2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, The teams arrive in Bahrain
"I trust in the FIA that they know all the information — I don't, personally — so we have to trust in their decision. I don't think they will ever want to put us at risk. They do a lot on safety for drivers, in terms of the circuits and the cars and what have you, and that's a priority for them. So I believe in the FIA's decision. If everything is straightforward and nothing happens, it's not even going to be in the back of my mind at all."


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, The teams arrive in Bahrain
2009 World Champion Jenson Button, expressing his confidence in the decision by the FIA to see the race go ahead.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, The teams arrive in Bahrain
The first team members arrived in Bahrain on 17 April amid reports that sixty Shi'ite protest leaders had been arrested ahead of the race. In preparing for their arrival in Bahrain, teams took additional security precautions including hiring local security experts and planning specialist routes from the capital Manama to the circuit, some 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) away. News agency Agence France-Presse reported that their journalists and photographers had been blocked from entering Bahrain, and that several foreign journalists had had their visas delayed to prevent them from entering the country.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, The teams arrive in Bahrain
AFP further reported that all personnel handling cameras were required to carry high-visibility markings at all times so as to make them easily identifiable and prevent them from covering events away from the circuit. Those journalists with approval to enter Bahrain turned to social media sites to circumvent press censorship. A heavy police presence was reported along the road from Manama to the circuit, including armoured vehicles and riot police.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, The teams arrive in Bahrain
Xevi Pujolar, race engineer to Williams driver Pastor Maldonado, uploaded a photo to Twitter reporting that "all [is] normal outside", while HRT driver and chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association Pedro de la Rosa remarked that he was not concerned about the safety of the event. Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel added that he felt Bahrain was no more dangerous than Brazil; at the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo, 2009 World Champion Jenson Button was involved in an incident in which armed gunmen attempted to hold up his road car after he left the circuit.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, The teams arrive in Bahrain
Vettel's comments attracted criticism from former driver Rubens Barrichello, who said that there was no comparison between Brazil and Bahrain. Several drivers, including Button, Michael Schumacher and Romain Grosjean refused to comment either way on the political situation in Bahrain, reiterating their belief that the sport and local politics should be kept separate.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, The teams arrive in Bahrain
In an opinion piece for The Independent, journalist Robert Fisk launched a scathing attack on the drivers for their neutral stance, calling Sebastian Vettel "clueless" and accusing Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton of double standards, concluding that sports people in the 21st Century could no longer afford to distance themselves from moral values.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, The teams arrive in Bahrain
Porsche Supercup team MRS Racing, which was due to compete in the opening round of the 2012 Porsche Supercup season as part of the Grand Prix support bill, withdrew from the event on 18 April, citing concerns over security in the country as the reason for their withdrawal.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Force India petrol bomb incident
"We are looking at it from the point of view of ensuring the well being of everybody and the comfort of everybody is in place. And that is the key objective for us. We have had issues as you all know with things, and we have to make sure that the crew are comfortable in the environment and that is what we are working on.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Force India petrol bomb incident
But the crew are totally committed to delivering qualifying and the race – and if it means a limited or no FP2 in order to achieve that, that is the decision we will have to take. We are doing the best we can to make sure the crew are safe. We have assurances and I don't believe there will be any issues. There will be protests and I think it was an unfortunate incident, but unfortunate incidents happen. When it is your team it happens to, you have to deal with it in a proper manner which is what we are doing."


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Force India petrol bomb incident
Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley on the decision not to take part in the second Friday practice session.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Force India petrol bomb incident
On 18 April, former McLaren mechanic turned journalist Marc Priestley took to Twitter to report that a hire car used by Force India mechanics had been involved in a petrol bombing, though there were no injuries or damage. The team members had been travelling in an unmarked car and were held up by an impromptu roadblock which they were unable to clear before a petrol bomb exploded nearby. Further reports of the incident indicated that the mechanics were briefly exposed to tear gas fired by security forces on the protesters.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Force India petrol bomb incident
One of the team members involved in the incident flew out of the country the next day. The mechanic — who was not named — chose to leave as he no longer felt comfortable in the country. A second mechanic left several hours later. Force India driver Nico Hülkenberg was disturbed by the chain of events, quoted as saying that it was "not right" that team members should have to fear for their personal safety.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Force India petrol bomb incident
Shortly after the first practice session ended on Friday morning, speculation in the media suggested that Force India would skip the second ninety-minute session due to take place later that day as they were not comfortable travelling back to Manama after dark. Although the second session was due to finish at 1530 local time, the time taken to pack up pit garages would see teams travelling from the circuit to the capital during Friday afternoon prayers, which have seen some or the largest organised demonstrations — or "days of rage" — both in Bahrain and throughout the Arab Spring.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Force India petrol bomb incident
Darren Heath, a long-time photographer of the sport, described a similar feeling of unease up and down the pit lane. The team later confirmed that they were "considering" pulling out of the second session and were evaluating the possibility of taking part in a limited programme before retiring early, before electing not to take part in the second session at all. The team maintained their support of the decision to hold the race. Bernie Ecclestone was bemused by the team's decision to withdraw from the second practice session, stating that none of the other teams had expressed concern over their safety, and that he had offered to accompany Force India personnel back to Manama as reassurance, an offer they declined.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Force India petrol bomb incident
Members of the Sauber team also confirmed that they had experienced a similar encounter; a minibus full of team personnel came across a fire in the middle of a road and were approached by a group of masked men before the driver was able to pull away. A Brazilian journalist also reported witnessing police firing tear gas on demonstrators.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Al Khalifa addresses race critics
Shortly after the second practice session ended on 20 April, Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa made a statement before the media gathered at the event, in which he refused to cancel the race and described it as being vital to the future of Bahrain.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Al Khalifa addresses race critics
"I think cancelling just empowers extremists. I think for those of us who are trying to navigate a way out of this political problem, having the race allows us to build bridges across communities, and get people working together. It allows us to celebrate our nation as an idea that is positive, not one that is divisive. So I actually think that having the race has prevented extremists from doing what they think they need to do out of the world's attention.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Al Khalifa addresses race critics
"I absolutely can guarantee that any problems that may or may not happen are not directed at F1. It goes to show that there are people who are out to cause chaos. You [in Britain] had these problems last year in your country and there is a very big different between protesting for political rights and rioting, and the attack that happened around Force India was aimed at the police. It was unprovoked, and it was quite dangerous. But at no time was anyone from F1 in danger.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Al Khalifa addresses race critics
"I hope by coming here you understand that unlike what has been reported we are not trying to say we are perfect. We are a real country with real issues and we hope that you get a chance for all our complexities and all our shades, I genuinely believe that this race is a force for good."


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Al Khalifa addresses race critics
Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, in a statement made to the media gathered at the Sakhir circuit on 20 April 2012.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Al Khalifa addresses race critics
At the time of Al Khalifa's address, tensions between protesters and the government were described as being at their highest since "Bloody Thursday", a series of night raids carried out by police against protesters at the Pearl Roundabout in Manama in March 2011 that resulted in the deaths of four protesters.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Al Khalifa addresses race critics
His comments were criticised on several fronts, with media freedom groups pointing out that by limiting the access given to journalists, the government "wants the international attention brought by hosting a Grand Prix but doesn't want foreign journalists to wander from the race track where they might see political protests", thereby turning the race into a "propaganda exercise".


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Al Khalifa addresses race critics
A protester was killed in clashes with police on the Friday before the race.


2012 Bahrain Grand Prix protests, Events leading up to the race, Al Khalifa addresses race critics
Hacktivist community Anonymous expressed outrage at the race and launched "Operation Bahrain", threatening to turn the Formula One website into "a smoking crater in cyber space" for the duration of the race weekend. The site was briefly taken down following a distributed denial-of-service attack, but was restored several hours later. A representative of Anonymous claimed further credit for launching similar attacks against the websites of several Bahrainian government ministries.


2012 Bahrain national football team results
This article details the fixtures and results of the Bahrain national football team in 2012.


2012 Bahraini King's Cup
The Bahraini King's Cup is a cup competition involving teams from the Bahraini Premier League and 2nd tier.


2012 Bahraini King's Cup
Al Hadd are banned from this year's competition after they withdrew from their semi-final match against Muharraq in the 2011 Bahraini King's Cup competition.


2012 Bahraini King's Cup, Second round
1Al Hadd were suspended from the competition and the game was awarded to East Riffa


2012 Bahraini parliamentary by-election
A parliamentary by-election was held in Bahrain on June 16, 2012, to elect a new member of the Council of Representatives for District 8 of the Muharraq Governorate. The seat was vacated after the previous incumbent Ghanim Al Buainain was appointed as the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in April.


2012 Bahraini parliamentary by-election
The winner of the elections was former Muharraq Municipal Councillor Sameer Kadhem, decided in a run-off vote held on June 23, 2012. The turnout of the first round of voting was 37.2%, as a total of 3,029 votes were cast out of a total 8,128 registered voters.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings
On April 27, 2012, Jo Ann Bain and her eldest daughter were murdered in Whiteville, Tennessee and the woman's two younger daughters were kidnapped by Adam Christopher Mayes, an Alpine, Mississippi man who had known the family for many years. On May 9, 2012, Mayes was added to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, having replaced James "Whitey" Bulger on the list. The following day, he and the two girls were spotted in a heavily wooded area; during the capture attempt, Mayes reportedly shot himself in the head and later died from his wounds. The two girls were rescued unharmed.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings
On August 9, 2013, in a plea bargain agreement, Mayes' wife, Teresa, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping and was sentenced to 35 years, minus the 460 days she had already spent in prison. His mother, Mary Mayes, pleaded guilty to two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping and was sentenced to 13 1/2 years.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Murders and kidnapping
Jo Ann Bain was the mother of three daughters, Adrienne (b. 1997), Alexandria (b. 1999) and Kyliyah (b. 2004). Her first husband, Mark Johnson, the biological father of Adrienne and Alexandria, signed over his legal rights to the girls to Jo Ann's second husband, Gary Bain, in 2011. Gary Bain had previously been married for 20 years to Adam Mayes' eldest sister, Pamela; they divorced in 2002. Mayes had stayed friendly with Bain and was a frequent visitor to the home.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Murders and kidnapping
On April 27, 2012, a day before Adam Christopher Mayes was supposed to help the Bain family move to Arizona, Mayes allegedly killed Jo Ann Bain and her oldest daughter Adrienne and kidnapped the two younger girls, Alexandria and Kyliyah. Gary Bain came home late that night and assumed his family members were sleeping. Only when he could not reach his wife by cell phone and his daughters did not return from school the next day did he report them missing.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Murders and kidnapping
Mayes was interviewed by police officers about the Bains' disappearance on April 29. He told police he was the last to see the mother and daughters, but police found no evidence of a crime. On April 30, Jo Ann Bain's SUV was found abandoned on a country road in Tennessee.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Murders and kidnapping
Mayes was last seen in Guntown, Mississippi, on May 1; on May 2 he was declared a person of interest in the case, though police still did not suspect a crime.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Murders and kidnapping
On or around May 4, Teresa Mayes reportedly told police that her husband had killed Jo Ann and Adrienne in the Bains' garage and that the bodies were buried behind his mobile home. On May 5, investigators uncovered two "badly decomposed" bodies from a shallow grave behind the mobile home; they were identified as the bodies of Jo Ann and Adrienne on May 7.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Murders and kidnapping
On May 8, both Mayes' wife Teresa and mother, Mary Frances Mayes, were charged as accomplices and taken into custody.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Murders and kidnapping
Mayes was added to the FBI's Most Wanted List on May 9. He was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, especially aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Recovery of Bain girls
Mayes and the two girls were missing for over a week when on May 10, acting on a tip, Mississippi highway patrolmen and state fish and wildlife officers searched a heavily wooded area behind the Zion Hill Baptist Church, one and a half miles from Mayes' home in Alpine.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Recovery of Bain girls
Officers saw one of the children peeking over a ridge, then spotted the second child, then saw Mayes. The officers told him to put his hands up; he raised only one hand and officers saw a gun in the other. Mayes then shot himself in the head with a 9mm pistol. The Union County sheriff said emergency medical technicians transported Mayes via ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital, New Albany, Mississippi, in critical condition. The county coroner pronounced Mayes dead at 8:20 pm


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Recovery of Bain girls
When police found the trio on May 10, the girls said that they had been in the forest for three days without food or water. They were dehydrated and had rashes from poison ivy and insect bites. After Mayes' death, the girls were sent to a Memphis hospital, treated, and released.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Recovery of Bain girls
Mayes' body, after being left unclaimed and refused by family members, was donated to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville's Body Farm in June 2012.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Recovery of Bain girls
On July 30, 2012, the FBI announced that it had paid out reward money to several individuals for information leading to the capture of Mayes.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Background of perpetrators
Adam Christopher Mayes (September 2, 1976 – May 10, 2012) was the youngest of six children of Johnny and Mary Frances Mayes. His mother described him as violent and controlling from an early age. He and his wife Teresa lived with his parents in a mobile home in Alpine, Mississippi. Mayes' mother-in-law, Josie Tate, stated that she had repeatedly called police to complain about domestic violence committed by Mayes against his wife, Teresa. Mayes' sister described him as aggressive and untrustworthy, but never thought he would commit such a serious crime.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Background of perpetrators
Both Mayes' mother and wife later wrote that they were afraid of him  and that he frequently carried a gun.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Background of perpetrators
Mayes was friendly with the Bain family of Whiteville, Tennessee and was a frequent visitor to the house. During the manhunt for Mayes, his mother-in-law gave extensive interviews to media outlets and claimed Mayes believed that he was the father of the two younger girls, a claim for which investigators found no evidence. Later interviews with his wife suggest Mayes was instead motivated by an obsession with one of the kidnapped girls. Mayes had been under investigation for domestic abuse and was accused of molesting a seven-year-old girl he babysat in 2010.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Charges against Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes
Mayes' wife Teresa was charged with murder and kidnapping and faced the death penalty. Her mother claimed that Adam had coerced and brainwashed the intellectually challenged Teresa into abetting his crimes. On May 21, the charges against Mayes' mother, Mary, were changed from four counts of conspiracy to commit especially aggravated kidnapping to two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping. Investigators believe that she "confined" the two girls after her son and his wife drove them from their Tennessee home to the Mayes' Mississippi home. The court ordered a psychological evaluation of both Mary and Teresa Mayes and rescheduled their first hearing for June 19.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Charges against Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes
On October 1, 2012, Teresa Mayes appeared in a Hardeman County General Sessions Court hearing while a statement that she had given to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation during her husband's disappearance in May was read to the court. In the statement, Teresa claimed that Adam had planned the kidnappings and murders a year in advance due to his romantic interest in Alexandria Bain, then age 12.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Charges against Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes
Adam sold his motorcycle to pay for the kidnapping and forced Teresa to remain hidden in their car during two aborted attempts to kidnap Alexandria and her younger sister, Kylilah, on April 25 and 26, 2012. On the night of April 26, she told officials that Adam attempted to kill the girls' father, Gary Bain, by giving him two Tequila Sunrise cocktails laced with Visine and other prescription drugs.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Charges against Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes
On the night of the murders, Teresa told investigators that Mayes told her to drive around with the two younger girls, Alexandra and Kylilah. She said that when she returned, her husband was outside the Bain house with two bodies wrapped in a tarp. He later told Teresa that he had entered the Bain house, woke Jo Ann, and told her to come out to the shop by the house because Kylilah was sleepwalking. Once in the shop, Mayes said that he hit Jo Ann with a board and strangled her with a rope. Afterward, he smothered Adrienne, age 14. Teresa and her husband drove the two younger girls and the two corpses to Guntown, where Adam buried the bodies in his mother's backyard.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Charges against Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes
Following Teresa Mayes' and Mary Mayes' court appearances on October 1, the judge sent their cases to a grand jury scheduled to convene on January 10, 2013.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Charges against Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes
On August 9, the two women were sentenced in conjunction with a plea bargain. Teresa Mayes was sentenced to 35 years and her mother-in-law, Mary Mayes, to 13 1/2 years for their parts in the kidnappings and murders.


2012 Bain murder-kidnappings, Charges against Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes
In 2016, both Mary and Teresa Mayes were moved to the Women's Therapeutic Residential Center within West Tennessee State Penitentiary due to good behavior.


2012 Bakersfield, California mayoral election
The 2012 Bakersfield, California mayoral election was held on June 5, 2012 to elect the mayor of Bakersfield, California. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Harvey Hall, who ran officially unopposed.


2012 Bakersfield, California mayoral election
The election coincided with the California presidential primaries. Since Hall obtained a majority in the initial round of voting, no runoff was necessitated.


2012 Baku Cup
The 2012 Baku Cup was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. This was the second edition of the tournament, which was part of the 2012 WTA Tour. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan between 23 and 29 July 2012.


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


2012 Baku Cup, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2012 Baku Cup – Doubles
Mariya Koryttseva and Tatiana Poutchek were the defending champions but decided not to participate. Irina Buryachok and Valeria Solovyeva won the final 6–3, 6–2 against Eva Birnerová and Alberta Brianti.


2012 Baku Cup – Singles
Vera Zvonareva was the defending champion but was chosen to compete the 2012 Summer Olympics in London instead. Bojana Jovanovski defeated Julia Cohen 6–3, 6–1 in the final to win the tournament.


2012 Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships
The 2012 Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships was the 17th edition of the annual indoor track and field competition for athletes from the Balkans, organised by Balkan Athletics. It was held on 18 February at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. The competition was the first international event to be hosted at the newly-constructed Ataköy Athletics Arena, following the Turkish Indoor Athletics Championships in January and preceding the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships held in March. It also marked the re-launch of the Balkan Indoor Championships under the aegis of Turkey – the Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association had organised the event up to 2009 but the 2010 and 2011 championships were cancelled due to funding issues stemming from the Greek government-debt crisis.


2012 Ball State Cardinals football team
The 2012 Ball State Cardinals football team represented Ball State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Pete Lembo and played their home games at Scheumann Stadium. They were a member of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 6–2 in MAC play to finish in a tie for second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl where they were defeated by UCF. The Cardinals were led by Junior QB #10 Keith Wenning with 3,095 yards passing, 24 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.


2012 Baltic Chain Tour
The 2012 Baltic Chain Tour was the second modern era edition of the Baltic Chain Tour road cycling race. It was held over a period of four days between 21 and 25 May 2013. The race was a part of the 2012 UCI Europe Tour with a race classification of 2.2. General classification was won by Lithuanian cyclist Gediminas Bagdonas.


2012 Baltic Chain Tour, Stages, Stage 1
21 August 2012 – Tallinn to Viljandi, 187.0 km (116.2 mi)


2012 Baltic Chain Tour, Stages, Stage 2
22 August 2012 – Viljandi to Otepää, 183.0 km (113.7 mi)


2012 Baltic Chain Tour, Stages, Stage 3
23 August 2012 – Smiltene to Rīga, 280.9 km (174.5 mi)


2012 Baltic Chain Tour, Stages, Stage 4
24 August 2012 – Šiauliai to Utena, 180.6 km (112.2 mi)


2012 Baltic Chain Tour, Stages, Stage 5
25 August 2012 – Utena to Vilnius, 142.4 km (88.5 mi)


2012 Baltic Cup
The 2012 Baltic Cup was a football competition which was held on 1–3 June 2012 in Estonia.


2012 Baltic Cup, Format
For the first time, Finland took part in the competition. As a result of this, the round-robin format was changed to knock-out tournament, as Latvia did not agree to play more than two matches. As a result of this, penalty shoot-outs were used to decide the winner if a match was drawn after 90 minutes.


2012 Baltic Cup, Stadiums
Tamme Stadium in Tartu was used for the matches involving Estonia and Võru Stadium in Võru was the host for the other two matches. Tehvandi Stadium in Otepää and Viljandi linnastaadion in Viljandi were also to be used, but were unavailable for the time period.


2012 Baltimore Orioles season
The Baltimore Orioles' 2012 season was the 112th season in franchise history, the 59th in Baltimore, and the 21st at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. They completed the regular season with a 93–69 record, good for second place in the AL East and qualified for one of two American League wild card spots. It was the first time since 1997 that they finished with a winning record and made the playoffs. They subsequently defeated the Texas Rangers in the inaugural one-game Wild Card Playoff. They advanced to play the New York Yankees in the Division Series, but lost the series to the Yankees in five games.


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season
On May 6, the Orioles won a marathon 17-inning game over the Boston Red Sox with the pitching win credited to designated hitter Chris Davis. After the Orioles bullpen was exhausted Davis came on to pitch two scoreless innings with two strikeouts, becoming the first American League position player to record a pitching win since 1968. Boston DH Darnell McDonald took the loss, making it the first game since 1902 in which both pitchers of record were position players.


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season
The Orioles clinched their first non-losing season since 1997 on September 13, 2012, winning their 81st game on a walk-off single by Manny Machado in the bottom of the 14th inning against the Tampa Bay Rays.


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season
On September 26, 2012 the Orioles hit 7 home runs versus the Toronto Blue Jays. Nate McLouth solo in the 1st inning, Jim Thome lead off in the 5th, Manny Machado solo homer in the 5th and a two-run shot in the 8th, Chris Davis three-run homer in the 5th and a two-run homer in the 7th, Mark Reynolds two-run homer in the 6th.


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season
After falling in extra innings to the New York Yankees on back-to-back nights in early April, the Orioles went 16–0 in extra-inning games through the rest of the season. They also went 29–9 in one-run games, which many analysists point to as the reason the Orioles snapped their long postseason drought, given their modest run differential of +7.


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season, Accolades
The following players represented the Orioles in the 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season, Accolades
The following players received Gold Glove Awards for the 2012 MLB season


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Postseason, Wild Card Game
The Orioles took on the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas in the inaugural Wild Card "winner-take-all" format game for the right to play the New York Yankees in the 2012 American League Division Series, who are the top seed finishing with the best record in the AL at 95–67. The Orioles defeated Texas, 5–1, to win their first postseason game since 1997 and to advance to play the Yankees with the first two games in Baltimore.


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Postseason, Wild Card Game
In the end, Jim Johnson finished the Rangers off in the 9th despite them giving Baltimore a scare on having the bases loaded and two down. However, Johnson got David Murphy to fly out to Nate McLouth. Unlikely hero Joe Saunders picked up his first ever win at Rangers Stadium, where he was 0–6 with a 9.38 ERA in six career starts.


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Postseason, Division Series
The Orioles next played the New York Yankees in the Division Series, which they lost in five games.


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Postseason, Division Series, Game 1, October 7
6:07 p.m. (EDT) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland (moved to 8:47 p.m. EDT due to rain delay)


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Postseason, Division Series, Game 2, October 8
8:07 p.m. (EDT) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland (moved to 8:47 p.m. EDT due to rain delay)


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Postseason, Division Series, Game 3, October 10
7:37 p.m. (EDT) at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Postseason, Division Series, Game 4, October 11
7:37 p.m. (EDT) at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 12
5:07 p.m. (EDT) at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Player stats, Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases


2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Player stats, Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts


2012 Baltimore Ravens season
The 2012 Baltimore Ravens season was the team's 17th season in the National Football League. While the Ravens failed to improve on their 12–4 record from 2011, they still managed to clinch the AFC North division title in Week 16 and finish the regular season with a 10–6 record, sending them to their fifth straight playoffs, where they advanced to the AFC Championship Game for the second consecutive season, and then to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2000. They won their second Super Bowl, 34–31 against the San Francisco 49ers. It was the first time in franchise history that the Ravens won consecutive division titles. This marks head coach John Harbaugh's fifth season as the head coach of the franchise and fifth consecutive post-season appearance. The Ravens played their home games at M&T Bank Stadium.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season
The Ravens dedicated their season to former owner and founder Art Modell, who died on September 6, 2012. On Week 1, all team members wore an "Art" decal on their helmets, and for the rest of their season, they wore an "Art" patch on the left side of their jerseys.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season
Ray Lewis, the last remaining member of the original Ravens roster from 1996 and the 2000 Super Bowl championship team, announced just after the regular season finale before the playoffs that he would be retiring after the conclusion of the season. Following three playoff matchups including a thrilling 38–35 double OT victory against the top-seeded Denver Broncos, his final game was a victory in Super Bowl XLVII. Lewis is believed by many to be the greatest Raven of all time and previously led the Ravens to Super Bowl XXXV in what was just their first playoff appearance in franchise history.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
The Ravens started their season at home against the Bengals. They jumped out to a 3–0 lead in the first quarter with Justin Tucker's 46-yard field goal. This was followed up by Ray Rice's 7-yard run to make the score 10–0. The Bengals got on the board in the 2nd quarter with Mike Nugent's 34-yard field goal to shorten the lead to 10–3. However, the Ravens were able to pull away as Joe Flacco found Anquan Boldin on a 34-yard touchdown pass to move ahead 17–3.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals responded coming within 7 when Benjarvus Green-Ellis ran for a 6-yard touchdown making the score 17–10 at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, the Bengals were able to get within 4 points with Nugent kicking a 19-yard field goal shortening the Ravens' lead to 4 17–13. However, the Ravens overpowered the Bengals scoring 27 unanswered points as Flacco found Dennis Pitta on a 10-yard pass to move ahead 24–13 followed up by Tucker scoring a 40-yard field goal moving them ahead 27–13.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
This was followed by an Ed Reed interception that was returned 34 yards for a touchdown moving the team ahead 34–13. In the 4th quarter, the Ravens scored again off of Rice's 1-yard run for a 41–13 lead and finished the game off of Tucker's 39-yard field goal to make the final score 44–13.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Ed Reed returned an interception for a 34-yard touchdown, making Reed the all-time leader in career interception return yards with 1,497. The previous record of 1,483 yards was held by Rod Woodson.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 2: at Philadelphia Eagles
For the first time in 5 years, head coach John Harbaugh made his first return to Philadelphia, where he served as the Eagles' special teams coordinator and defensive backs from 1998 to 2007, and was also part of the 2004 Eagles that made Super Bowl XXXIX. Baltimore took the lead in the second quarter and held it for most of the game, but with 1:57 remaining in the fourth quarter Michael Vick ran for a one-yard touchdown. With the surprising loss, the Ravens fell to 1–1.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. New England Patriots
This game was played in the shadow of the death of wide receiver Torrey Smith's brother, who had died in a motorcycle crash the night before. The Ravens entered the game hoping to be able to avenge the AFC Championship loss of the previous season, which came at the hands of the Patriots. New England started off fast as they drew to a 13–0 lead in the first quarter. However Baltimore scored 2 straight touchdowns to take the lead with 1:47 left to go in the half.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. New England Patriots
Then Brady scored a touchdown right at the end of the half to retake the lead 20–14. The second half started off with a touchdown pass from Flacco to Dennis Pitta to put the Ravens on top 21–20. Then the Patriots retook the lead when Tom Brady scored a touchdown. After that the Baltimore defense began to step it up and held the Pats to a field goal. Then the momentum shifted as Baltimore scored a touchdown (Flacco to Torrey Smith). After forcing a Patriots punt, the Ravens drove down the field to score a field goal as time expired to win the game 31–30.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. New England Patriots
The Ravens avenged the AFC Championship loss and improved to 2–1 and continued their unbeaten record at home from the previous year along with continuing their streak of winning after a loss.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. New England Patriots
Based on Torrey Smith's performance through personal hardship, this game was ranked #9 on NFL.com's Top 20 NFL Games of 2012 as Showing Up. Smith finishes with six receptions for 127 yards and two touchdowns.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. New England Patriots
This game was also remembered for two controversial incidents. Late in the fourth quarter, with New England leading 30–28, coach John Harbaugh was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for coming out onto the field, which by NFL rules, is prohibited. However, Harbaugh was claiming that he was trying to only call a timeout to save time for his team. Since the NFL was using replacement refs at the time, and not the original refs, this was another controversial incident involving replacement refs. The penalty resulted in an irate Ravens crowd chanting "Bullshit" three separate times in just over a minute during the Patriots last drive, which was picked up by NBC microphones and was clearly audible during the broadcast. Play-by-play announcer Al Michaels said, "That's the loudest manure chant I've ever heard".


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. New England Patriots
The other controversy is the winning field goal by Tucker. The ball, after it had been kicked, sailed over the top of the right upright. It was ruled "good", giving Baltimore the win. However, clear replays show that the ball was extremely close to sailing wide of the upright Since field goals are not reviewable, the play could not be reviewed. Patriots coach Bill Belichick, as he was leaving the field, grabbed one of the officials, resulting in him being fined $50,000 by the NFL.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Cleveland Browns
With their ninth straight win over the Browns, the Ravens improved to 3–1. The game was also the first of the NFL season to use NFL referees and not replacement ones following the officials lockout.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Kansas City Chiefs
The Ravens improved to 4–1 by winning a game where five total field goals were scored by both teams. With the Bengals' loss to the Dolphins the Ravens moved into first place in the AFC North.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Dallas Cowboys
With their fourth straight win, the Ravens improved to 5–1, and became 4–0 all-time against the Cowboys. This was also their 14th straight regular season home win.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Dallas Cowboys
However, Baltimore also lost Ray Lewis to a potentially season-ending triceps injury and Lardarius Webb with a season-ending ACL injury.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 7: at Houston Texans
Days before the game, the team was fined $20,000 for not adding Ed Reed to the injury report.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 7: at Houston Texans
The Ravens drew first blood as Justin Tucker nailed a 51-yard field goal, but Connor Barwin sacked Joe Flacco in the end zone for a safety that started a string of 29 unanswered Houston points. Matt Schaub found Kevin Walter in the end zone on a 25-yard touchdown pass to take a 9–3 lead, and the Texans added on in the 2nd quarter with Johnathan Joseph returning an interception 52 yards for a touchdown. Schaub's one-yard pass to Owen Daniels and a pair of Shayne Graham field goals put the hosts up 29–3 at halftime.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 7: at Houston Texans
The Ravens got right back to work in the 3rd quarter as Flacco connected with Tandon Doss on a 15-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 29–10, but the Texans pulled away as Arian Foster ran for two short scores, which were separated by a 54-yard Tucker field goal early in the fourth quarter.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 7: at Houston Texans
It was the Ravens' first loss ever to the Texans in franchise history and first loss to a Houston NFL team since 1996. The Ravens headed into their bye week 5–2 while also dropping their record to 5–1 against the Texans in the regular season and 6–1 against them overall.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 9: at Cleveland Browns
By winning their tenth straight game against the Browns, the Ravens improved to 6–2.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 10: vs. Oakland Raiders
The Ravens got their 15th straight home win (16 including playoffs) by defeating the Raiders. Baltimore set a franchise record for points in a game with 55 – improving on the previous record of 48 set against the Detroit Lions on December 13, 2009 – as the team improved to 7–2. Jacoby Jones returned a kickoff for a 105-yard touchdown, making him the first player in league history to have two career kickoff returns of at least 105 yards. Jones had returned a kickoff for 108 yards in Week 6 against the Cowboys.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: at Pittsburgh Steelers
The Ravens got their third straight win against the Steelers while picking up their 12th-straight regular season division rival win and improved to 8–2.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: at San Diego Chargers
The game went into overtime with a field goal by Tucker. The field goal was set up by conversion of a 4th and 29 play where Joe Flacco completed a short pass to Ray Rice and Rice raced 29 yards on the ground for the first down, which would become the 2012 best play of the year as well as be given the nickname, "Hey Diddle-Diddle". With the surprising win, the Ravens move into 9–2, getting revenge for the previous year's loss in San Diego on Sunday Night Football.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 13: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
With third-string quarterback Charlie Batch at the helm, the Steelers handed the Ravens their first home loss since December 5, 2010 and the Ravens fell to 9–3. This also snapped their 12-game winning streak over division rivals and 3-game winning streak over the Steelers.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: at Washington Redskins
With the loss to the Redskins the Ravens fell to 9–4 and 0–2 on the road against NFC East teams. Also, it was the first consecutive loss for the Ravens since Week 6 of their 2009 season.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: at Washington Redskins
The Ravens fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron the next day, promoting Jim Caldwell to the position.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 15: vs. Denver Broncos
The Ravens lost their third straight game and fell to 9–5. However, they clinched a playoff berth following the Steelers' loss to the Cowboys later in the evening.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: vs. New York Giants
With the win the Ravens not only improved to 10–5 but also clinched the AFC North division title (by having four wins in division games).


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: at Cincinnati Bengals
The Ravens allowed their starters to come out for a few minutes in the first quarter, then played their second-string players for the rest of the game. With the loss to the Bengals, the Ravens finished the season 10–6.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Wild Card Playoffs: vs. #5 Indianapolis Colts
By winning the AFC North title, the Ravens hosted the Colts – a team that once played in Baltimore until moving to Indianapolis in 1984 – in the Wild Card round. This relocation remains a controversial issue. The Ravens had faced the Colts in the playoffs twice before, losing both times without scoring any touchdowns in divisional rounds: in 2006 and 2009.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Wild Card Playoffs: vs. #5 Indianapolis Colts
The Ravens, with Ray Lewis playing in his final home game, limited the Colts to three field goals while Joe Flacco managed a pair of touchdown throws. Colts head coach Chuck Pagano was a part of the Ravens' coaching staff from 2008 to 2011, serving as defensive coordinator during the 2011 season. Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell was the head coach of the Colts from 2009 to 2011. Before the game, Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians was hospitalized with an illness.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Wild Card Playoffs: vs. #5 Indianapolis Colts
The win also marked the first time in NFL history that a starting quarterback has won at least one playoff game in his first five seasons as Flacco's playoff record improved to 6–4 and the team's overall record improved to 11–6.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Divisional Playoff Game: at #1 Denver Broncos
The Ravens faced the Denver Broncos for the second time in the playoffs, having defeated them 21–3 in the 2000 Wild Card playoffs, and also faced Peyton Manning for the third time in a playoff run.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Divisional Playoff Game: at #1 Denver Broncos
The Broncos clawed to a 35–28 lead but had to punt back to the Ravens in the final two minutes. In the signature play of the game—a deep touchdown strike by Joe Flacco to Jacoby Jones which has come to be known as the Mile High Miracle—the Ravens tied the game after facing a 3rd-and-3, and with only  :41 seconds left in the 4th quarter. After Baltimore tied the game, Manning and the Broncos took a controversial kneel down with 30-seconds left on the clock and two timeouts to take it to overtime.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Divisional Playoff Game: at #1 Denver Broncos
Later in the first overtime Manning was intercepted at his own 45-yard line, setting up the winning Ravens field goal in the opening minute of the second overtime. By improving to 1–2 against Manning in the playoffs, this was the Ravens' first victory against him since the 2001 season when he was with Indianapolis, along with their first-ever road victory against him. Synonymous with the biggest play of the game, this game goes down in Ravens lore as the Mile High Miracle. The victory improved their overall season record to 12–6.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Championship: at #2 New England Patriots
The Ravens found themselves playing against the Patriots in the AFC Championship game for the second year in a row after losing to them in heartbreaking fashion by a score of 23–20 in the 2011 AFC Championship game.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Championship: at #2 New England Patriots
With the comeback win after trailing in the first-half, the Ravens not only improved their overall record to 13–6, but also advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in twelve years.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Championship: at #2 New England Patriots
The Ravens were the last team to defeat the Patriots at Foxborough in the playoffs until the Tennessee Titans pulled off the feat 7 years later.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, Super Bowl XLVII: vs. San Francisco 49ers
The Ravens advanced to their second Super Bowl in franchise history, facing the San Francisco 49ers. This would be the first time two brothers were head coaches of opposing teams in the Super Bowl with the 49ers being led by Jim Harbaugh, John Harbaugh's younger brother. The Ravens were designated the visiting team. After leading the entire game, the Ravens held on at the end, stopping the 49ers on four plays inside their own 10-yard line, then taking an intentional safety with four seconds remaining to milk the clock.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, Super Bowl XLVII: vs. San Francisco 49ers
During the 3rd quarter of the game, half of the power went out in the Superdome, leading to over a 30-minute delay in the game. They finished the season with an overall record of 14–6 with their 4–0 playoff run and improved to 2–0 in Super Bowl appearances, handing the 49ers their first Super Bowl loss as a franchise. The Ravens' win also marked the third-straight season in which a team seeded third or lower in its conference would defeat a top-seeded team from the other conference in a Super Bowl. With this win, the Ravens won their second Super Bowl, becoming one of two teams to appear in multiple Super Bowls without a defeat, along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, Super Bowl XLVII: vs. San Francisco 49ers
Team owner Steve Bisciotti stated during a press conference that the Ravens Super Bowl ring for the 2012 season was going to be white gold instead of yellow gold, at the request of players and coaches. While offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was fired after a week 14 loss to the Washington Redskins, head coach John Harbaugh stated that Cameron deserved and received a Super Bowl ring.


2012 Baltimore Ravens season, Statistics, Team leaders
stats values are correct through the end of the regular season. '


2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge
The 2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge presented by SRT was a multi-class sports car and GT motor race held on the streets of Baltimore in Maryland, United States on September 1, 2012. It was the eighth round of the 2012 American Le Mans Series season and the second race Baltimore Sports Car Challenge, and event co-located with the Grand Prix of Baltimore IndyCar race. The race was held over a two-hour time period, during which 67 laps of the 3.3 kilometre circuit were completed for a race distance of 218 kilometres.


2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge
The race was won by Level 5 Motorsports duo of Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut driving a HPD ARX-03b. The race was dominated by the P2 class cars as trouble struck all three P1 class prototypes. When Conquest Endurance broke a gearbox in their Morgan LMP2 it set up the first outright victory by a P2 prototype since Andretti Green Racing's Franck Montagny and James Rossiter took victory at the 2008 Detroit Sports Car Challenge, also driving a HPD ARX. Second place was also a Level 5 Motorsports HPD ARX-03b, driven by Tucker, Luis Díaz and Ricardo González.


2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge
Third was the first of the Prototype Challenge Oreca FLM09s, the CORE Autosport car of Alex Popow and Ryan Dalziel.


2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge
Even more notable the Level 5 Motorsports' 1–2 victory, the Team Falken Tire Porsche of Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers finished fourth, winning the GT class, finishing on the same lap as the Level 5 HPDs.


2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge
They finished ahead of the factory Chevrolet Corvette of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, the Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari of Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek, the BMW Team RLL BMW of Joey Hand and Dirk Müller, the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche of Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long and the second Corvette of Jan Magnussen and Antonio García as GTs dominated the top ten finishers.


2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge
Thirteenth was the P1 class survivor, the Dyson Racing Team Lola B11/66 of Michael Marsal and Eric Lux.


2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge
GT Challenge was claimed when the TRG Porsche of Patrick Pilet and debutant Al Carter crossed the line in 19th position.


2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge
24 of the 30 entries were running at races conclusion.


2012 Baltimore Sports Car Challenge, Race, Race result
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of their class winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


2012 Bandy World Championship
The 2012 Bandy World Championship was an edition of the top annual event in international bandy, held between January 29 and February 5, 2012, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 14 countries participated in the 2012 championships: Finland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United States  (group A), Belarus, Canada, Hungary, Latvia, and the Netherlands (group B), and Estonia, Japan, and Kyrgyzstan (group C). Group C was introduced, and 14 teams made the record number for Bandy World Championships. The qualifiers match between the team in the last place in Group A and the first team in Group B was not played.


2012 Bandy World Championship
The United States, who finished sixth in Group A, in 2013 will play in group B, and Belarus, the winner of Group B, will play in 2013 in Group A. Estonia, the winner of Group C, will play in Group B in 2013. The team relegated to Group C was not the last of Group B, but Mongolia, because they withdrew late from the tournament.


2012 Bandy World Championship
Sweden, which were the 2010 champion but in 2011 only finished third, became the champion again. Russia, the defending champion, lost to Sweden in the finals. Kazakhstan took the bronze medal, for the third time in their history.


2012 Bandy World Championship
The semifinal match between Kazakhstan and Sweden, which Sweden won on penalties, ended in a controversy, since the Swedish player Daniel Mossberg was not listed in the paperwork submitted by Sweden before the match. Kazakhstan filed a protest. As the result, Sweden were fined, but the result was kept, and Sweden went on to the finals against Russia.


2012 Bandy World Championship, Group C, Preliminary round
Note - Matches were of 60 minutes duration rather than the standard 90 minutes in Groups A and B.'


2012 Bandy World Championship squads
Below are the squads for the 2012 Bandy World Championship final tournament in Kazakhstan.


2012 Bangkok bombings
The 2012 Bangkok bombings were a series of explosions that occurred in Bangkok, Thailand on 14 February 2012, injuring five people. Thai authorities said that the bombings were a botched attempt by Iranian nationals to assassinate Israeli diplomats. Several Iranians were arrested and charged for the attacks, one of whom was badly injured.


2012 Bangkok bombings, Background
The blasts occurred a day after attacks on Israeli diplomats in Tbilisi, Georgia and New Delhi, India. Israel said that the Iranian government was behind the bombings, a charge the government denied.


2012 Bangkok bombings, Explosions
The first blast happened at about 14:00 at a safe house on Sukhumvit 71, which the suspects had rented. The explosion blew off part of the roof of the structure. The men then fled the house. Moradi, who was injured and bloodied, attempted to flag down a taxi. When the driver, seeing his state, refused to take him, he threw a grenade at the taxi. The grenade damaged the vehicle and injured the driver. Police officers who responded to the blasts then tried to stop Moradi, who tried to escape by throwing another grenade at them. The grenade bounced off a tree and back at him, exploding and severing both his legs.


2012 Bangkok bombings, Investigation
The investigation involved Thai police officials and forensic experts who collected samples and fragments from the blast sites; a forensic report on the type of explosives used, submitted to police within days; and CCTV footage of the suspects.


2012 Bangkok bombings, Investigation
Three of the Iranians charged with the bombings, Moradi, Khazaei and Zadeh, flew into Phuket in southern Thailand on 8 February. They then traveled to Pattaya, where they were alleged to have spent five nights in the company of three female prostitutes, before heading to Bangkok.


2012 Bangkok bombings, Investigation
Police Forensic Unit Commander Peerapong Damapong described the bombs used as "one of those transistor radios that you can carry around, but the insides have been taken out and replaced with C-4, with the head of the bomb consisting of a bolt, a pin and a detonator attached to it... From what we've seen, it's possible for the components to be bought in Thailand. The explosive isn't that complicated, it's just something that we haven't really seen in this country."


2012 Bangkok bombings, Investigation
A Thai official said on 17 February that the investigation had not discovered a link between the suspects and any group and that the bombings were probably not an attempt to kill Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who was scheduled to visit the country.


2012 Bangkok bombings, Investigation, Suspects
On August 22, 2013, Saeid Moradi was sentenced to life imprisonment while Mohammad Hazaei was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and deportation.


2012 Bangkok bombings, Investigation, Suspects
On November 2020, during a "prisoner swap", Saeed Moradi, Mohammad Hazaei and Masoud Sedaghat Zadeh were exchanged for Kylie Moore-Gilbert. Moore-Gilbert was a university lecturer held in Iran for 2 years.


2012 Bangkok bombings, Reactions
Chief of Royal Thai Police Priewpan Damapong instructed the Transportation Ministry to place the country's six international airports on high alert. The directive was said to follow reports provided by Israeli intelligence that further attacks on Thai soil were possible.


2012 Bangkok bombings, Reactions
Thai police carried out building-to-building searches around a Jewish synagogue on Sukhumvit Road. The synagogue was already under 24-hour police protection following the arrest in January of a Swedish-Lebanese alleged Hezbollah agent.


2012 Bangkok bombings, Reactions
The Counter-Terrorism Bureau of the Israeli National Security Council issued a worldwide travel warning, based on information that Iran and Hezbollah were planning additional attacks against Israelis and Jews.


2012 Bangladesh Championship League
The 2012 Premier Bank Bangladesh Championship League started in March 2012 where 7 clubs competed with each other on double-league basis.


2012 Bangladesh Federation Cup
The 2012 Bangladesh Federation Cup was the 25th edition of the association football competition. It was won by Sheikh Russel KC for their first title, defeating Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club 2-1 in extra time.


2012 Bangladesh Federation Cup
The competition started on 5 October and finished with the final at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on 22 October.


2012 Bangladesh Federation Cup
15 teams took part with the first round being played as a Group Stage, three groups contained four teams with one group of three teams. The top two teams from each group qualified for the Quarter Final Stage.


2012 Bangladesh Football Premier League
The 2012 Grameenphone Bangladesh Premier League started on 1 February 2012. 11 teams competed with each other on a home and away basis.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League
The 2012 Bangladesh Premier League, also known as Destiny-boishakhi BPL 2012 (for sponsorship reasons), was the first season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) established by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). The competition featured six franchises and used a tournament format with a double round robin group stage followed by two semi-finals and a final. The season began on 9 February with the final played on 29 February. The competition was won by Dhaka Gladiators.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League
Matches were held in Dhaka and Chittagong. The six franchises represented Dhaka, Barisal, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Sylhet divisions. The franchise auction was held on 10 January and the player auction took place on 18 and 19 January.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Opening ceremony
The President of Bangladesh Zillur Rahman launched the tournament during an opening ceremony held at the Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on 9 February 2012. The ceremony featured dancers, actors and singers and ended with fireworks and a laser lighting display.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Venues
A total of 33 matches, including the semi-finals and final, were held at two venues in Chittagong and Dhaka. The Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong hosted eight matches, with the majority of matches, including all playoff matches and the final, being held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Sponsors
Bangladeshi group Destiny and the Boishakhi TV channel were the title sponsors the tournament, paying Tk. 7.50 crore. Other sponsors included the Bangladesh Tourism Board, United Airways and Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. Channel 9 was the main broadcaster for the tournament. The management partner was Game On, an Indian sports company, which organised the logistics of the tournament.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Controversies, Match fixing
BPL 2012 had its first brush with controversy even before the tournament started. Mashrafe Mortaza, one of Bangladesh's leading fast bowlers and captain of the Dhaka Gladiators, reported a potential spot-fixing approach by a fellow cricketer and that BPL matches could be hit by fixing to the team management. As of developments so far, the franchise had informed the BPL of the approach, according to Gladiators media manager Minhaz Uddin Khan. Furthermore, an ICC ACSU officer was already in Dhaka to conduct the situation.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Controversies, Overdue payments
The league was supposed to pay players in installments during the tournament, with 25% of their wages due before the start of the tournament, 50% during the tournament and the remainder at the end. A series of financial irregularities meant that many overseas players had only received the first 25% well after the tournament ended. Most eventually received their payments, although players from Pakistan were still awaiting theirs in April 2012.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Controversies, Semi final confusion
The first semi-final of the BPL will have the team that finished first in the league playing the team that finished fourth. Duronto Rajshahi finished first, with 14 points, but until 2.00 am on the morning of the semi-final, it wasn't clear who finished fourth. Initially,  it was announced that Barisal Burners were through to the semis, after their victory against Chittagong Kings, on the basis of net run-rate. At that point, the other two spots were going to be contested between Chittagong, Khulna Royal Bengals and Dhaka Gladiators.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Controversies, Semi final confusion
The next day, after Dhaka lost narrowly to Rajshahi and Khulna beat Sylhet Royals, Khulna went to second place with 12 points, leaving Dhaka, Barisal and Chittagong tied on 10 points at the end of the league phase. In the head-to-head results between the teams level on 10 points, Dhaka had beaten Barisal twice and Chittagong once and had a superior net-run rate and qualified for the semi-finals in third place. That now left Chittagong and Barisal in contention for the fourth spot.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Controversies, Semi final confusion
It was initially announced that Chittagong were in the semi-finals, presumably on the basis of a better head-to-head record in the three-way tie on 10 points, which included Dhaka. At 2.45 am of the game, however, the BPL issued a release which said that Barisal was the fourth semi-finalist, presumably because their head-to-head record with Chittagong. The decision was taken according to the rules and regulations of BPL which was announced before the tournament launch.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Controversies, Semi final confusion
According to the rules and regulations, if more than two teams tie at same points during group stage, the first preference is the number of wins of the teams during group stage. Dhaka, Chittagong and Barishal had 5 wins each. The second preference was the net run-rate of the teams and according to that Dhaka was placed third, Barishal was placed fourth and Chittagong were eliminated by being placed fifth.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Player auction
Players were assigned to franchises at a player auction, held in Dhaka on 19 January 2012. Each franchise was allowed to sign 18 players, including up to eight non-Bangladeshi players. A maximum of five overseas players could have been played in each matches.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Format
Each franchise played ten matches in the group stage of the competition, playing twice against every other team. The top four teams qualified for the semi-final stage.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Format
The tournament rules stated that if a match ended with the scores tied that a super over would be used to decide the match. If more than one team ended the group stage of the competition on the same number of points the regulations said that the teams would be ranked using the criteria:


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Group stage
During the group stage of the tournament Duronto Rajshahi won seven of their ten matches and finished top of the league table with Khulna Royal Bengals, who won six matches, finishing second. Three teams, Barisal Burners, Chittagong Kings and Dhaka Gladiators, all finished with five wins and ten points. The tournament regulations stated that if teams finished level on points and had each won the same number of matches, that net run rate would be used to decide the rankings for teams. After some confusion, Dhaka Gladiators were placed third in the group stage followed by Barisal Burners, with Chittagoing Kings eliminated from the competition.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Knockout stage
The organisers of the tournament caused some controversy after the broadcasters awarded the final semifinal spot on air to the Barisal Burners based on their superior net run rate over the Chittagong Kings, both of which were tied on the same number of points with only one of the two to progress to the next round. The following day (27 February 2011) officials from the Bangladesh Premier League confirmed that Chittagong Kings would progress to the next round, in place of the Burners, due to a better head-to-head record. Later that day the officials retracted their initial decision and replaced the Kings with the Burners as the 4th placed team based on their superior net run rate.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Statistics, Highest team totals
The following table lists the five highest team scores during this season.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League, Statistics, Most runs
The top five highest run scorers (total runs) in the season are included in this table.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League Final
The 2012 Bangladesh Premier League Final was a day/night Twenty20 cricket match played between the Dhaka Gladiators and the Barisal Burners on 29 February 2012 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka to determine the winner of the 2012 Bangladesh Premier League, a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh. It ended as the Gladiators defeated the Burners by eight wickets to bag the title of the inaugural season.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League Final
The Gladiators, captained by Mashrafe Mortaza, stood at the third position, whereas the Burners, led by Brad Hodge, stood at the fourth position after a controversial decision by the authority. They had defeated the Khulna Royal Bengals and the Duronto Rajshahi respectively in the semi-finals.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League Final
Winning the toss, Gladiators' captain Mashrafee Mortaza opted to field first. The Burners scored 140 runs in 20 overs with a loss of 7 wickets. Batting at opening, the captain Brad Hodge top scored for the Burners with a not out 70 runs . Gladiators' bowler Shahid Afridi took three wickets for 23 runs. The Gladiators failed to build a good opening partnership when their opener Nazimuddin got out at 26. However, the other opener Imran Nazir and Wicket-keeper Batsman Anamul Haque scored a quick 110 run partnership to take the match on their side. Gladiators reached the winning total with 26 balls to spare and earned the 2012 Bangladesh Premier League title. Nazir, who scored 75 run of 43 ball with 6 fours and 6 sixes to ease his team's way for the title, was named the man of the match.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League Final, Route to the final, Group stage
The Burners started its campaign with two consecutive wins including the win by 10 wickets against Sylhet Royals at the first ever BPL match, but lost its next three matches to the Royal Bengals, the Gladiators and the Chittagong Kings. It qualified for the semifinals after winning three of its last five league matches. However, in the first place Burners were declared eliminated despite their win over Kings at their last league stage match. But after a huge confusion they were controversially declared as the fourth semi-finalist at the match day.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League Final, Route to the final, Group stage
The Gladiators lost its first match in the league stage to the Royal Bengal. However, it won all of its next three matches. Then, it suffered two consecutive defeats against the Duronto Rajshahi and Royal Bengals. But it won two of its last four matches to qualify the finals. Gladiators qualified for the semis despite losing its last match against Rajshahi by the virtue of higher net run rate.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League Final, Route to the final, Group stage
The two teams faced each other in two matches of the group stage, both of which were won by the Gladiators.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League Final, Route to the final, Semi-finals
The Burners played the Duronto in the first semi-final. The Burners won the toss and decided to field first. The Duronto lost three wickets in three runs. Its middle-order batsmen Sean Ervine and Mushfiqur Rahim scored 82 and 58 runs respectively and Abdul Razzak posted a cameo of 30 to help it amass 184 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Batting second, the Burners scored 103 at the opening partnership before their captain Brad Hodge got out after scoring 33. But Ahmed Shehzad scored an unbeaten knock of 116 off just 49 balls to take Burners 189 for 2 with 24 balls to spare. Shehzad was also awarded man of the match for his innings of 116 runs.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League Final, Route to the final, Semi-finals
In the second semi-final, Gladiators played the Royal Bengals. The Gladiators won the toss and elected to bat first. They lost two early wickets. But contributions from Imran Nazir, Azhar Mahmood and Mohammad Ashraful kept the score going for Dhaka Gladiators. They scored 41, 65 and 47* respectively. Finally a cameo of 27 off 11 balls from Shahid Afridi took the score to 191 for 4 after 20 overs. In reply, Royal Bengals lost its first wicket when Herschelle Gibbs were dismissed for 2 runs. They lost 3 more wickets inside 50 runs.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League Final, Route to the final, Semi-finals
Then the skipper Shakib Al Hasan fought back against the fall out of wickets. But his unbeaten 86 off 41 balls went in vain as no one could contribute bigger. Royal Bengals' innings ended at 182 for 7. The Gladiators won the match by nine runs, and Azhar Mahmood was given the man of the match award.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League player auction
The players auction for the 2012 Bangladesh Premier League was held on 19 January 2012 at the Hotel Radisson, Dhaka. Each franchise can sign a total of 10 local players and 8 foreign players, and can play up to 5 foreign players in each match. Each franchise will also have one domestic icon player in their team. Players were allowed to set their base price between $20,000 to $100,000.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League player auction, Player list, Domestic players
Domestic players with top three base prices for the auction are listed below:Icon players will receive 15% salary more than the highest cost local player.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League player auction, Player list, International players
International players with one of the top two base prices for the auction are listed below:


2012 Bangladesh Premier League player auction, Post-auction signings
Many franchises signed players after the BPL auction, as replacement of contracted players who are not available to play due to injuries and national commitments. Under BPL rules, the replacements have to be chosen from the pool of players who went unsold in the January auction, and cannot be paid more than the players they are replacing, though they can be paid less.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League squads
The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is a professional Twenty20 league in Bangladesh. 2012 was the inaugural season of this tournament. The league consists of 6 teams from six different cities. This is a list of the squads of all franchises for the 2012 edition.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League squads, Dhaka Gladiators
This is the full squad of Dhaka Dynamites for the inaugural season.


2012 Bangladesh Premier League squads, Khulna Royal Bengal
This is the full squad of Khulna Royal Bengals for the inaugural season.


2012 Bani Walid uprising
The 2012 Bani Walid uprising was an event which started on 23 January 2012 due to an incident in the city of Bani Walid in which the "May 28 Brigade" militia wished to arrest local men in unclear circumstances. The May 28 Brigade and their compound were then attacked by local fighters who then took control of the town. The incident, the combatants, and the motives of the two main belligerents — the May 28 Brigade and Brigade 93 — remain uncertain and contentious. The conflict was originally reported to be an attack by Gaddafi loyalists by local NTC officials.


2012 Bani Walid uprising
However, tribal leaders and residents have denied any affiliation with Gaddafi's remnants, stating their goal was the establishment of their own council in the city. Similarly Britain's Foreign Office has dismissed claims of this incident representing a pro-Gaddafi attack against the NTC, stating that this was a dispute between tribal leaders of the Warfalla tribe and the NTC.


2012 Bani Walid uprising
The Libyan government subsequently engaged in negotiations to re-establish normal relations with Bani Walid while maintaining a siege on the town, including a presidential visit to the town. Walid Ben Shaaban, a Libyan militia leader has stated "we will take revenge militarily but legitimately", referring to the security issues emanating from Bani Walid. In October, more troops were sent to Bani Walid, with an aim of re-establishing control of the city by military means. Intense shelling of the town started on 18 October.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Background
Bani Walid was one of the last cities to fall into the hands of the rebel army who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi. As a former Gaddafi loyalist stronghold, an insurgency against new rulers developed in the city. After months of tensions in the city, a group of anti-NTC fighters attacked the main NTC base in Bani Walid.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 23 January attack
After distributing pro-Gaddafi papers the previous day, a group of 100-150 soldiers carrying the green flag of the Gaddafi government attacked the main NTC base of the city, killing four NTC soldiers; wounding 20 others and trapping the others in their base, according to Mahmud Warfelli, the spokesman of the NTC's council for Bani Walid, who called for help and feared a massacre as the NTC compound was besieged from all sides by the pro-Gaddafi fighters.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 23 January attack
Witnesses told Reuters that the fighting had stopped and that pro-Gaddafi fighters were in control of the city, raising green flags and roaming in the center of the town.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 23 January attack
The attack happened after a militia loyal to the National Transitional Council arrested armed pro-Gaddafi fighters.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 23 January attack
In response to the attack, armored units of NTC fighters were deployed from Misrata, tasked with cutting off all routes out of the city. NTC forces were also preparing to conduct air sorties over the city, according to a Libyan Air Force official.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 23 January attack
Several NTC officials have offered conflicting reports in regards to the attack. Anes Elsharif, a former military council spokesman, said that pro-Gaddafi fighters had stormed the NTC base but they did not control the city. Libyan defence minister, Osama al-Juwaily, said that while fighting has taken place, he could not confirm that Gaddafi loyalists were involved in the clashes.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 23 January attack
However, Mohamed Bashir, mayor of Bani Walid, stated that Gaddafi loyalists have seized control of the city and that NTC fighters involved in the fighting were forced to retreat. He reported that at least 20 to 25 unidentified fighters were killed in the fighting.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 24 January
On 24 January, local elders denied reports that they were loyal to Gaddafi and Reuters reporters in Bani Walid saw no signs of the Gaddafi-era green flags which witnesses earlier said had been hoisted over the town.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 24 January
A meeting of 200 elders abolished the NTC council in the city after local fighters routed NTC militia out of the town. They said that they will appoint their own government without NTC interference, but denied that they were supporting the Gaddafi government.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 24 January
Conflicting reports continued to come on 24 January as Al Jazeera reporter Stefanie Dekker, based on the outskirts of the town, said that pro-Gaddafi fighters took over the city on 23 January and were still in control of the town, with soldiers from other towns massing themselves on Bani Walid outskirts. The local head of the NTC council Mubarak Al Fotmani, who has been involved in the clash the previous day, flew to Misrata where he repeated his version that hundreds of pro-Gaddafi took over the city.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 24 January
The local NTC military leader Abdullah al-Khazmi said that the May 28 brigade was the only link between Bani Walid and the new authorities. He added that the brigade only had a superficial control over the town in the previous month and estimated that 99% of Bani Walid were pro-Gaddafi. He also said that Gaddafi loyalists were branded under the Brigade 93 name and that they had been responsible for the deaths of 13 NTC fighters in December. The Associated Press also confirmed that NTC reinforcements from Benghazi were massing on the outskirts of Bani Walid.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 24 January
Libya interior minister said that they will strike back if Gaddafi loyalists were behind the Bani Walid events. The previous day, he dismissed the claims of a pro-Gaddafi attack and said it was a local problem.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 24 January
Local tribal leader Colonel Ouer stated that they were in contact with Mustafa Abdul Jalil and were meeting with representatives of the nearby towns of Zintan and Sabratha.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 24 January
Locals elders said that the events started when the May 28 Brigade arrested a Bani Walid resident and tortured him. They accused the May 28 Brigade of becoming an oppressor in the city. The elders also said that they were not Gaddafi loyalists and that they had only local motivation. A Reuters journalist touring the city saw no green flags, but a few new Libyan flags instead, even though some pro-Gaddafi graffiti was visible on the walls of the city.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 24 January
The NTC jets were heard over the city, and NTC soldiers took up positions 50 km away from Bani Walid but had not received orders to move on the city.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 25 January
Libya's Defence Minister Osama al-Juwaily arrived in Bani Walid to hold talks with the town's new council to find a solution while NTC soldiers set up checkpoints in the surrounding region.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, 25 January
Later in the day Libya's defense Minister recognized the newly formed local tribal council, which overthrew the local NTC council, as the new authority of Bani Walid.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
On 26 January, the ousted militia continued to camp 30 km away from Bani Walid, and mixed together with fighters from other cities. They repeated that Bani Walid was under pro-Gaddafi control and estimated at 300 their numbers. They also claimed that dozens of pro-Gaddafi who were held at their base were freed in the uprising and threatened to launch an assault in the city if they are not allowed back in and if the former prisoners were not handed to them. Units of the national army stayed away from the militias and were manning a few checkpoints elsewhere in the desert.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
Residents asked by AFP said privately that they were nostalgic of Gaddafi era, one of them saying that Gaddafi was living in the heart of Bani Walid people. They also said that they were resigned to the change in the country and that the uprising was only local. A resident told that the person arrested by the May 28 Brigade, an event which started the uprising, may have been a former pro-Gaddafi fighter. The resentment toward former rebels seems widespread in Bani Walid, with accusation of theft, arbitrary arrests and other abuses issued by the local population.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
The new council of Bani Walid decided that May 28 brigade members could return to the city only individually and without weapons.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
On 27 January, a commander of the May 28 Brigade, Imbarak al-Futmani told Reuters that they would retake Bani Walid and that they were only waiting for the green light from the prime minister. The militia assembled with other militia and regrouped 800 fighters. He also claimed that insurgents, which ousted them from Bani Walid, are pro-Gaddafi and that they seized tanks when they took over the May 28 Brigade base.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
On 28 January, dozens of upset protesters gathered in front of the Prime minister offices to protest against the tour that the defense minister Juwaily made in Bani Walid earlier in the week. They accused him of siding with Gaddafi loyalists. An anti-Gaddafi doctor who had origins from Bani Walid said that the minister shook hands with well-known Gaddafi loyalists during his meetings in the city.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
As of 14 February, the tribal council was still directing the city.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
On 26 February, it was reported that Gaddafi loyalists were using Bani Walid as a safe haven and NTC chairman Jalil said that forces would be used if the city did not hand them.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
Al Jazeera reported that pro-Gaddafi elements were in control of the city. Some families that supported the Libyan rebellion fled the city for Tripoli alongside the official militia.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
German news outlet Qantara.de visited the city in April 2012 and reported that while many residents were resentful of the NTC due to the heavy damage anti-Gaddafi forces and looters among the militias inflicted during and immediately after the civil war, no Gaddafi-era green flags were visible in the city, while a handful of Libyan tricolours were in evidence.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
As of the time of publication on 27 April 2012, the NTC had still not formally recognised the Bani Walid Council of Elders' legitimacy as the local government despite the Council of Elders' edict handing over security in Bani Walid to the police and army. Many Libyans elsewhere in the country still view Bani Walid as a "Gaddafi city" owing to its late resistance during the war, according to the report. However, other reports from September 2012 stated that pictures of Gaddafi are being shown in public during weddings and youths play his speeches. Furthermore, school students refrain from singing the new national anthem, and teachers refused the revised curriculum.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
Fighting erupted outside Bani Walid on 12 May and 2 fighters from the Misrata Libyan Shield Brigade, stationed between Tarouna and Bani Walid, were killed by local fighters. Bani Walid fighters were also suspected of having arrested 4 members of the Zliten council and one member of the former NTC council of Bani Walid who fled to Tripoli.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
On 7 July, Bani Walid voted in the national poll, but government officials were denied access to the town and were unable to control the voting process.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, Uprising, Cease-fire
On 11 September, interim president Mohammed el-Megarif visited Bani Walid in an attempt to reintegrate the city to the rest of the country.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, October siege
On 2 October, forces from Bani Walid engaged government forces in the Mordum area, resulting in one fatality.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, October siege
Following a buildup of several thousand government forces around Bani Walid, fighting renewed on 8 October in the Mordum area, some 30 km south of one of the front lines at Bir Dufan. The fighting resulted in several injuries but no fatalities.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, October siege
Of the injuries reported on 8 October, 26 were of patients admitted to Bani Walid hospital with a range of symptoms that led local doctors to accused the Libyan Army of using gas against Bani Walid. The Libyan military and political leadership have both denied the use of gas, and it has been suggested that the gas was released from storage buildings within Bani Walid after having been hit by Libyan Army shells, or also that it was caused by some form of corrosion.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, October siege
On 16 October, further fighting was reported from Bani Walid on three of the fronts surrounding the town, as opposed to previous fighting which was confined to the Mordum area. The brigades involved in the initial fighting were from Misrata, Mizda, and Gharyan. As with previous fighting however, the fighting had not been authorised by the Yousef Mangoush, the Armed Forces Chief of Staff. Despite lacking authorisation from Libya's political and military leadership, the fighting led to an escalating series of skirmishes between both sides, with 11 dead and 94 wounded being reported early on 18 October.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, October siege
This led to Libyan Army units being ordered to enforce GNC Resolution No.7, which calls for the arrest of those responsible for the death of Omran Shaban and suspected of ties to the former regime, launching a full-scale attack on the town on the night of 18 October. According to army spokesman Mohammed al-Gandus, some 2,000 government forces being involved in the offensive. The actual status of the town however has been in dispute, with the army claiming it was close to the center of Bani Walid and in control of the airport, whereas a local Bani Walid resident has insisted that Libyan Army units had failed to enter the city.


2012 Bani Walid uprising, October siege
National Congress leader Mohammed Magarief announced on 19 October that not all areas of Libya had been "fully liberated" on the eve of the first anniversary of the capture and death of deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Speaking on national television, Magarief singles out Bani Walid, saying it had become "a safe haven for a large number of those who are outside of the law." On 20 October, authorities in Tripoli announced the capture of Gaddafi's former spokesman Moussa Ibrahim near the town of Tarhouna, south of the capital. Ibrahim's whereabouts had been unknown since the end of the war in 2011 and there had been several earlier reports of his arrest.


2012 Banja Luka Challenger
The 2012 Banja Luka Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the eleventh edition of the tournament which was part of the 2012 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 10 and 16 September 2012.


2012 Banja Luka Challenger, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Banja Luka Challenger – Doubles
Marco Crugnola and Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo were the defending champions but decided not to participate. Marin Draganja and Lovro Zovko won the title, defeating Colin Ebelthite and Jaroslav Pospíšil 6–1, 6–1 in the final.


2012 Banja Luka Challenger – Singles
Blaž Kavčič was the defending champion, but retired from his first round match with a back injury. Victor Hănescu won the title, defeating Andreas Haider-Maurer 6–4, 6–1 in the final.


2012 Bank of America 500
The 2012 Bank of America 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on October 13, 2012, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) asphalt quad-oval, it was the thirty-first race of the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season, as well as the fifth race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, which ends the season.


2012 Bank of America 500
Clint Bowyer of Michael Waltrip Racing won the race, his third of the season, while Denny Hamlin finished second and Jimmie Johnson was third.


2012 Bank of America 500
This was the first race since the 1979 Southern 500 in which is not featuring the name Earnhardt on the grid and for the first time since the 1999 Pennzoil 400 in which Dale Earnhardt Jr is absent on the grid.


2012 Bank of America 500, Report, Background
Charlotte Motor Speedway is one of ten  intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. The standard track at Charlotte Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is five degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also had a five degree banking. The racetrack has seats for 140,000 spectators.


2012 Bank of America 500, Report, Background
Before the race, Brad Keselowski led the Drivers' Championship with 2,179 points, and Jimmie Johnson stood in second with 2,165 points. Denny Hamlin followed in third with 2,156 points, thirteen points ahead of Kasey Kahne and seventeen ahead of Clint Bowyer in fourth and fifth. Jeff Gordon with 2,137 was four points ahead of Tony Stewart, as Martin Truex, Jr. with 2,131 points, was one point ahead of Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Matt Kenseth was eleventh and twelfth with 2,128 and 2,117 points, respectively.


2012 Bank of America 500, Report, Background
In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 203 points, twenty-seven points ahead of Toyota. Ford, with 147 points, was thirteen points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third. Matt Kenseth is the defending race winner after winning the event in 2011.


2012 Bank of America 500, Report, Background
On October 11, 2012, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Earnhardt, Jr. would not participate in the race because of being diagnosed with a concussion one day earlier. Instead, Regan Smith, who was supposed to drive for the Phoenix Racing, would replace Earnhardt, Jr., while A. J. Allmendinger would be the interim driver for Smith. Earnhardt, Jr. reported that he experienced concussion symptoms after a crash at Kansas Speedway during a tire test on August 29, 2012.


2012 Bank of America 500, Report, Background
He claimed that he had no symptoms before the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500, but after being involved in the Big One on the final lap, he reported having concussion symptoms that lasted more than three days later, convincing him to see a neurologist, who said that Earnhardt, Jr. needed to miss the next two races because of a concussion.


2012 Bank of America 500, Report, Background
It was the first time since the 1979 Southern 500 (the last race his father missed after an accident at Pocono in his rookie season) that a Sprint Cup race did not have an Earnhardt in the field, and the first race in the modern era that did not have a driver from North Carolina in the field, as Scott Riggs, the only North Carolina driver entered, failed to qualify.


2012 Bank of America 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were held over the course of the race weekend. The first, held on Thursday, October 11, was used to set the qualifying order. The session was led by Denny Hamlin with a time of 28.170 seconds. Mark Martin was second, only .037 seconds behind Hamlin, with Matt Kenseth in third .016 seconds behind Martin. Joey Logano and Gordon completed the top five, while Kyle Busch, Regan Smith, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10.


2012 Bank of America 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
Qualifying was held after the first practice session. 47 cars took 2 qualifying laps to set the 43 car field. Greg Biffle would win the pole position, setting a track record with a lap of 27.877 seconds, breaking the old track record set by Elliott Sadler in 2005. After being awarded the pole, Biffle proclaimed his excitement during the lap. "I was super excited about that lap because I drove it farther into Turn 1 than I thought would work," Mark Martin would claim the outside pole, Ryan Newman claimed the third position, and Chase drivers Bowyer, Johnson, Truex, Jr., Kenseth, Hamlin, and Kahne rounded out the top 10.


2012 Bank of America 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
A second practice was held on Friday, with Greg Biffle leading the pack with a time of 28.867. Kahne, Harvick, Johnson, Martin, Truex, Jr., Keselowski, Smith, Newman, and Gordon completed the top 10. Happy Hour was also held on Friday, led by Kyle Busch.


2012 Bank of America 500, Report, Race
The race was held under clear conditions with light winds. Pre -race ceremonies began with the Air Force ROTC Detachment 592 from UNC-Charlotte. K -LOVE CEO Mike Novak then delivered the invocation, followed by gospel group NewSong delivering the National Anthem. At 7:40, Wounded Warrior Project executive vice president Dave Nevins gave the command to start engines. Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Burton, and Reed Sorenson went to the rear of the field due to engine changes, while Travis Kvapil and David Gilliland went to the back for unapproved transmission changes.


2012 Bank of America 500, Report, Race
The race started at 7:50, with front row starters Biffle and Martin running side by side for the first 4 laps of the race, with Biffle clearing Martin in turn 4. The first caution came out when Chase driver Matt Kenseth had a left rear tire go down, resulting in him spinning in turn 4 on lap 11.


2012 Bank of America 500, Report, Race
On the lap 15 restart, Biffle continued to lead when David Ragan, Jeff Burton, and Tony Stewart all collided.


2012 Bank of the West Classic
The 2012 Bank of the West Classic was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the 41st edition of the tournament which was part of the WTA Premier tournaments category of the 2012 WTA Tour. It took place in Stanford, United States, on July 9–15, 2012. It was the first event of the 2012 US Open Series.


2012 Bank of the West Classic, Singles entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Bank of the West Classic, Singles entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry into the singles main draw as lucky losers:


2012 Bank of the West Classic, Doubles entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2012 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles
Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko were the defending champions, but both decided not to participate.


2012 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles
Marina Erakovic and Heather Watson won the title, defeating Jarmila Gajdošová and Vania King in the final, 7–5, 7–6(9–7).


2012 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
Serena Williams was the defending champion, and successfully defended her title, defeating lucky loser Coco Vandeweghe in the final, 7–5, 6–3. It was the first all-American final on the WTA Tour since the 2009 WTA Tour Championships, and the first on American soil since Los Angeles in 2004.


2012 Bank of the West Classic – Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2012 Barcelona Ladies Open
The 2012 Barcelona Ladies Open was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 6th edition of the Barcelona Ladies Open, and an International-level tournament on the 2012 WTA Tour. It took place at the Centre Municipal Tennis Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain between April 9 and 15, 2012. Sara Errani won the singles title.


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


2012 Barcelona Ladies Open – Doubles
Iveta Benešová and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová were the defending champions but Benešová decided not to participate. Záhlavová-Strýcová plays alongside Petra Cetkovská, but they were knocked out in the semifinals by the top-seeded pair of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci who beat Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta 6–0, 6–2 in an all-Italian final.