal vs Mayo in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final on 23 September 2012


2012 Donegal county football team season, Awards, All Stars
Donegal achieved eight All Stars, a record for a single season in team history. Karl Lacey was named All Stars Footballer of the Year.


2012 Donington Superbike World Championship round
The 2012 Donington Superbike World Championship round was the fifth round of the 2012 Superbike World Championship season and of the 2012 Supersport World Championship season. It took place on the weekend of 11–13 May 2012 at Donington Park in North West Leicestershire, England.


2012 Dothan Pro Tennis Classic
The 2012 Dothan Pro Tennis Classic was a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the twelfth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2012 ITF Women's Circuit, offering a total of $50,000 in prize money. It took place in Dothan, Alabama, United States, on April 16–22, 2012.


2012 Dothan Pro Tennis Classic, WTA entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Dothan Pro Tennis Classic – Doubles
Valeria Solovieva and Lenka Wienerová were the defending champions, but Wienerová chose not to participate. Solovieva partnered up with Sally Peers, but lost in the first round to Alexa Glatch and Melanie Oudin.


2012 Dothan Pro Tennis Classic – Doubles
Eugenie Bouchard and Jessica Pegula won the title, defeating Sharon Fichman and Marie-Ève Pelletier in the final, 6–4, 4–6, [10–5].


2012 Dothan Pro Tennis Classic – Singles
Melinda Czink was the defending champion, but chose not to participate.


2012 Dothan Pro Tennis Classic – Singles
Camila Giorgi won the title, defeating Edina Gallovits-Hall in the final, 6–2, 4–6, 6–4.


2012 Dow Corning Tennis Classic
The 2012 Dow Corning Tennis Classic was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the eighteenth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2012 ITF Women's Circuit. It took place in Midland, United States, on January 6–12, 2012, offering $100,000 in prize money.


2012 Dow Corning Tennis Classic, WTA entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Dow Corning Tennis Classic – Doubles
Jamie Hampton and Anna Tatishvili were the defending champions, both decided to participate, but with different partners.


2012 Dow Corning Tennis Classic – Doubles
Hampton paired up with Melanie Oudin, whilst Tatishvili played with Alexa Glatch, and both faced each other in the quarterfinals, Hampton and Oudin were the winners but then ended up losing to Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká in the semifinals.


2012 Dow Corning Tennis Classic – Doubles
Hlaváčková and Hradecká went on to win the title, defeating Vesna Dolonts and Stéphanie Foretz Gacon in the final, 7–6(7–4), 6–2.


2012 Dow Corning Tennis Classic – Singles
Lucie Hradecká was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Jamie Hampton.


2012 Dow Corning Tennis Classic – Singles
Olga Govortsova won the title, defeating Magdaléna Rybáriková in the final, 6–3, 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–5).


2012 Down county football team season
The following is a summary of Down county football team's 2012 season.


2012 Down county football team season, Dr McKenna Cup, Squad
Brendan McVeigh Gk,Damien Turley,Daniel McCartan,Dan Gordon, Niall Branigan,Aidan Branigan,Ciarán Brannigan,Kevin Duffen,Conor Gavery,Brendan McArdle,Mark Doran,Darren O'Hagan,Peter Turley,Conor Gough,Kalum King,Ambrose Rodgers,Aidan Carr,Daniel Hughes,Niall McParland,Arthur McConville,Brendan Coulter,Conor Laverty,Eoin McCartan,Paul McComiskey,Marcus Miskelly,Kevin Anderson,Liam Doyle,Michael McAlister Gk


2012 Down county football team season, National Football League Division 1, Squad
Peter Turley,Damien TurleyKeith Quinn,Donal O'Hare,Marcus Miskelly,Niall McParland,David McKibben,Arthur McConville,Conor Gough,Timmy Hanna,Owen Costllo,Ciaran Brannigan,Niall Branigan,Ryan Brady,Kevin Anderson,Michael McAllister,Declan Rooney,Ambrose Rodgers,Damien Rafferty,Mark Poland,Brendan McVeigh,Kevin McKernan,Gerard McCartan,Eoin McCartan,Daniel McCartan,Brendan McArdle,Anton McArdle,Conor Maginn,Conor Laverty,Kalum King,Daniel Hughes,Dan Gordan,Conor Garvey,Kevin Duffin,Liam Doyle,Brendan Coulter,Aidan Carr,Aidan Branigan,Paul McComiskey


2012 Down county football team season, National Football League Division 1, Table
Compete in Division 1 semi-finals  Automatic relegation to Division 2


2012 Down county football team season, National Football League Division 1, Table
1Dublin are placed ahead of Donegal because they won the head-to-head game between the teams (2-16 to 0-13).


2012 Down county football team season, Ulster Senior Football Championship
The draw for the 2012 Ulster Senior Football Championship took place on 6 October 2011.


2012 Down county football team season, Ulster Senior Football Championship, Squad
Ambrose Rodgers,Daniel Hughes,Kalum King,Brendan McVeigh,Gerard McCartan,Declan Rooney,Brendan McArdle,Aidan Burns,Kevin McKernan,Conor Garvey,Mark Poland,Brendan Coulter,Conor Maginn,Dan Gordan,Conor Laverty,Daniel McCartan,Aidan Carr,Aidan Branigan,Eoin McCartan,Kevin Duffin,Anton McArdle,Liam Doyle,Gerard McAnulty,Peter Turley,Damien Turley,Marcus Miskelly,Arthur McConville,Niall McParland,Niall Branigan,Ciaran Brannigan,Owen Costello,Timmy Hanna,Michael McAlister,Shane Harrison,Ben O'Reilly,Donal O'Hare,Darren O'Hagan


2012 Dr McKenna Cup
The 2012 Dr McKenna Cup was a Gaelic football competition played under the auspices of Ulster GAA. The tournament was won by Tyrone, their first McKenna title since 2007. They defeated Derry in the final. The final was noted for the attendance of Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.


2012 Drake Bulldogs football team
The 2012 Drake Bulldogs football team represented Drake University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Chris Creighton and played their home games at Drake Stadium. They were a member of the Pioneer Football League. They finished the season 8–3, 7–1 in Pioneer Football League play to claim a share of the League championship for the second consecutive year.


2012 Dubai 24 Hour
The 2012 Dunlop Dubai 24 Hour was the 7th running of the Dubai 24 Hour endurance race. It took place at the Dubai Autodrome between January 13–14, 2012.


2012 Dubai Sevens
The 2012 Dubai Sevens was held between 30 November 2012 and 1 December 2012 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai. It was the 24th edition of the tournament and the second stop of the 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series.


2012 Dubai Sevens
Samoa defeated New Zealand 26–15 in the final to win the title.


2012 Dubai Sevens, Format
The teams were drawn into four pools of four teams each. Each team played everyone in their pool one time. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the Cup/Plate brackets. The bottom two teams from each group went to the Bowl/Shield brackets.


2012 Dubai Tennis Championships
The 2012 Dubai Tennis Championships (also known as the 2012 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for sponsorship reasons) was a 500 event on the 2012 ATP World Tour and a Premier event on the 2012 WTA Tour. Both of the events took place at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The women's tournament took place from February 20 to February 25, 2012, while the men's tournament took place from 27 February to 3 March 2012. Roger Federer and Agnieszka Radwańska won the singles titles.


2012 Dubai Tennis Championships, ATP singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Dubai Tennis Championships, ATP doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2012 Dubai Tennis Championships, Finals, Men's Doubles
Mahesh Bhupathi /  Rohan Bopanna defeated  Mariusz Fyrstenberg /  Marcin Matkowski, 6–4, 3–6, [10–5]


2012 Dubai Tennis Championships, Finals, Women's Doubles
Liezel Huber /  Lisa Raymond defeated  Sania Mirza /  Elena Vesnina, 6–2, 6–1


2012 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles
Sergiy Stakhovsky and Mikhail Youzhny were the defending champions but decided not to participate together. Stakhovsky plays alongside Michael Kohlmann, while Youzhny partners up with Marcos Baghdatis. Both pairs, however, lost in the quarterfinals and first round, respectively, to Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski. Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna defeated Fyrstenberg and Matkowski 6–4, 3–6, [10–5] in the final to win the title.


2012 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's Singles
Novak Djokovic was the three-time defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Andy Murray. Roger Federer won his fifth Dubai title, defeating Murray 7–5, 6–4 in the final.


2012 Dubai Tennis Championships – Women's Doubles
Liezel Huber and María José Martínez Sánchez are the defending champions but chose not to participate together. Huber played with Lisa Raymond as the first seed while Martínez Sánchez played with Shahar Pe'er. Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond won the title, defeating Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina 6–2, 6–1 in the final.


2012 Dubai Tennis Championships – Women's Singles
Caroline Wozniacki was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Julia Görges. Agnieszka Radwańska won the title, defeating Görges 7–5, 6–4 in the final.


2012 Dubai Women's Sevens
The 2012 Dubai Women's Sevens was a rugby sevens tournament held between 30 November 2012 and 1 December 2012 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai. It was the sixth edition of the tournament and the first stop on the 2012–13 IRB Women's Sevens World Series


2012 Dubai Women's Sevens
New Zealand were the first champions of the new series after defeating South Africa 41–0.


2012 Dubai Women's Sevens, Format
The teams were drawn into three pools of four teams each. Each team played everyone in their pool one time. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the Cup/Plate brackets. The bottom two teams from each group went to the Bowl brackets.


2012 Dubai World Cup
The 2012 Dubai World Cup was a horse race held at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday 31 March 2012. It was the 17th running of the Dubai World Cup.


2012 Dubai World Cup
The winner was Godolphin's Monterosso, a five-year-old bay entire horse trained in Dubai by Mahmood Al Zarooni and ridden by Mickael Barzalona. Monterosso's victory was the first in the race for his jockey and trainer and the fifth for Godolphin.


2012 Dubai World Cup
Monterosso had been trained in England by Mark Johnston in 2009 and 2010, winning five races including the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot. In 2011 he was transferred to the Godolphin stable and sent to compete in Dubai where he won the Dubai City of Gold and finished third to Victoire Pisa in the Dubai World Cup. In the 2012 World Cup he started a 20/1 outsider and won by three lengths from his more fancied stable companion Capponi with the British-trained Planteur half a length back in third. The 5/4 favourite So You Think finished fourth of the thirteen runners.


2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship
The 2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship was the inter club Gaelic football competition between the top teams in Dublin GAA. St Brigid's were the defending champions and Skerries Harps were the latest addition to the senior championship having won the Intermediate championship in 2011.


2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship, First Round
The winners of the first-round games went on to the second round and were drawn against the other winners of the first round. The losers of the first round entered a losers section of the second round.


2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship, First Round
UCD, Ballyboden St Enda's, Raheny, St Oliver Plunkett's-Eoghan Ruadh, Skerries Harps, St Vincent's, St Peregrine's, Kilmacud Crokes, Trinity Gaels, Na Fianna, Ballymun Kickham's, St Patrick's Palmerstown, Parnells, Templeogue Synge Street, St Brigid's and Lucan Sarsfields all went on to qualify for the winners section of the second round of the Dublin Championship. St Mary's, Ballinteer St John's, Thomas Davis, St Anne's, St Jude's, Fingal Ravens, Naomh Mearnóg, St Maur's, Clontarf, St Mark's, Erin's Isle, St Sylvester's, O'Tooles and Round Towers Clondalkin all progressed to the second round losers section.


2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship, First Round
Whitehall Colmcille received a bye for the second round losers section and therefore avoided relegation, progressing to the third round of the Dublin Championship.


2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Second Round
The second round was divided into two sections, the losers and winners sections. The winning teams in the losers section went on to qualify for the third round of the championship while the losers of the losers section entered the relegation championship and the fight for their senior status. The losers of the winners section qualified for the third round and played the winners of the second round losers section. The winners of the winners section went on to qualify for the fourth round where they met the winners of the third round. UCD, Templeogue Synge Street and Na Fianna all progressed to the fourth round of the Dublin championship.


2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Third round
The second round winners of the losers section were paired against the losers of the winners section for the third round of the championship. Lucan Sarsfields, St Peregrine's, Trinity Gaels, Whitehall Colmcille, St Mary's Saggart, Skerries Harps, Naomh Mearnóg and Raheny were knocked out of the Dublin championship in September 2012, to return in 2013.


2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Third round
Ballyboden St Enda's, Parnell's, Thomas Davis, St Pat's Palmerstown, St Maur's and Erin's Isle all won their respective third round ties and progressed to the fourth round stage of the competition.


2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Last Sixteen
The fourth round consists of the winners of the second round winners section who are drawn against the winners of the third round. This round consists of the last 16 remaining teams in the Dublin Championship for 2012. Second round winners UCD, Templeogue Synge Street, Na Fianna, St Vincent's, Ballymun Kickhams, St Oliver Plunkett's-Eoghan Ruadh, Kilmacud Crokes and St Brigid's were drawn against the third round winners Ballyboden St Enda's, Parnells, Thomas Davis, St Pat's Palmerstown, St Maur's, Erin's Isle, St Sylvester's and St Jude's. St Judes, Na Fianna, Ballymun Kickhams, St Brigid's, St Sylvester's, Templeogue Synge Street, Kilmacud Crokes and St Vincent's qualified for the quarter finals; St Oliver Plunkett's-Eoghan Ruadh, UCD, Erin's Isle, Parnell's, Thomas Davis, Ballyboden St Enda's, St Pat's Palmerstown and St Maur's were knocked out during round four.


2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Last Eight
The quarter finals of the Dublin Championship consisted of the eight winners of the fourth round. The games were to be played on the weekend of 14 October. The St Brigid's game was cancelled and rescheduled for 17 October 2012 due to the untimely death of Seamus Bonner. The Kilmacud Crokes was also brought forward to the 17th due to their hurling side appearing in the Dublin senior hurling championship final on the same weekend as 14 October. Na Fianna, St Sylvester's, Templeogue Synge Street and St Vincent's were knocked out at the quarter final stage. St Jude's, St Brigid's, Kilmacud Crokes and Ballymun Kickham's progressed to the last four of the competition.


2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Relegation Championship
Each winning team in the relegation championship avoids potential relegation. The relegation championship works in the opposite way to a normal championship. It is the aim of each team to exit the relegation championship and the only way to do this is by beating the opposition. Only losing teams progress to the successive rounds of the relegation championship.


2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Relegation Championship
Any team that remains a losing side for the entire duration of the championship can be relegated to the Dublin Intermediate Football Championship although, if the winners of the Intermediate championship already have a team in the senior championship, they are not promoted and no team is relegated. Although, in the case of 2012, no team will be relegated due to a decision to increase the Dublin senior football championship from 31 teams to 32 teams.


2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Relegation Championship
St Anne's, St Mark's, Clontarf, O'Toole's, Ballinteer St John's, Fingal Ravens and Round Towers Clondalkin were due to compete in the 2012 relegation championship but the games were cancelled.


2012 Dublin Senior Hurling Championship
The 2012 Dublin Senior Hurling Championship was a Dublin-based GAA club competition between the top clubs in Dublin Hurling. Kilmacud Crokes won the senior hurling final by beating Cuala by 2-10 to 0-09.


2012 Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2012 Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council election was held on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England, as part of the 2012 United Kingdom local elections. 26 seats were up for election, and the results saw the Conservatives losing to a majority of 11 seats to Labour.


2012 Duhallow Junior A Hurling Championship
The 2012 Duhallow Junior A Hurling Championship is the 79th staging of the Duhallow Junior A Hurling Championship. The championship is scheduled to take place between May and September 2012.


2012 Duke Blue Devils football team
The Duke Blue Devils football team represented Duke University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in the Coastal Division. The Blue Devils were led by fifth-year head coach David Cutcliffe and played their home games at Wallace Wade Stadium They finished the season 6–7 overall and 3–5 in ACC play to place fifth in the Coastal Division. They were invited to the Belk Bowl, the program's first bowl game since 1995, where they were defeated by Cincinnati.


2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election
The 2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Dumfries and Galloway Council. The election used the thirteen wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 47 councillors being elected.


2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election
The election saw Labour replace the Scottish Conservative Party as the largest party on the Council as they gained 1 seat while the Tories lost 4 seats. The Scottish National Party retained their third place on the authority but did not gain any additional seats. Independents proved to be the biggest winners as they returned to the Council with 7 seats and 5 net gains which included 2 former members of the Labour party. The Scottish Liberal Democrats proved to be the worst performers of the election, being reduced to just a single seat.


2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election
Following the election the Conservative Party formed a coalition with the support of the SNP. This replaced the previous Conservative-Lib Dem coalition which existed from 2007-2012.


2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election, Election result
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.


2012 Dundalk F.C. season
The 2012 season was Dundalk's fourth successive season in the League of Ireland Premier Division following promotion in 2008. All together, it was the club's 86th season in League of Ireland football. The club was managed by Sean McCaffrey, who was in his first season in charge. The club also competed in the FAI Cup, League of Ireland Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup.


2012 Dundalk F.C. season
Dundalk finished the 33-round season in 11th position, requiring them to play a promotion/relegation play-off against Waterford United of the First Division; a tie which they won on aggregate, thus retaining their place in the Premier Division for the 2013 season. Results against Monaghan United F.C. were expunged, after they withdrew from the League mid-season.


2012 Dundalk F.C. season
The club spent the season battling financial problems, which threatened to put the club of business altogether. Manager Sean McCaffrey resigned in July with the club rooted to the bottom of the table and financial losses mounting. He was replaced by his assistant, Darius Kierans, in a caretaker role. The club's owner, Gerry Matthews put the club up for sale, and with the assistance of a Supporters Trust, it was taken over by local businessmen Andy Connolly and Paul Brown (owners of the team's official sponsors, Fastfix) before the end of the season.


2012 Dundalk F.C. season, 2012 Fixtures and results, Premier Division, Promotion/Relegation Play-off
Dundalk won the play-off 4–2 on aggregate and remained in the Premier Division


2012 Dundee City Council election
Elections to Dundee City Council were held on 3 May 2012 on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election used the eight wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 29 Councillors elected.


2012 Dundee City Council election
After the 2007 Election a Labour-Lib Dem Coalition was formed. This administration subsequently collapsed in 2009 as a result of a by-election loss, and a SNP minority administration was formed.


2012 Dundee City Council election
The 2012 election saw the Scottish National Party gain 3 seats and secure an overall majority on the Council. The Scottish Labour Party retained their 10 seats on the Council while both the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and the Scottish Liberal Democrats were reduced to a single Councillor. There also remains a single Independent.


2012 Dundee City Council election, Election results
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.


2012 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series
The 2012 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series was an Australian motor racing competition for V8 Supercars. It was the thirteenth running of the V8 Supercar Development series. Supporting the 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship, it began on 1 March at the Clipsal 500 and ended on 2 December at the Sydney 500 after seventeen races held over seven rounds. 2012 was the last year in which the Ford BF Falcon was eligible for the series.


2012 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series
The series was won by Scott McLaughlin driving a Ford FG Falcon.


2012 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series, Calendar
The series was contested over seven rounds at seven V8 Supercars Championship events.


2012 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series, Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers contested the 2012 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series.


2012 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series, Points system
Series points were awarded at each race according to the following table:


2012 Dunlop World Challenge
The 2012 Dunlop World Challenge was a professional tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. The fifth edition of the Dunlop World Challenge tournament, it was part of the 2012 ATP Challenger Tour and the 2012 ITF Women's Circuit. It took place on 19–25 November 2012 in Toyota, Japan.


2012 Dunlop World Challenge, Men's Singles entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Dunlop World Challenge, Women's Singles entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Dunlop World Challenge – Men's Doubles
Hiroki Kondo and Yi Chu-huan were the defending champions, but lost in the quarterfinals. Philipp Oswald and Mate Pavić won the title, defeating Andrea Arnaboldi and Matteo Viola 6–3, 3–6, [10–2] in the final.


2012 Dunlop World Challenge – Men's Singles
Tatsuma Ito was the defending champion but decided not to participate. Michał Przysiężny defeated Hiroki Moriya 6–2, 6–3 in the final to win the title.


2012 Dunlop World Challenge – Women's Doubles
Makoto Ninomiya and Riko Sawayanagi were the defending champions, but lost in the first round to Miki Miyamura and Varatchaya Wongteanchai.


2012 Dunlop World Challenge – Women's Doubles
Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua won the tournament, defeating Miyamura and Wongteanchai in the final, 6–1, 6–2.


2012 Dunlop World Challenge – Women's Singles
Tamarine Tanasugarn was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Stefanie Vögele.


2012 Dunlop World Challenge – Women's Singles
Vögele won the tournament, defeating Kimiko Date-Krumm in the final, 7–6(7–3), 6–4.


2012 Duquesne Dukes football team
The 2012 Duquesne Dukes Devils football team represented Duquesne University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by eighth year head coach Jerry Schmitt and played their home games at Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field. They are a member of the Northeast Conference. They finished the season 5–6, 3–5 in NEC play to finish in a tie for sixth place.


2012 Durand Cup
The 2012 Durand Cup was the 125th season of the Durand Cup, the third oldest football tournament in the world, which is a knock-out competition held in India. Churchill Brothers were the current holders, having beaten Prayag United in the 2011 Final.


2012 Durand Cup
The tournament was held from 16 August to 1 September with all matches at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi.


2012 Durand Cup
Air India won the 2012 Durand Cup in the final after beating Dodsal 3–2 on penalties after the match ended 0–0 after 120 minutes.


2012 Durand Cup, Quarter-Finals
The Quarter-Finals of the Durand Cup shall be played between 12 teams. Five of the teams currently play in 2012–13 I-League, two played in the 2012 I-League 2nd Division and one currently play in the Mumbai Football League. The other four spots would have been taken up by the top three teams from the preliminary round plus one service team. However, on 22 August 2012 it was announced that HAL SC would withdraw from the tournament (along with Churchill Brothers S.C. who withdrew before the initial list of teams was released) and thus freeing an extra space. So in order to fill it up the Durand Football Committee decided to qualify the four teams remaining in the preliminary rounds. Therefore, Delhi United FC, FC Punjab Police, Assam Rifles FC, and CRPF FC will qualify directly for the Quarter-Finals.


2012 Durand Cup, Scorers
All goals from tournament proper. Goals from qualifiers are not counted in this list.


2012 Durand Cup Final
The 2012 Durand Cup Final was a football match between Air India and Dodsal on 1 September 2012 at Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi. It was the final match of the 2012 Durand Cup, the 125th season of the Durand Cup, a football competition for the 12 teams in the I-League and the Indian football system. Air India were appearing in their first final, as where Dodsal.


2012 Durand Cup Final
Air India and Dodsal played out to a goalless 90 minutes at first. The score remained the same through extra time. With the score 0–0 after extra time, the match went to penalties as neither side were able to score a first goal. Despite missing two penalties, Air India won the shootout 3–2 to win the Durand Cup for first time in their history.


2012 Durand Cup Final, Route to the final, Air India
Air India entered the Durand Cup at the Group Stage and was paired in Group A with Delhi United and Pailan Arrows. They played their first match on 26 August 2012 against Delhi United in which Air India won 3–0 with goals from Pradeep Mohanraj, Ong Lepcha, and Neil Gaikwad. Then on 28 August 2012 the club played their second match of the tournament against Pailan Arrows in which they drew 1–1 with Souvik Chakraborty scoring the lone goal for Air India. That victory managed to push Air India through to the semi-finals in which they faced SESA Football Academy on 30 August 2012. Air India won the match on penalties 7–6 to move on to the final of the Durand Cup after extra time finished at 2–2.


2012 Durand Cup Final, Route to the final, Dodsal
Dodsal also entered the Durand Cup via Group Stage. They won their first match against Army Red 3–0 before defeating Punjab Police 6–0 to qualify for the semi-finals. In the semi-final Dodsal played against Assam Rifles on 30 August 2012, beating them 6–5 on penalties to qualify for the final.


2012 Durand Cup Quarter-Finals
The group stage features 12 teams: the 8 automatic qualifiers and the 4 winners of the preliminary stage.


2012 Durand Cup Quarter-Finals
The teams are drawn into four groups of three, and play each once. The matchdays were between 23 August to 28 August.


2012 Durand Cup Quarter-Finals
The top teams in each group advanced to the Semi-Finals.


2012 Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria
The 2012 Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria was the eleventh running of the Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria, a women's bicycle race in Spain. It was held on 5 June 2012 over a distance of 113 kilometres (70.2 miles). It was rated by the UCI as a 1.2 category race.


2012 Dutch Basketball Supercup
The 2012 Dutch Basketball Supercup was the 2nd edition of the Dutch Basketball Supercup. The game was played between EiffelTowers Den Bosch, the winner of the 2011–12 Dutch Basketball League, and ZZ Leiden, the winner of the 2011–12 NBB Cup.


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships
2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships is a championship for young Track & Field athletes of the islands of the Dutch Kingdom. In 2012 there were four islands competing. Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire and Sint Maarten. They compete in different events and the athlete with the overall most points will be declared the winner. There are two age groups, they are 11–12 years (Pentathlon) and 13–14 years (Heptathlon). This year was the first year that three of the former Dutch Antilles competed. Sint Eustatius would not return for this year's event while Sint Maarten made its return and Bonaire competed for the very first time. In total there were 38 athletes taking part in this competition.


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Events
The Pentathlon consist of a total of 5 different events. These events are 60 metres, Long Jump, High Jump, Baseball throw and 800 metres (for the girls) and 1000 metres (for the boys).


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Events
The Heptathlon consist of a total of 7 different events. These events are 80 metres, Long Jump, High Jump, Baseball throw, shot put, 80 metres hurdles (for the girls), 80 metres hurdles and 1000 metres (for the girls) and 1200 metres (for the boys).


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Teams, Aruba Team 1
Pentathlon: Wuill Vrolijk, Jahleel Heemstadt Toni-Lisa Brown and Deborah Cecilia.


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Teams, Aruba Team 1
Heptathlon: David Quandt, Ashmir Amerlaan, Sarahi Sierra and Candace Croes


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Teams, Aruba Team 2
Pentathlon: Dendrel Groeneveld, Trevor Farro, Aureen Lampe and Latoyer Briggs


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Teams, Aruba Team 2
Heptathlon: Axel Tromp, Dwayne Maduro, Neemie Sinmeus and Nicole Dirksz


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Teams, Curaçao
Pentathlon: Jaden Bernabela, Andrew de Pool, Dianthely Tile and Urshelay Louisa


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Teams, Curaçao
Heptathlon: Ruwensley Hansen, Jean-Marc Scorea, Tiffany Hurtado and Glenka Antonia


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Teams, Sint Maarten
Heptathlon: Mishak James, Vernon Gumbs, Aisha Violenus and Chandra Vanterpool (Extra Athlete: Tia Gomez)


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Teams, Bonaire
Pentathlon: Kevin Alberto, Raynold Wilsoe, Julivienne Sommer and Jerona Rifaela


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Teams, Bonaire
Extra Athletes: Farella Lemming and Aryton Cicilia for the relay team


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Fun Facts
-	Axel Tromp and Sarahi Sierra of Aruba and Tiffany Hurtado of Curaçao are the only athletes coming back from the 2010 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships from the U-13 Category.


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Fun Facts
- Aruba won all Gold Medals in the U-15 Girls Category and for the first time all three Medals in the Overall Girls U-15.


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Fun Facts
- This would be the first time Curaçao hasn't Medal in one of the relays.


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Fun Facts
- Curaçao Won overall Team and Overall in Medal Count while Aruba has the highest Count in total Gold Medals.


2012 Dutch Caribbean Age Group Championships, Fun Facts
- A grand total of 18 Records new records were recorded in this event


2012 Dutch Darts Masters
The 2012 Dutch Darts Masters was the fifth of five PDC European Tour events on the 2012 PDC Pro Tour. The tournament took place at the Van Der Valk Hotel in Nuland, Netherlands, from 26–28 October 2012. It featured a field of 64 players and £82,100 in prize money, with £15,000 going to the winner.


2012 Dutch Darts Masters
Simon Whitlock won his first European Tour title, defeating Paul Nicholson 6–1 in the final.


2012 Dutch Darts Masters, Qualification
The top 32 players from the  automatically qualified for the event. The remaining 32 places went to players from three qualifying events - 20 from the UK Qualifier (held in Dublin on 5 October), eight from the European Qualifier and four from the Host Nation Qualifier.


2012 Dutch Darts Masters, Qualification
Robert Thornton withdrew the day before the start of the tournament due to ill health.


2012 Dutch Figure Skating Championships
The 2012 Dutch Figure Skating Championships took place between 17 and 18 December 2011 in Tilburg. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles and ladies' singles on the senior and junior level, and pair skating for the junior level.


2012 Dutch National Time Trial Championships – Women's time trial
The Women's time trial of the 2012 Dutch National Time Trial Championships cycling event took place on 20 June 2012 in and around Emmen, Netherlands. The first women started at 17:00. The course was 22.65 km.


2012 Dutch National Time Trial Championships – Women's time trial
The time trial started in Dierenpark Emmen, the zoo of Emmen, besides the African savanna. It was the first time in history a cycle race started in a zoo. Riders rode along the zebras, giraffes, rhinos and hippos.


2012 Dutch National Time Trial Championships – Women's time trial
Ellen van Dijk (Team Specialized–lululemon) became for the second time in her career Dutch national time trial Champion. She won also the title in 2007. Van Dijk finished 14 seconds ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten (Rabobank) and 67 seconds of Iris Slappendel (Rabobank).


2012 Dutch National Track Championships
The 2012 Dutch National Track Championships were the Dutch national championship for track cycling. They took place in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands from December 27 to December 30, 2012.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Men's keirin
The Men's keirin at the 2012 Dutch National Track Championships in Apeldoorn took place at Omnisport Apeldoorn on December 27, 2011. 12 athletes participated in the contest.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Men's keirin
Hugo Haak won the gold medal, Nils van `t Hoenderdaal took silver and Matthijs Buchli won the bronze.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Men's keirin, Competition format
The Keirin races involve 6.5 laps of the track behind a pace-setter, followed by a 2.5 lap sprint to the finish. The tournament consisted of preliminary heats and finals. The heats divided the riders into six finalists. The final round also included a ranking race for 7th to 12th place.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Men's keirin, Results, Qualification
The top 2 athletes of each heat advanced to the gold medal race.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's individual pursuit
The women's individual pursuit at the 2012 Dutch National Track Championships in Apeldoorn took place at Omnisport Apeldoorn on December 28, 2012. 8 athletes participated in the contest.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's individual pursuit, Preview
The title holder, Ellen van Dijk and the main favourite to win the gold did not participate at the 2012 Dutch National Track Championships. The other favourites were the numbers two and three of 2011: Kirsten Wild and Amy Pieters.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's individual pursuit, Competition format
The tournament started with a qualifying round. The two fastest qualifiers advanced to the gold medal final. The numbers three and four competed against each other for the bronze medal.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's madison
The women's madison at the 2012 Dutch National Track Championships in Apeldoorn took place at Omnisport Apeldoorn on December 30, 2012. 9 teams participated in the contest.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's madison, Competition format
Because of the number of teams, there were no qualification rounds for this discipline. Consequently, the event was run direct to the final. The competition consisted on 100 laps, making a total of 25 km.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's madison, Preview
Ellen van Dijk who won the national madison title in 2011, together with Kirsten Wild, did not participate at the 2012 National Track Championships. Wild rode in this edition together with Laura van der Kamp.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's points race
The women's points race at the 2012 Dutch National Track Championships in Apeldoorn took place at Omnisport Apeldoorn on December 27, 2012. 19 athletes participated in the contest.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's points race, Competition format
There were no qualification rounds for this discipline. Consequently, the event was run direct to the final.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's points race, Race
The race started at 19:35 and consisted on 100 laps, making a total of 25 km.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's scratch
The women's scratch at the 2012 Dutch National Track Championships in Apeldoorn took place at Omnisport Apeldoorn on December 30, 2011. 16 athletes participated in the contest.


2012 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's scratch, Competition format
Because of the number of entries, there were no qualification rounds for this discipline. Consequently, the event was run direct to the final. The race started at 18:00 and consisted on 40 laps, making a total of 10 km.


2012 Dutch Open Grand Prix
The 2012 Dutch Open Grand Prix was the twelfth grand prix gold and grand prix tournament of the 2012 BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix. The tournament was held in Topsportcentrum, Almere, Netherlands October 9 until October 14, 2012 and had a total purse of $50,000.


2012 Dutch TT
The 2012 Dutch TT was the seventh round of the 2012 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It was the 82nd Dutch TT, and took place on the weekend of 28–30 June 2012 at the TT Circuit Assen.


2012 Dutch TT, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round seven has concluded.


2012 Dutch general election
Early general elections were held in the Netherlands on 12 September 2012 after Prime Minister Mark Rutte handed in his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix on 23 April. The 150 seats of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands were contested using party-list proportional representation. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) received a plurality of the votes, followed by the Labour Party (PvdA).


2012 Dutch general election
Prior to the election, polls had predicted an increase in support for the Socialist Party, primarily at the expense of the PvdA, but the PvdA regained support during the campaign, which was attributed to the leadership of Diederik Samsom and in the election the Socialist Party failed to improve its performance. The Party for Freedom (PVV) and Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) both lost seats.


2012 Dutch general election
After 49 days of negotiations, a new VVD-PvdA centrist government was formed on 5 November 2012, comprising Mark Rutte as prime minister along with 7 VVD ministers and 6 PvdA ministers.


2012 Dutch general election
It was the first Netherlands-wide election in which the Caribbean Netherlands participated.


2012 Dutch general election, Background
Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government fell after the Party for Freedom (PVV), which had supported the government from outside, refused to sanction the austerity measures the government sought in April 2012. This called for a new early election to be held in September 2012. It is the fourth early election in a row since the Second Kok cabinet fell very near the end of its mandate, which allowed that government to keep the election date to be held as scheduled by the term in May 2002. Early elections were subsequently held in January 2003, November 2006, June 2010 and September 2012. And during that time a total of five governments ended prematurely, as it was possible for the Third Balkenende cabinet (July–November 2006) to be formed without a new election.


2012 Dutch general election, Participating parties
In addition to the established parties of Dutch politics, the pensioners' party 50PLUS, founded in 2009, won its first seats in the election.


2012 Dutch general election, Participating parties
The Pirate Party claimed that it may enter parliament for the first time with 2 or 3 seats. However, the party achieved only 0.3% of the national vote and no seats.


2012 Dutch general election, Participating parties
Hero Brinkman, elected on the Party for Freedom's list, split from the party in March 2012 and founded the Independent Citizens' Party in April 2012 to run in the election on his own. In June 2012, the party merged with Proud of the Netherlands (a party founded by Rita Verdonk, who had resigned from the position of party leader) to form the Democratic Political Turning Point, with Brinkman as leader. The party achieved 0.1% of the national vote and no seats.


2012 Dutch general election, Polls
Natixis evaluated on 6 September the most recent opinion polls, and found the likelihood was strongest for the formation of a "purple government" of the pro-EU parties: VVD, CDA, D66, PvdA and, possible GL. It also pointed to other potential governing coalition that would include a pro-austerity government with VVD, CDA, D66, GL and CU; or a centre-left government of CDA, D66, GL and PvdA with a minority of seats, but with outside parliamentary support of the SP. The two largest eurosceptic parties, PVV and SP, are reportedly not interested in building a coalition. A similar scenario to the previous election could re-occur, considering no pre-election alliance will receive votes enough for majority, and thus needs to form a new more broad coalition government, comprising at least three parties.


2012 Dutch general election, Pre-election agreements
On 27 April, the two governing coalition parties, VVD and CDA negotiated a deal to reduce the national deficit in 2013 to an acceptable level below 3% of GDP. This deal was also supported by the three opposition parties: D66, GL and the CU.


2012 Dutch general election, Pre-election agreements
A ratification of the newly signed Fiscal Compact is unconditionally supported by the four parties: VVD, CDA, D66 and GL. The compact is however opposed by the three parties: PVV, CU and SP, while the PvdA, will only support it provided that the European Commission first grant the Netherlands a two-year exemption to comply, due to the existence of "extraordinary economic circumstances."


2012 Dutch general election, Campaign
The VVD's Mark Rutte is said to be aligned with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in promoting austerity measures, while his closest rival the PvdA's Diederik Samsom's was said to reflect French President Francois Hollande's stimulus measures from its own election this year. A final television debate took place on 11 September, with the economy reportedly the most important issue amongst voters. The day before the debate, Rutte said that he would stop delegating ever increasing powers to the European Union saying: "I am 'Mr No' when it comes to a Brussels that's expanding more and more."


2012 Dutch general election, Campaign
Conversely, Samsom said that he was in coordination with Hollande over dealing with the economic crisis. Support for him and the PvdA grew after he was perceived as having the better performance in the debates. He also rejected taking cabinet posts in a coalition government saying: "I will either be prime minister, or I will lead my party in parliament." The vote was also seen as a test of the EU's popularity within the country.


2012 Dutch general election, Campaign
Political analyst Anno Bunnik said that many voters were not keen on repeated early elections. He also pointed to PVV's Geert Wilders' declining popularity after he was viewed as a political opportunist not looking out for the national interest in effectively forcing a snap election. In citing Wilders' labeling as a "sorcerer's apprentice," he also pointed to a possible first-ever loss of seats for the PVV under Wilder's helm. He attributed this to Wilders' inefficiency in the debates of responding to the other party leaders instead of setting the agenda, instead in one debate he got into an argument with Rutte with both leaders calling each other liars in an unprecedented move.


2012 Dutch general election, Campaign
Though opinion polls indicated a close race to gain a majority, the international media indicated a left-leaning government was likely to emerge as a result of the election. However, the French election was cited and countered as a turn in orientation for the government would still not lead to a change in austerity policies.


2012 Dutch general election, Results
There was a turn-out of 74.6%, about one percent less than the previous election two years before. The NOS reported the following results after 100% of the votes were counted:


2012 Dutch general election, Government formation
In earlier times it was the sole task of the King (or Queen) to appoint a person to prepare the formation of a new cabinet (in Dutch, informateur). The House of Representatives however changed the election law in the spring of 2012, so that the party with a plurality of votes now is responsible first to appoint a "verkenner" (scout), who after interviewing all party leaders submits a report to the House of Representatives, with a recommendation of who should be appointed as "informateur" and on what formation his first negotiation attempt should be.


2012 Dutch general election, Government formation
On 13 September the VVD appointed Henk Kamp, the VVD's Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, as "scout". He held formal individual interviews with all party leaders the following day, where they were asked about their support and priorities for the formation of a new government.


2012 Dutch general election, Government formation
(1) Some of the possible formations of a majority government (i.e. PvdA and VVD), will hold a majority in the lower house but still lack a majority in the Senate, which must also pass all bills. As the Senate in most cases has a tradition to respect the political will by the lower house, and with the possibility for the government parties in the remaining cases to negotiate a majority with other parties, the formation of a new stable government will not require the government parties to necessarily represent a majority in the Senate.


2012 Dutch general election, Government formation
(2) The "Kunduz alliance" (also the "central alliance" or "spring alliance") made up of the VVD, CDA, D66, GL and the CU, agreed on 27 April 2012 to reduce the national deficit in 2013 to below 3 per cent of GDP. As a coalition these five parties together only won 75 seats in the 2012 election, two seats less than they held before the election and one seat short of a majority. If this alliance had formed a new majority government, they would have needed the support of a sixth party (i.e. SGP).


2012 Dutch general election, Government formation
Party leaders' stated opinions on 14 September, about government formation:


2012 Dutch general election, Government formation
Henk Kamp confirmed the above press statements in his "scout report" on 18 September, and recommended the House of Representatives to appoint him and Wouter Bos (PvdA) as the two leading negotiators ("informateurs") in an attempt to form a new government comprising the VVD and the PvdA. He emphasized that it was entirely up to those two parties to decide if they wanted to invite additional parties to join such a government, as the two parties together had a majority in the House of Representatives, but did not need a majority in the Senate to form a stable government.


2012 Dutch general election, Government formation
During a debate in the House of Representatives on 20 September, both the VVD and the PvdA announced they now preferred to establish a two-party government, rather than a wider coalition of more parties. They admitted this was a new stance from their initial statements from 14 September. This change of opinion was criticized in particular by D66 and CDA, but along with the appointment of Henk Kamp (VVD) and Wouter Bos (PvdA) as "informateurs", the proposal that the two parties now should negotiate the formation of a two-party government was passed by a majority in the House of Representatives.


2012 Dutch general election, Government formation
Negotiations between the two parties started officially on 21 September. No official announcements were made during negotiations, but it was leaked from sources within the VVD on 24 September that if negotiations continued to go well, they expected it was possible to present the new two-party government within six to eight weeks.


2012 Dutch general election, Government formation
In regards of the budget for 2013, it was decided by the VVD and the PvdA to delay debating it in the House, until the point of time a new government had been formed, as it was considered to be one of the important negotiation points for the new government first to settle a deal on. On 1 October 2012, a partial agreement was sealed between VVD and PvdA for the 2013 budget, adjusting the previous 5-party spring agreement at several key points, but accepting that the overall budget deficit should remain being cut to only 2.7% of the GDP.


2012 Dutch general election, Government formation
The parties accepted for a debate and vote on the new agreement straight away, as the time was an issue, and there was no reason to wait for the lengthy negotiations first to end between VVD and PvdA on the overall government formation. Both VVD and PvdA stated they were happy now to have closed the partial budget agreement, but also admitted that government formation negotiations would probably last for several additional weeks, before a VVD-PvdA government potentially could be formed.


2012 Dutch general election, Government formation
After two more weeks of negotiations the following three deals were also agreed: 1.) A new loan scheme for students is to be introduced on 1 January 2014. 2.) Officials are no longer allowed to refuse to marry same-sex couples 3.) Municipalities will get the freedom to decide whether stores open on Sundays.


2012 Dutch general election, Government formation
The negotiations for the government formation ended with a final agreement and a list of newly proposed ministers on 29 October, which was subsequently endorsed by VVD on 2 November and PvdA on 3 November. The new government comprising Mark Rutte as prime minister along with 7 VVD ministers and 6 PvdA ministers, were sworn in by Queen Beatrix on 5 November 2012. It was only the third cabinet since 1918 (the first two being the cabinets helmed by Wim Kok from 1994 to 2002) without a minister from a Christian Democratic party, following the decline of the former major party CDA.


2012 Dwars door Vlaanderen
The 2012 Dwars door Vlaanderen was the 67th edition of the Dwars door Vlaanderen cycle race and was held on 21 March 2012. The race started in Roeselare and finished in Waregem. The race was won by Niki Terpstra.


2012 E3 Harelbeke
The 2012 E3 Harelbeke was the 55th running of the E3 Harelbeke single-day cycling race. It was held on 23 March over a distance of 203 kilometres (126.1 miles) and was the sixth race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season. E3 Harelbeke was held as a UCI World Tour event for the first time, after previously being held as a 1.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour. As well as its promotion to the World Tour, the race moved to a Friday running from a Saturday; the move was in order to give riders a day's break prior to the following World Tour event, Gent–Wevelgem.


2012 E3 Harelbeke
In a mass sprint finish, the race was won by Omega Pharma–Quick-Step rider Tom Boonen, who in the process, became the most successful rider in the history of the race; his fifth victory – after four previous victories in succession between 2004 and 2007 – in Harelbeke took him beyond the record tally of four victories that he had been sharing with fellow Belgian rider Rik Van Looy. Boonen finished ahead of Team Katusha's Óscar Freire and Team Sky's Bernhard Eisel, who completed the podium.


2012 E3 Harelbeke, Teams
As E3 Harelbeke was a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad. Seven other squads were given wildcard places into the race, and as such, formed the event's 25-team peloton.


2012 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2012 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was played between March 2 and March 17, 2012 at campus locations and at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. The winner of the tournament received ECAC Hockey's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.


2012 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The tournament features four rounds of play. In the first round, the fifth and twelfth, sixth and eleventh, seventh and tenth, and eighth and ninth seeds as determined by the final regular season standings play a best-of-three series, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals. There, the first seed and lowest-ranked first-round winner, the second seed and second-lowest-ranked first-round winner, the third seed and second-highest-ranked first-round winner, and the fourth seed and highest-ranked first-round winner play a best-of-three series, with the winner advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the highest and lowest seeds and second-highest and second-lowest seeds play a single game, with the winner advancing to the championship game and the loser advancing to the third-place game. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament.


2012 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format, Regular season standings
Note: GP = Games Played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against


2012 ECOWAS Games
The 2012 ECOWAS Games was the second biennial regional sports meeting of the Economic Community of West African States. The event was held in Accra, Ghana from the 16th of June to the 22nd of June 2012. Ghana's sports team won the most medals at the event. The 5 sports that featured in the 2012 games were athletics, wrestling, handball, volleyball and boxing. The first edition of the event was held in Nigeria in 2010. The games were sponsored by Rlg Communications, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Ghana Oil Company, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Ghallywood and Zoomlion.


2012 ECOWAS Games, Calendar
The schedule of the games was as follows. The calendar is to be completed with event finals information.


2012 EG5
2012 EG5 is an Apollo near-Earth asteroid with an estimated diameter of 47 meters (154 ft). The asteroid was discovered on March 13, 2012. The asteroid came within 0.001539 AU (230,200 km; 143,100 mi) of Earth during its closest approach on April 1, 2012, just over half the distance between Earth and the moon's orbit. It was briefly listed on the Sentry Risk Table with a 1 in 2,778,000 chance of an impact in 2107. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 1 April 2012.


2012 EMF miniEURO
The 2012 EMF miniEuro was the third edition of the EMF miniEURO for national Small-sided football teams, and the first governed by the European Minifootball Federation. It was hosted in Chișinău, Moldova, from 21 to 23 September 2012.


2012 EMF miniEURO
The final tournament was contested by sixteen teams. The matches were played in one venue in the city of Chișinău, at the Opera Square.


2012 EMF miniEURO
The defending champions, Romania, kept their title by overcoming Montenegro 2–1 in the final.


2012 EMF miniEURO, Draw
The final tournament draw was held in Chișinău on 14 September 2012.


2012 EMF miniEURO, Group stage
In the group stage, a total of 24 matches (three matches per group) were played between 21 and 22 October, with rainy conditions causing some of the matches to be postponed for the 21st to the 22nd. The teams finishing in the top two positions in each of the four groups progressed to the knockout stage, while the third and fourth-placed teams was eliminated from the tournament.