2015 Barcelona City Council election
The election was won by the Barcelona en Comú citizen platform, supported by Podemos, ICV–EUiA and Procés Constituent and led by popular activist and former PAH spokeswoman Ada Colau. Colau went on to become invested as the first female Mayor of Barcelona in history with the support of the Barcelona en Comú, ERC- and PSC-led coalitions and one of the CUP councillors.


2015 Barcelona City Council election
Incumbent Xavier Trias, who had campaigned for a second consecutive term in office, with his party Convergence and Union (CiU) being reduced to 10 out of 41 seats in the City Council, from the 14 it had obtained in the previous election. Citizens (C's) became the third largest political force in the city, whereas Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) obtained its second best historical result.


2015 Barcelona City Council election
On the other hand, both the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) and the People's Party of Catalonia (PPC) were severely mauled. The PSC, which had won every municipal election in Barcelona and had controlled the local government up until 2011, fell to 5th place and below 10% of the vote, while the PP achieved its worst result since AP result in the 1987 election. The Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) also entered the City Council for the first time in history, winning 3 seats and 7.4% of the share.


2015 Barcelona City Council election, Electoral system
The City Council of Barcelona (Catalan: Ajuntament de Barcelona, Spanish: Ayuntamiento de Barcelona) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Barcelona, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly. Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years.


2015 Barcelona City Council election, Electoral system
Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered and residing in the municipality of Barcelona and in full enjoyment of their political rights, as well as resident non-national European citizens and those whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty. Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each local council. Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:


2015 Barcelona City Council election, Electoral system
The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the appointee would be determined by lot.


2015 Barcelona City Council election, Electoral system
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of a determined amount of the electors registered in the municipality for which they were seeking election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. For the case of Barcelona, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required.


2015 Barcelona City Council election, Opinion polls
The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 21 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Barcelona.


2015 Barcelona City Council election, Opinion polls
Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls  Exit poll


2015 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell
The 2015 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (also known as the Torneo Godó) was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 63rd edition of the event and part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2015 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, from April 20 through April 26, 2015.


2015 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2015 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell – Doubles
Jesse Huta Galung and Stéphane Robert were the defending champions, but Robert chose not to participate this year. Huta Galung was scheduled to play alongside Pablo Andújar in the qualifying draw, but withdrew with a right calf injury.


2015 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell – Doubles
Marin Draganja and Henri Kontinen won the title, defeating Jamie Murray and John Peers in the final, 6–3, 6–7(6–8), [11–9].


2015 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell – Singles
Defending champion Kei Nishikori successfully defended his title, defeating Pablo Andújar in the final, 6–4, 6–4, to win the Singles title at the 2015 Barcelona Open.


2015 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell – Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


2015 Barcelona Sporting Club season
The 2015 season was Barcelona Sporting Club's the 90th year in existence and the club's 57th in the top flight of Ecuadorian football. Barcelona was one of the twelve participating clubs in the top flight of Ecuadorian Football Championship 2015. Besides the local tournament, Barcelona took part in the 2015 edition of the Copa Libertadores.


2015 Barcelona Sporting Club season
The club reaffirmed as technical director of team staff to the Uruguayan Ruben Israel, extending his contract until the middle of 2015. However, the poor results that the club had in the first half of the season led to the directive to not renew his contract. Israel's last game as coach of the club was on May 28 in a friendly match against RCD Espanyol in an exhibition tournament called 2015 Copa EuroAmericana, which won the Barcelona. Then, the club hired the Uruguayan Guillermo Almada, who was in charge of technical leadership until the end of the season.


2015 Barcelona Sporting Club season
Barcelona joined the group 7 of the Copa Libertadores, in which-after one win, one draw and four defeats did not qualify to the second round, being eliminated from the tournament.


2015 Barcelona Sporting Club season
In the first stage of the Serie A, Barcelona was ranked in fourth place, and in the second stage in sixth place; after which he could not access the two spots that led to the finals of the local tournament. In total, Barcelona reached fourth place in the accumulated table, reaching only qualifying for the 2016 Copa Sudamericana with the quota of Ecuador 2.


2015 Bardiani–CSF season
The 2015 season for the Bardiani–CSF cycling team began in February at the Dubai Tour. Bardiani–CSF is an Italian-registered UCI Professional Continental cycling team that participated in road bicycle racing events on the UCI Continental Circuits and when selected as a wildcard to UCI ProTour events.


2015 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2015 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council in England as part of the  2015 United Kingdom local elections. Councillors retiring at this election were Cllrs. Betty Barlow (Worsborough); Tracey Cheetham (Royston); Brian Key (Darfield); and Tom Sheard (Kingstone) (all L); Dave North (North East) and Brian Perrin (Dodworth) from the Barnsley Independent Group; and Anne Rusby (Penistone West) (C).


2015 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election, Results
Labour maintained control winning 19 of the 21 seats up for election. The Conservatives won the other 2 seats.


2015 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election, Results
After the election the political make up of the council was:


2015 Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council election
The 2015 Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.


2015 Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council election
Control of the council was held by the Labour Party, who had won from no overall control at the 2011 elections. Although Labour gained a higher percentage of the vote than in 2011, the Conservative Party gained 2 seats. The Socialist People's Party, which had held seats in Barrow from  1998 until 2011, folded in 2015 and so did not run for election.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2015 proceeded according to rules most recently amended in 2014. As in the past, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from a ballot of recently retired players, with results announced on January 6, 2015. Randy Johnson, Pedro Martínez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio were elected to the Hall of Fame. It was the first time since 1955 that the BBWAA elected four players in one year.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
The Golden Era Committee, one of three voting panels by era that replaced the more broadly defined Veterans Committee following an earlier rules change in July 2010, convened at Major League Baseball's winter meetings in San Diego on December 8, 2014, to select from a ballot of 10 retired players and non-playing personnel who made their greatest contributions to the sport between 1947 and 1972. None of these candidates received enough votes to be elected.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
The Hall of Fame induction ceremonies were held on July 26 at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, with new commissioner Rob Manfred presiding for the first time. On the day before the actual induction ceremony, the annual Hall of Fame Awards Presentation took place. At that event, two awards for media excellence were presented – the Hall's Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters and the BBWAA's J. G. Taylor Spink Award for writers. The other major Hall of Fame award, the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, was not scheduled to be presented again until 2017. Among the other portions of the ceremonies was a presentation by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus honoring the service of baseball personnel in World War II; he also announced the naming of the littoral combat ship USS Cooperstown.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
On July 26, 2014, the Hall announced changes to the rules for election for recently retired players, reducing the number of years a player will be eligible to be on the ballot from 15 years to 10. Three candidates presently on the BBWAA ballot (Lee Smith, Don Mattingly and Alan Trammell) in years 10-15 were grandfathered into this system and retained their previous 15 years of eligibility.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
In addition, BBWAA members who were otherwise eligible to cast ballots were required to complete a registration form and sign a code of conduct before receiving their ballots, and the Hall made public the names of all members who cast ballots (but not their individual votes) when it announced the election results. The code of conduct specifically states that the ballot is non-transferable, a direct reaction to Dan Le Batard's actions in the 2014 balloting process. Violation of the code of conduct will result in a lifetime ban from BBWAA voting.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
There were 549 total ballots cast and 4623 individual votes for players, for an average of 8.4 players named per ballot.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
All BBWAA members with at least 10 years of continuous membership were eligible to vote. One member of the 2014 electorate, Dan Le Batard, was suspended from the BBWAA for a year (which automatically made him ineligible to cast a vote in this election) and also banned for life from voting in any future Hall of Fame election after he revealed that he had turned over his 2014 ballot to Deadspin and allowed the website's readers to make selections.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
As in most recent elections, the controversy over use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) dominated the election. ESPN.com columnist Jim Caple noted in the days before the announcement of the 2012 results that the PED issue and the BBWAA's limit of 10 votes per ballot was likely to result in a major backlog in upcoming elections:


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Due to the steroid issue and a general lack of consensus, the following players will probably be on the ballot in three years: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Bagwell, John Smoltz, Edgar Martinez, Mark McGwire, Mike Mussina, Jeff Kent, Larry Walker, Alan Trammell, Fred McGriff, Rafael Palmeiro, Lee Smith, Tim Raines, Gary Sheffield, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and, of course, Bernie [Williams]. That's 21 players who warrant serious consideration.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
And that's not counting Barry Larkin, who might be elected this year, and also assuming Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Craig Biggio and Frank Thomas make it their first years on the ballot. Finding room for Bonds, Clemens, Pedro, Johnson and others means I'll have to dump more good players from my ballot than the Marlins dumped after winning the 1997 World Series.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Caple's predictions about the players on the 2015 ballot, as well as the players he expected to be elected before then, mostly proved accurate. Larkin was indeed elected in 2012, and Maddux, Glavine and Thomas were elected on their first ballot appearance in 2014. The main exceptions were Palmeiro and Williams, who got less than 5% of the vote in prior elections and failed to stay on, and Biggio, who fell short of election in both of his first two years on the ballot, missing out in 2014 by two votes.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Another ESPN.com writer, Tim Kurkjian, noted that the 2013 ballot would include several new candidates who either tested positive or were strongly linked to PEDs:


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The next Hall of Fame ballot will include Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio and Curt Schilling. They all have Hall of Fame numbers, some stronger than others, but Bonds, Clemens, Sosa and Piazza certainly are not going to be elected on the first ballot — and in the case of Bonds, Clemens and Sosa, they might not make it to Cooperstown for many, many years to come.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Don Mattingly was on the ballot for the 15th and final time.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Players who were eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Marlon Anderson, Paul Bako, Michael Barrett, Chad Bradford, Doug Brocail, Emil Brown, Paul Byrd, Raul Chavez, Joe Crede, David Dellucci, Adam Eaton, Alan Embree, Kelvim Escobar, Chad Fox, Tony Graffanino, Matt Herges, Braden Looper, Mark Loretta, Ramón Martínez, Doug Mientkiewicz, Kevin Millar, Eric Milton, Greg Norton, Tomo Ohka, Sidney Ponson, Glendon Rusch, B.J. Ryan, Brian Shouse, Justin Speier, Julián Tavárez, Ron Villone, Luis Vizcaino, Jamie Walker, Jarrod Washburn and David Weathers.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
In keeping with the current Hall of Fame voting procedure, the BBWAA-appointed Historical Overview Committee, made up of 11 BBWAA members, identified 10 Golden Era candidates who were judged to have made their greatest contributions between 1947 and 1972. Along with the 1947–1972 era, these rules defined the consideration set:


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
The eleven Historical Overview Committee members (the same members who served in 2011) were: Dave Van Dyck (Chicago Tribune), Bob Elliot (Toronto Sun), Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post Dispatch), Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau), Bill Madden (New York Daily News), Ken Nigro (formerly Baltimore Sun), Jack O'Connell (BBWAA Secretary/Treasurer), Tracy Ringolsby (MLB.com), Glen Schwartz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle), Claire Smith (ESPN) and Mark Whicker (Los Angeles News Group). The names of the committee members were released by the Hall of Fame on November 4, 2014.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
The ballot for election by the Golden Era Committee was released on October 30, 2014; the committee voted at the MLB winter meetings in San Diego on December 8, 2014, with the results announced by MLB immediately thereafter. The cutoff for election and summer 2015 induction remained the standard 75%, or 12 of 16 votes. None of the candidates received enough votes, continuing a long period of difficulty in electing players eligible under the Hall's special committees; the last living player elected to the Hall after the expiration of his BBWAA eligibility was Bill Mazeroski in 2001.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
This election marked the second time this era had been considered; Ron Santo was elected by the committee and inducted in 2012. In addition, Joe Torre – another popular candidate from this period – was inducted as a manager in 2014. Four of the candidates – Allen, Howsam, Pierce, and Wills – were considered for the first time.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
Among the holdovers from the 2011 Golden Era balloting were four who received at least half of the committee votes: Kaat (10), Hodges (9), Miñoso (9), and Oliva (8). Seven of the candidates were living when the ballot was announced, the exceptions being Hodges, Boyer, and Howsam (who respectively died in 1972, 1982 and 2008).


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
The Golden Era Committee's 16-member voting electorate, appointed by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors, was announced at the same time as the ballot of 10 candidates. The Baseball Hall of Fame officially named this group the "Golden Era Committee" ("The Committee"), which voted for the first time on December 5, 2011. All of the Hall of Fame members on this committee were inducted as players, except for executive Pat Gillick.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Golden Era Committee
In July 2016, the Hall announced a major change to its era-based committee system, replacing the then-existing three voting bodies with four new panels. The change will have a significant effect on future elections of individuals who had been considered by the Golden Era Committee. In the new system, the closest equivalent to the Golden Era Committee is the new Golden Days Committee, which will consider figures whose greatest contributions occurred between 1950 and 1969. Also, this new voting body will only meet once every five years, specifically in years ending in 0 and 5 as part of the election process for the next year's induction ceremony.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
The J. G. Taylor Spink Award has been presented by the BBWAA at the annual summer induction ceremonies since 1962. Through 2010, it was awarded during the main induction ceremony, but is now given the previous day at the Hall of Fame Awards Presentation. It recognizes a sportswriter "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing". The recipients are not members of the Hall of Fame but are featured in a permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Museum.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
The three nominees for the 2015 award, selected by a BBWAA committee, were announced at the BBWAA's annual All-Star Game meeting on July 15, 2014. They were the late Furman Bisher, longtime columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Tom Gage, beat writer for The Detroit News; and Dan Shaughnessy, columnist for The Boston Globe. Under BBWAA rules, the winner was to be announced either during the 2014 World Series or at the 2014 winter meetings; in recent years, the announcement has been made at the winter meetings.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
On December 9, Tom Gage was named as the recipient. Of the record 463 ballots cast (including one blank), Gage received 167 to Bisher's 161, with Shaughnessy receiving 134. The vote was the closest since balloting by mail began in 2002, both by the margin between the top two candidates and the gap between the three finalists. At the time of announcement, Gage was covering the Detroit Tigers for The Detroit News, a position he had held since leaving his original home of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans in 1978. He had twice been Michigan's sportswriter of the year, and had also not missed a day while on the Tigers beat – including covering a night game after undergoing a root canal procedure that morning. He is also a past member of the Hall of Fame ballot screening committee.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
The Ford C. Frick Award, honoring excellence in baseball broadcasting, has been presented at the induction ceremonies since 1978. Through 2010, it had been presented at the main induction ceremony, but is now awarded at the Awards Presentation. Recipients are not members of the Hall of Fame but are permanently recognized in an exhibit at the museum. To be eligible, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, a network, or a combination of the two.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
The honor is based on four criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans. The 2015 recipient was announced during the 2014 winter meetings, following a vote by a 20-member committee composed of the living recipients along with broadcasting historians and columnists.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
This was the second Frick Award selection under a process similar to that instituted for Veterans Committee balloting in 2010. Candidates are now considered every third year, based on the era in which they made their most significant contributions:


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
Also, the committee that selects the final recipient no longer has a role in determining any of the finalists. Before the 2014 selection process, the selection committee also chose seven of the 10 finalists, but that role has now been given to a Hall of Fame research committee.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
Ten finalists from the "Living Room Era" were announced on October 3, 2014. In accord with the current guidelines, seven were chosen by a Hall of Fame research committee, while the other three were selected from a list of candidates by fan voting at the Hall's Facebook page from September 8 to September 30.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
At the time of the announcement of the finalists, only Cárdenas and Enberg were still living, and only Enberg was still active. The broadcasting careers of the finalists covered a span of nearly 75 years, starting with the beginning of Dean's broadcasting career immediately after his retirement as a player in 1941. In addition to the still-active Enberg, three other finalists (Berroa, Kiner, and Nuxhall) were active in the 21st century. Three of the finalists (Ashburn, Dean, and Kiner) are Hall of Fame members as players.


2015 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
On December 10, 2014, Enberg was named as the recipient. He began his MLB broadcasting career in 1968 as the play-by-play announcer for the California Angels, continuing in that role through 1978. Enberg joined NBC Sports in 1975, covering baseball plus many other sports for the next quarter-century. He then moved to CBS Sports in 2000; after leaving that network in 2010, he became the play-by-play announcer for the San Diego Padres, a position he still held when he was announced as the recipient.


2015 Basildon Borough Council election
The 2015 Basildon Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2015, as part of the 2015 United Kingdom local elections, and took place alongside the UK General Election. One third of seats were up for election, with these seats last being contested in 2011. As a result of the election, the council remained in no overall control. The Conservative Party remained as the largest party, and formed a minority administration.


2015 Basildon Borough Council election, Results
The turnout was 62.9%, and there were 376 ballots rejected. All comparisons in vote share are to the corresponding 2011 election.


2015 Basildon Borough Council election, Council Composition
Following the 2014 election, the composition of the council was:


2015 Basildon Borough Council election, Council Composition
On the eve on the 2015 election, the composition of the council was:


2015 Basildon Borough Council election, Ward Results, Wickford Castledon
Note: The ward had been won by the Conservatives at the last regular election in 2011, but gained by UKIP in a by-election in 2013.


2015 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election
The 2015 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in England. It was held on the same day as the 2015 general election as well as other local elections.


2015 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election
21 seats were up for election. The seat in Rooksdown was up for election due to a casual vacancy, and its winner would serve a term lasting until 2016.


2015 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election
The Conservatives gained four seats and gained a 4-seat majority on the council. They gained one seat from Labour in Brighton Hill North and two from independents in Chineham and Tadley Central. Both the defeated independent candidates were seeking re-election; the former was a long-serving independent, while the latter had been elected as a Conservative in 2011 before defecting to UKIP, then becoming independent. Labour gained the rural ward of Overton, Laverstoke and Steventon from the Liberal Democrats.


2015 Basque foral elections
The 2015 Basque foral elections were held on Sunday, 24 May 2015, to elect the 10th Juntas Generales of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. All 153 seats in the three Juntas Generales were up for election. The elections were held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.


2015 Basque foral elections, Foral deputation control
The following table lists party control in the foral deputations. Gains for a party are displayed with the cell's background shaded in that party's colour.


2015 Bassetlaw District Council election
The 2015 Bassetlaw District Council election took place on 7 May 2015, to elect all 48 members of Bassetlaw District Council in England. This was on the same day as the 2015 general election and other local elections.


2015 Bassetlaw District Council election
Prior to this election, the council decided to move to all-out elections from 2015. Previously, the council had been elected by thirds with district elections being held every year except the year in which elections to Nottinghamshire County Council were held in the area. Councillors elected at this election will serve a four-year term and face re-election in 2019.


2015 Bassetlaw District Council election, Result
The election resulted in the Labour Party retaining its control of the council.


2015 Bath and North East Somerset Council election
The 2015 Bath and North East Somerset Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Bath and North East Somerset Council in England. This coincided with other local elections and the 2015 general election.


2015 Bath and North East Somerset Council election, Ward results
The ward results listed below are based on the changes from the 2011 elections, not taking into account any party defections or by-elections. Sitting councillors are marked with an asterisk (*).


2015 Batman Cup
The 2015 Batman Cup was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the first edition of the tournament, which was part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Batman, Turkey from April 6 to April 12, 2015.


2015 Batman Cup, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Batman Cup – Doubles
Aslan Karatsev and Yaraslav Shyla won the title, defeating Mate Pavić and Michael Venus in the final, 7–6(7–4), 4–6, [10–5].


2015 Batman Cup – Singles
Dudi Sela defeated Blaž Kavčič in the final, 6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–3, to win the title.


2015 Bauchi State gubernatorial election
The 2015 Bauchi State gubernatorial election was the 8th gubernatorial election of Bauchi State. Held on April 11, 2015, the All Progressives Congress nominee Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar won the election, defeating Mohammed Jatau of the People's Democratic Party.


2015 Bauchi State gubernatorial election, APC primary
APC candidate Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar defeated 7 other contestants to clinch the party ticket. He won with 930 votes to defeat his closest rival and the former Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Lame, who received 806 votes. Yusuf Tuggar received 526 votes, Sadiq Mohammed received 194 votes, Ibrahim Zailani, former member of the House of Representatives received 161 votes, Abdullahi Tanko received 92 votes, Nuhu Gidado received 86 votes, Mohammed Umar received 56 votes. Accredited voters was 2,901, vote cast was 2,865 and invalid votes was 30.


2015 Bauchi State gubernatorial election, APC primary
After the primaries, Ibrahim Lame accused the officials of the All Progressives Congress in Bauchi State of electoral malpractice that denied him a chance to win the governorship ticket. The former Minister of Police Affairs in Nigeria called for the cancellation of the primaries and asked for a rerun, saying he would proceed to court if the election is not cancelled.


2015 Bauchi State gubernatorial election, PDP primary
PDP candidate Mohammed Jatau defeated 4 other contestants to clinch the party ticket. He won with 368 votes to defeat his closest rival, a former Senator in the state, Babayo Garba Gamawa, who received 116 votes. Muhammad Ali Pate, former Minister of State for Health received 86 votes, Adamu Gumba received 20 votes, Bappa Azare received 3 votes. 842 delegates were accredited for the election, while nine votes was invalid. A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed, withdrew as an aspirant a day before the election.


2015 Bauchi State gubernatorial election, PDP primary
The immediate past Secretary to the Bauchi State Government, Aminu Hammayo also withdrew from the election. After the election, Muhammad Ali Pate said that no primary election took place in the state, calling on the national headquarters of PDP to cancel the election and conduct a fresh one for fairness and good democratic practice. Adamu Gumba described the election as a sham.


2015 Bauchi State gubernatorial election, Results
A total of 10 candidates contested in the election. Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar from the APC won the election, defeating Mohammed Jatau from the PDP.


2015 Bauer Watertechnology Cup
The 2015 Bauer Watertechnology Cup was a professional tennis tournament played on carpet courts. It was the 19th edition of the tournament which was part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Eckental, Germany between 2 November and 8 November 2015.


2015 Bauer Watertechnology Cup, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Bauer Watertechnology Cup, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following player received entry into the singles main draw with a protected ranking:


2015 Bauer Watertechnology Cup – Doubles
Ruben Bemelmans and Philipp Petzschner won the title, beating Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski 7–5, 6–2


2015 Bauer Watertechnology Cup – Singles
Mikhail Youzhny won the title, beating Benjamin Becker 7–5, 6–3


2015 Bayamon Cup
The 2015 Bayamon Cup is the first edition of the Bayamon Cup, a cup tournament for clubs in Puerto Rico organized by the Puerto Rican Football Federation.


2015 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election
The 2015 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election occurred in Nigeria on December 5, 2015. The PDP nominee Henry Seriake Dickson won the election, defeating Timipre Sylva of the APC.


2015 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election
Henry Seriake Dickson emerged PDP as the sole candidate. He picked Gboribiogha John Jonah as his running mate. Timipre Sylva was the APC candidate with Wilberforce Titus Igiri as his running mate.


2015 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, Electoral system
The Governor of Bayelsa State is elected using the plurality voting system.


2015 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, Primary election, PDP primary
The PDP primary election was held on September 24, 2015. Henry Seriake Dickson emerged PDP flag bearer after polling 447 votes as the sole candidate. Henry Seriake Dickson picked Gboribiogha John Jonah as his running mate.


2015 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, Primary election, APC primary
The APC primary election was held on September 30, 2015. Timipre Sylva emerged the party's flag bearer after polling 981 votes against 18 other candidates. His closest rival, Godknows Powel, who polled 39 votes while Wallman Agoriba came third with 28 votes. Timipre Sylva picked Wilberforce Titus Igiri as his running mate.


2015 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, Results
A total number of 20 candidates registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission to contest in the election.


2015 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, Results
The total number of registered voters in the state was 654,493, while 242,114 voters were accredited. Total number of valid votes was 225,520. Rejected votes were 6,647.


2015 Bayern–Rundfahrt
The 2015 Bayern–Rundfahrt was the 36th edition of the Bayern–Rundfahrt, an annual cycling road race. It was held between 13 and 17 May, starting in Regensburg and ending in Nürnberg. The race consisted of five stages, the fourth being an individual time trial.


2015 Bayern–Rundfahrt, Teams
19 teams were selected to take place in the 2015 Bayern–Rundfahrt. Five of these were UCI WorldTeams; eight were UCI Professional Continental teams; six were UCI Continental teams.


2015 Baylor Bears baseball team
The 2015 Baylor Bears baseball team will represent Baylor University during the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Bears will play their home games at Baylor Ballpark as a member of the Big 12 Conference. They will be led by head coach Steve Smith, in his 21st season at Baylor.


2015 Baylor Bears baseball team, Previous Season
In 2014, the Bears finished the season 7th in the Big 12 with a record of 26–31, 8–15 in conference play. They qualified for the 2014 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament and were eliminated in the semifinals. They failed to qualify for the 2014 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


2015 Baylor Bears baseball team, Season, February
Baylor opened its season on February 13 as part of a three-game series with Cal Poly. In game 1, the Mustangs outhit the Bears 12–7, but Baylor won 8–6. In the second game of the series, the Bears also won by a score of 8–6, and closed out the series sweep with a 6–0 win in the series finale. Baylor moved into the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll at #21 nationally following the Cal Poly sweep. Playing as the #21 team in the country, Baylor went 2–2 over the next week.


2015 Baylor Bears baseball team, Season, February
After a midweek loss to Dallas Baptist in which the Bears pitching surrendered eight walks, the Bears dropped the first game of a three-game weekend series to 2014 NCAA Tournament participant Kent State. On February 21, the Bears swept the Golden Flashes in a doubleheader, winning the two games by a combined score of 10–4.


2015 Baylor Bears baseball team, Season, February
For the final week of February (and the first day of March), the Bears fell to #25 nationally in the Collegiate Baseball poll and were also ranked number 28 in the NCBWA poll. On February 25, the Bears defeated Northwestern State in a game that had been pushed back one day due to inclement weather. Starter Theron Kay allowed no runs over five innings pitched. On the weekend of February 27, the Bears travelled to Fullerton, California to face Cal State Fullerton, a team that had been ranked in the national polls in the early portion of the season. The Bears were swept over a 3-game series by the Titans, one in which Bears pitching allowed 28 runs.


2015 Baylor Bears baseball team, Rankings
^ Collegiate Baseball ranks 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. † NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. * New poll was not released for this week so for comparison purposes the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.


2015 Baylor Bears football team
The 2015 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bears were coached by Art Briles, playing their 117th football season; this year was the team's second season in McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas. The Bears were members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 10–3, 6–3 in Big 12 play to finish in fourth place. They were invited to the Russell Athletic Bowl where they defeated North Carolina 49–38.


2015 BeNe Ladies Tour
The 2015 BeNe Ladies Tour is the second edition of the BeNe Ladies Tour, a women's cycling stage race in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is rated by the UCI as a category 2.2 race and is held between 17 and 19 July 2015.


2015 BePink LaClassica season
The 2015 women's road cycling season was the fourth for the  BePink-La Classica cycling team, which began as the Be Pink in 2012.


2015 BePink LaClassica season, Team roster, 2015
As of 29 March 2016. Ages as of 1 January 2016.


2015 BePink LaClassica season, UCI world ranking
The 2015 UCI Women's Road Rankings are rankings based upon the results in all UCI-sanctioned races of the 2015 women's road cycling season.


2015 BePink LaClassica season, UCI world ranking
BePink LaClassica finished 16th in the 2015 ranking for UCI teams.


2015 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup
The 2015  Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup was the fifth edition of the tournament, Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup. It took place at Jumeirah Beach in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 3 to 7 November 2015. Eight teams participated in the competition.


2015 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup, Group stage
All matches are listed as local time in Dubai, (UTC+4).


2015 Beach Volleyball World Championships
The 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships were staged from 26 June to 5 July 2015 in The Hague, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Apeldoorn, Netherlands. The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships are organized every two years and Netherlands hosted the event for the first time. 48 teams per gender entered the competition making 96 total. The winners of the event qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics.


2015 Beach Volleyball World Championships – Men's tournament
The men's tournament was held from 26 June to 5 July 2015.


2015 Beach Volleyball World Championships – Men's tournament, Preliminary round, 3rd place ranked teams
The eight best third-placed teams advanced to the round of 32.


2015 Beach Volleyball World Championships – Women's tournament
The women's tournament was held from 26 June to 5 July 2015.


2015 Beach Volleyball World Championships – Women's tournament, Preliminary round, 3rd place ranked teams
The eight best third-placed teams advanced to the round of 32.


2015 Bedford Borough Council election
The 2015 Bedford Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Bedford Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.


2015 Bedford Borough Council election, Overall Results
A total of 115,477 valid votes were cast and there were 1,060 rejected ballots. The turnout was 66.3%


2015 Bedford Borough Council election, Council Composition
Prior to the election the composition of the council was:


2015 Beijing Guoan F.C. season
The  2015 Beijing Guoan F.C. season  was their 12th consecutive season in the Chinese Super League, established in the 2004, and 25th consecutive season in the top flight of Chinese football. They competed in the Chinese Super League, AFC Champions League and Chinese FA Cup.


2015 Beijing Guoan F.C. season, Players, First team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Beijing Guoan F.C. season, Players, Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Beijing Guoan F.C. season, Players, Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Beijing ePrix
The 2015 Beijing ePrix, formally the 2015 FIA Formula E SWUSP Beijing ePrix, was a Formula E motor race that was held on 24 October 2015 at the Beijing Olympic Green Circuit in Beijing, China. It was the second edition of the Beijing ePrix and the first race of the second season of the electrically powered racing car series. The race was dominated by Sébastien Buemi, who won starting from pole position. Since he also recorded the fastest lap, he became the first driver to score the maximum of 30 points from a single ePrix


2015 Beijing ePrix, Report, Background
The Beijing Olympic Green Circuit was slightly modified in comparison to the previous year. The first chicane, previously Turns 3, 4 and 5, has been removed with the second chicane taking a tighter profile than last year. Drivers believe that the modified layout offers increased chances of overtaking.


2015 Beijing ePrix, Report, Background
Three drivers made their Formula E debut at this ePrix: Jacques Villeneuve (for Venturi), Robin Frijns (for Amlin Andretti) and Nathanaël Berthon (for Team Aguri).


2015 Beijing ePrix, Report, Background
Trulli did not start the Beijing ePrix because of a failure to submit their car for scrutineering. The team claimed that key components had been held up in customs. They will be able to resubmit their car for scrutineering for the second race.


2015 Beijing ePrix, Report, Background
The Fanboost was awarded to Nelson Piquet Jr., Sam Bird and Oliver Turvey.


2015 Beijing ePrix, Report, Qualifying
Sébastien Buemi, Jean-Éric Vergne, Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld, and  Lucas di Grassi advanced to the pole position shoot-out. Di Grassi was first on track, however he had a big lock up into turn 1, and therefore was unable to set a competitive time. Heidfeld then set a solid but unspectacular time, before Prost went and lapped eight-tenths faster than the German. Then Vergne went out, only to have such a big lock up at turn 1 he went straight down the escape road, and gave up. That left Buemi to try and beat 2014's polesitter, and a poor middle sector made that look unlikely, but he then superbly negotiated the final sector to take pole position.


2015 Beijing ePrix, Report, Race
Buemi got a good start from pole, while Heidfeld was quick off the line, passing Prost round the outside of turn 1 in a similar move to the one he did in the previous year's race, before attacking race leader Buemi, unsuccessfully. Buemi then pulled away. On lap 2, prost locked up and ran deep, gifting Di Grassi third place. Simona de Silvestro then went straight into the wall on lap 3, bringing out a full course yellow. Meanwhile, a battle for 5th place at the time developed between Vergne and Bruno Senna, Loïc Duval and Sam Bird.


2015 Beijing ePrix, Report, Race
Bird then lost out when he locked up and went down the escape road, but he caught back up by lap 11, and was in the ever changing battle again. Most people pitted at the end of lap 13, and a slow stop for Heidfeld dropped him from 2nd to 4th. Heidfeld did overtake Prost for a podium again. Crucially, both Dragon cars stayed out, giving them more usable energy at the end of the race.


2015 Beijing ePrix, Report, Race
Jacques Villeneuve and António Félix da Costa collided, putting the Portuguese driver out of the race and bringing out a full course yellow, giving even more of the advantage to the Dragon cars who lost less time. Prost was more alert than Heidfeld off the restart and went through. His rear wing then broke on lap 20, although it made no difference to performance, but he was forced to retire. This left the Dragon cars with more usable energy, having already caught Heidfeld, to fight the Mahindra driver for the final spot on the podium.


2015 Beijing ePrix, Report, Race
Jérôme d'Ambrosio locked up and was lucky to avoid his teammate. On the final lap, Heidfeld had to park the bus, and however hard the Frenchman tried, Duval simply couldn't find a way past the Mahindra in a battle that went right to the final corner. Buemi crossed the line to dominantly win, while Di Grassi, having been very quiet throughout the race, finished 2nd. Heidfeld just managed to keep his podium. The reigning champion  Nelson Piquet, Jr. finished, albeit two laps down in the last classified position.


2015 Beirut bombings
On 12 November 2015, two suicide bombers detonated explosives in Bourj el-Barajneh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, that is inhabited mostly by Shia Muslims. Reports of the number of fatalities concluded that 43 people died directly from the detonation. Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks.


2015 Beirut bombings
The bombings were the worst terrorist attack in Beirut since the end of the Lebanese Civil War. They came twelve days after the bombing of a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula that killed 224 people and a day before attacks in Paris that killed 137. ISIL claimed responsibility for these attacks as well.


2015 Beirut bombings
Around 48 hours after the attack, Internal Security Forces arrested eleven people, mostly Syrians, over the attack. It later announced the arrest of two other Syrian and Lebanese suspects. They were arrested in a Palestinian refugee camp located in Burj al-Barajneh and a flat in the capital's eastern district of Achrafieh, which had allegedly been used to prepare the explosive belts. The initial plan was apparently to send five suicide bombers to a hospital in the neighbourhood, but heavy security forced them to change the target to a densely populated area.


2015 Beirut bombings, Background
Since 2011 the neighbouring country of Syria has been in a state of civil war. Shortly after its commencement, Lebanese groups have been divided along similar lines as in Syria, including participating in the war (such as Hezbollah involvement in Syria), as well as defending Lebanon within Lebanon itself. Lebanon has also faced a political vacuum since a continual failure to elect a new president (which has been requisite for a parliamentary election) since April 2014.


2015 Beirut bombings, Bombings
Two suicide bombings occurred in a commercial district of the Bourj el-Barajneh suburb of Southern Beirut, near the General Security Post in Hussaineya street,  an apparent known stronghold of the Shia Hezbollah, according to al-Manar  television, The first bombing occurred outside a Shia mosque, while the second took place inside a nearby bakery before 18:00. The second blast occurred about 20 metres away and five to seven minutes after the first one as passers-by tried to help the injured of the initial blast. A potential third attacker was killed before exploding his vest.


2015 Beirut bombings, Bombings
He was found dead with his legs torn off but still wearing an explosives belt, according to an unnamed Lebanese security official. An unnamed government employee speculated that he was killed by the second explosion due to his proximity to that blast. Al Mayadeen also reported about the would-be bomber and showed a video of a bearded young man with an explosives belt. Hezbollah's Bilal Farhat said: "They targeted civilians, worshippers, unarmed people, women and elderly, they only targeted innocent people ... [it was a] satanic, terrorist attack." Lebanese security forces and Hezbollah gunmen cordoned off the area.


2015 Beirut bombings, Bombings
The Health Ministry reported at least 43 deaths initially, with Health Minister Wael Abu Faour adding that 239 people were injured, but that the total casualty count was expected to rise due to some of the wounded people being in critical condition. Lebanon's International Red Cross and Red Crescent Society affiliate said that over 200 people were injured. Hospitals in the area called for people to donate blood due to an unprecedented number of casualties. Emergency services personnel asked by-standers to leave the area as they were hindering ambulances from ferrying the injured to medical institutions.


2015 Beirut bombings, Bombings, Victims
Amongst the initial casualties were two staff members of the American University of Beirut, according to the school, although no further details were announced. Three Lebanese-American residents of Dearborn, Michigan—a 49-year-old woman and a young couple—were killed, while the couple's three-year-old son was severely injured.


2015 Beirut bombings, Bombings, Victims
Hajj Hussein Yaari (Abu Murdata), a senior figure in the Hezbollah security system, was reportedly killed in the attack.


2015 Beirut bombings, Bombings, Victims
It was reported that one of the bombs exploded when Adel Termos, a resident of Beirut, tackled one of the bombers, thereby potentially saving many lives. Both Termos and the bomber were killed when the bomb detonated. On social media, Termos was hailed as a hero.


2015 Beirut bombings, Investigation
Within two days, six suspects were arrested over the bombing. They reportedly included five Syrians and a Palestinian. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanon's Hezbollah leader, said Syrian and Lebanese detainees were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the bombings.


2015 Beirut bombings, Investigation
A man was arrested who claimed he planned to blow himself up in a café in the Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood of Tripoli, simultaneously with the other bombers, one of whom he named as Abou Khaled of Palestine, who had travelled with him to Lebanon from Syria. Investigations also drew connections between these bombings and one in Arsal which killed four people on November 5.


2015 Beirut bombings, Perpetrator
ISIL had reportedly assumed responsibility for the blasts, saying two Palestinians and a Syrian had carried out the attacks. In a post from an unspecified Twitter account, the group said that they perpetrated one of the attacks, noting that its agents blew up a bike with explosives in the middle of a street. While not mentioning the third bomber, the group's claim, as translated, reportedly read in part: "Let the Shiite apostates know that we will not rest until we take revenge in the name of the Prophet." An internet statement on an unspecified site reportedly further stated the "soldiers of the Caliphate" perpetrated the attack.


2015 Beirut bombings, Perpetrator
On November 26, Al-Manar reported that a team of Syrian and Hezbollah agents had killed Abdul-Salam Hendawi, suspected of smuggling the two bombers into Lebanon from Raqqa, during an assault in Homs Governorate. It did not report when this took place.


2015 Beirut bombings, Reactions, Domestic
Acting President and Prime Minister Tammam Salam declared a day of national mourning for 13 November.


2015 Beirut bombings, Reactions, Domestic
Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said that such incidents only increase "our determination to fight" in the Syrian Civil War and that the goal of the attack "is to put pressure on Hezbollah [to withdraw from Syria], but they know very well these bombings will not benefit them at all. This will have the opposite effect."


2015 Beirut bombings, Reactions, International, Supranational bodies
Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon called on Lebanon to "not allow this despicable act to destroy the relative calm that has prevailed in the country over the past year." UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag denounced the "heinous attack," called for those responsible to be brought to justice and said the international community was standing by Lebanon.


2015 Beirut bombings, Reactions, International, States
Government officials for several states issued condemnations of the attacks and condolences to those affected. These included the Czech Republic, France, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, and the United States.


2015 Beirut bombings, Reactions, International, Others
Amnesty International issues a censure saying that the attack revealed "appalling disregard for human life."


2015 Belarusian First League
The 2015 Belarusian First League is the 25th season of 2nd level football in Belarus. It started in April and finished in November 2015.


2015 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2014 season
Two best teams of 2014 Belarusian First League (Granit Mikashevichi and Slavia Mozyr) were promoted to Belarusian Premier League. No team has relegated from Premier League directly due to its expansion from 12 to 14 clubs.


2015 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2014 season
Last season's third-placed team Vitebsk won the promotion/relegation play-offs against Dnepr Mogilev (last team of Premier League) and were also promoted to Premier League. Dnepr Mogilev replaced Vitebsk in the First League


2015 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2014 season
Volna Pinsk, who finished 16th last year, relegated to the Second League. To compensate for Premier League expansion, they were replaced by three best teams of 2014 Second League (Baranovichi, Krumkachy Minsk and Orsha).


2015 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2014 season
Before the start of the season, FC Minsk announced that their farm-club Minsk-2 will be folded. Kobrin, who finished 5th in 2014 Second League, were invited to replace Minsk-2 (after Zhlobin, who finished 4th in Second League, declined invitation).


2015 Belarusian Premier League
The 2015 Belarusian Premier League was the 25th season of top-tier football in Belarus. It began on 10 April 2015 and ended on 8 November 2015. BATE Borisov were the defending champions, having won their 11th league title last year, and secured a 12th.


2015 Belarusian Premier League, Format
Following the league expansion from 12 to 14 clubs, the league format returned to a regular double-round robin tournament with no second phase. Only one lowest-placed team was relegated and replaced by three best teams of First League, to expand the top level to 16 teams for 2016.


2015 Belarusian Premier League, Teams
Two best teams of 2014 First League (Granit Mikashevichi and Slavia Mozyr) were promoted to the league, which was expanded from 12 to 14 clubs.


2015 Belarusian Premier League, Teams
The last-placed team of 2014 Premier League (Dnepr Mogilev) were relegated after they lost relegation/promotion playoffs against First League third-placed team Vitebsk (who were promoted to replace Dnepr).


2015 Belarusian Premier League, Results
Each team will play twice against every other team for a total of 26 matches.


2015 Belarusian Premier League (women)
The 2015 Belarusian Premier League (women) was the 25th season of women's league football under the Football Federation of Belarus.


2015 Belarusian Premier League (women)
The season was played between 19 April 2015 and 10 October 2015. FC Minsk successfully defended their title winning the league for the third year running and qualifying to the 2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League.


2015 Belarusian Super Cup
The 2015 Belarusian Super Cup was held on 14 March 2015 between the 2014 Belarusian Premier League champions BATE Borisov and the 2013–14 Belarusian Cup winners Shakhtyor Soligorsk. BATE won the match 3–0 on penalties and won the trophy for the fifth time.


2015 Belarusian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 11 October 2015. Long-term president Alexander Lukashenko ran for his fifth term in office, having won every presidential election since independence in 1991. He was re-elected with 84% of the vote, according to official figures. The 'against all' option received more votes than any opposition candidate.


2015 Belarusian presidential election
As with previous elections in Belarus, the 2015 election was not democratic. In a report following the election, Miklós Haraszti, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Belarus, determined that the results were not free and fair and that "the election process was orchestrated, and the result was pre-ordained", given extensive limits on civil and political rights in Belarus and a high level of election-day fraud.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Background
Prior to the vote, six incarcerated opposition figures were pardoned by Lukashenko. The move was welcomed by the OSCE electoral observer mission with the head of the delegation, Kent Härstedt, saying: "The recent release of political prisoners and a welcoming approach to observers were positive developments. However, the hope that this gave us for broader electoral progress was largely unfulfilled."


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Background
The International Federation for Human Rights reported that it is likely that released political prisoners in Belarus still have many rights curtailed, such as inability to work for the government or run for public office, police visitations, and restriction of travel. Fewer protests occurred during this presidential election than during others, mostly due to unease over the Maidan protests in Ukraine two years prior. The government of Belarus exploited this unease by advocating stability over change, and even opposition leaders opposed protests.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Candidates
A total of eight candidates attempted to register to run in the elections by collecting the required 100,000 signatures; incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko running as an independent, Belarusian Left Party "A Just World" chairman Sergey Kalyakin, Liberal Democratic Party chairman Sergei Gaidukevich, People's referendum member Tatsiana Karatkevich, United Civic Party chairman Anatoly Lebedko, economist Viktor Tereshchenko (who ran in the 2010 elections), unemployed teacher Zhanna Romanovskaya and Belarusian Patriotic Party chairman Nikolai Ulakhovich.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Candidates
Although five candidates (Lukashenko, Ulakhovich, Gaidukevich, Tereshchenko and Karatkevich) obtained over 100,000 signatures, the vast majority of Tereshchenko's signatures were declared invalid, resulting in only four candidates (marked in bold) being able to contest the elections. Of the four candidates, only one genuine opposition candidate was permitted to run; the others were considered pro-government candidates.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Candidates, Party system
Unlike in other nations, Belarusian political parties do not hold very significant influence in parliament or in elections. For instance, Lukashenko himself runs as an independent instead of representing a political party. Opposition parties are allowed to exist, but only in a nominal sense as they hold virtually no power in government. Tatsiana Karatkevich represented the "People's Referendum" in the 2015 election, which is an initiative created by a coalition of various opposition leaders instead of a political party.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign
The government allowed an unauthorized opposition rally in the capital, Minsk, to go ahead on the eve of the election without police intervention but Lukashenko warned that post-election protests would not be tolerated. On the same day, the winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature (announced just two days prior), Svetlana Alexievich, warned Europe to beware of Lukashenko's government as an alleged "soft dictatorship."


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign
Amid a declining economy (including devaluation of the Belarusian rouble and a reduction in exports to Russia), Lukashenko changed his election slogan from an economic one ("For a prosperous and strong Belarus" was used in the 2010 campaign) to an independent-focused one ("For the Future of Independent Belarus").


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Conduct
As with previous elections in Belarus, the 2015 election took place in an authoritarian environment. Like previous elections in post-Soviet Belarus, the 2015 election was marked by an increase in the degree of election fraud and unfairness that inflated Lukashenko's margin of victory, although Lukashenko might have been able to obtain a majority even without vote-rigging.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Conduct
Miklós Haraszti, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Belarus, said that while the elections took place without violence (unlike the 2010 elections) the election did not satisfy the right of Belarusians to free and fair election: "The election process was orchestrated, and the result was pre-ordained. It could not be otherwise, given the 20 years of continuous suppression of the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association, which are the preconditions for any credible competition."


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Conduct
Haraszti also noted a high level of election-day fraud (including "undocumented handling of voter lists and ballots, voting on behalf of others, carrousel voting, ballot stuffing, voting without proper documents, and mobile voting abuses") and stated that the voter turnout and vote totals for Lukashenko were implausibly high and not credible.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Conduct
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) long-term observation mission was led by Jacques Faure and included more than 40 observers; the short-term observation mission had over 400 people. The OSCE's Kent Härstedt suggested the vote may have been undermined by "significant problems," especially during the counting of the votes: "It is clear that Belarus still has a long way to go towards fulfilling its democratic commitments."


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Conduct
Multiple days of "coerced participation of prison inmates, army conscripts, and public servants" were documented, and the Viasna human rights group documented cases of forced early voting among students of state universities and workers of state organizations. The "Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections" group also registered the overestimation of turnout (half of independent observers noted that the actual number of early voters didn't match with the official turnout) and unreasonable interference in observers' work.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Conduct
On election day, independent observers noted several violations during the elections. In Barysaw, chairman of the District Election Commission didn't announce the results before calling somewhere (presumably the higher-level electoral commission). After his call, the observer states, the number of votes for the opposition candidate Karatkevich in the final protocol decreased from 219 to 77. In Salihorsk polling station 24, the number of voters was announced to be 1,190, while the independent observer counted only 808 people. A similar incident happened in Babruysk, where the official turnout on three polling stations differed from the observers' calculations by several hundred voters in each station. The observer was not allowed to watch the counting process.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Conduct
In Slonim, an independent observer noticed two packs of filled ballots thrown into the early voting ballot box.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Results
According to the Central Election Commission, more than 36% of voters used the early voting process, higher than in previous years. Overall turnout was 87.22% – highest in Vitebsk Region at 91.08% and lowest in Minsk at 74.38%. Alexander Lukashenko won the election with 83.47% of the vote.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Reactions, Domestic
Head of the Central Election Commission, Lidia Yermoshina stated that "the election campaign was civilized, cultured and calm."


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Reactions, Domestic
Opposition leaders Uladzimir Nyaklyayew, Anatoly Lebedko and Mikola Statkevich said they would not recognize the results.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Reactions, International
Germany – Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said from Luxembourg that the lack of repression against the opposition could pave the path towards easing sanctions against the country for four months. "There have been changes in Belarus, compared to the two past elections. If Belarus stays on this path, there is a willingness, and there is unanimity on this, to change the relationships with Belarus." However, he added that though there were few surprises, Belarus was changing, especially in regards to the "liberation of political prisoners" before the vote.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Reactions, International
France – Minister for European Affairs Harlem Désir said his country sought to encourage an opening, while also warning that backsliding on human rights could result in the re-imposition of sanctions.


2015 Belarusian presidential election, Reactions, Analysis
An analyst at the BelaPAN Alexander Klaskovsky noticed that  there were no mass protests and arrests of the opposition place this time. A comment by Agence France Presse suggested the changes in this election were due to Lukashenko's shrewdness in playing Western Europe against Russia and an attempt to decouple from Russia due to western sanctions it faced.


2015 Belgian Basketball Supercup
The 2015 Belgian Basketball Supercup was the 19th edition of the annual super cup game in Belgian basketball. This year reigning champions Telenet Oostende faced off against betFirst Liège, last years Cup Finalists. The game will be held in the Sleuyter Arena, which is the first time the game is held outside Knokke.


2015 Belgian Basketball Supercup
Oostende won the game 80–67, to win its 9th Supercup.


2015 Belgian Cup Final
The 2015 Belgian Cup Final, named Cofidis Cup after the sponsor, was the 60th Belgian Cup final and took place on 22 March 2015 between Club Brugge and Anderlecht. It was the first time the two giants of Belgian football met in the final since the 1993–94 Belgian Cup. The match finished in a dramatic way as Anderlecht looked to have taken the game to overtime through a last minute equalizer by Aleksandar Mitrović, cancelling out the earlier goal by Tom De Sutter, however in added time Lior Refaelov struck goal from outside the penalty area.


2015 Belgian Cup Final, Match, Details
Assistant referees: Jimmy Cremers Yves De NeveFourth official: Styn Hutsebaut


2015 Belgian Grand Prix
The 2015 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the 2015 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 23 August 2015 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium. It was the eleventh round of the 2015 Formula One season, and the 71st Belgian Grand Prix.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes entered the event as the overall Drivers' Championship leader, 21 points ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg and 42 points ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Mercedes led the Constructors' Championship by 147 points over Ferrari, while Williams entered the event in third, a further 85 points adrift. Having won the 2014 edition, Daniel Ricciardo was the defending race winner.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton won the race for Mercedes, extending his championship lead over Rosberg, who finished second, to 28 points. Romain Grosjean and Lotus secured a podium finish for the first time since the 2013 United States Grand Prix, Grosjean's last to date, benefitting from a controversial tyre failure on Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari late in the race.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix
The race was celebrated by Scuderia Ferrari as their 900th Grand Prix participation. McLaren was handed a record 105-place grid penalty for a multitude of changes to their Honda power units.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Pirelli, Formula One's sole tyre supplier since 2011, supplied the ten teams with four compounds of tyres for the event. The two dry selections were the white-banded medium compound as the "prime" tyre, while the yellow-banded soft compound was provided as the softer "option" choice. The green-banded intermediate weather tyre and the blue-banded full wet compounds were brought to all events. As a consequence of Konstantin Tereshchenko's crash in a GP3 Series race in 2014, new asphalt was laid down on the inside of the final corner, replacing the patch of grass that was there before.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
In addition, a new kerb was added at the exit of the famous Eau Rouge corner, on the apex of turn four. The kerb was however removed on Saturday after the FIA discussed the matter with the drivers. At turn one, the La Source hairpin, the exit kerb was shortened to make it easier to rejoin the track in the event of a driver running wide.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Scuderia Ferrari identified this race as their 900th Grand Prix participation. Driving for the Scuderia was Kimi Räikkönen, the most successful active driver at Spa, who extended his contract with the team for an additional year in the week prior to the race. Mercedes introduced a new low-downforce rear wing for Spa, featuring a spoon-shaped design, similar to that of the McLaren MP4-21 in 2006. The aim was to find a balance between low-downforce for the long straights on the Spa circuit while at the same time retaining enough downforce for the more twisting second sector of the track.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Red Bull on the other hand tested two different rear wings during Friday's free practice sessions. While Daniel Ricciardo ran with a very low-downforce wing, Daniil Kvyat tested a "more Spa-specific set-up", which was ultimately used by both drivers in qualifying and the race to prevent tyre degradation. McLaren came to Spa with a new specification power unit, aiming to reach the level of Ferrari's unit with the introduced changes. However, the team's racing director Éric Boullier warned that it might take until Singapore until the gains could be visible and expected a "difficult" Belgian Grand Prix. In suit with the new power unit the team introduced a new engine cover. Further updates to the McLaren MP4-30 included an "unprecedented" tray design for the front of the floor, as well as lower sidepods and a new position for the radiator that cools the electronic recovery system.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Going into the weekend, Lewis Hamilton led the Drivers' Championship with 202 points, 21 ahead of second placed Nico Rosberg. Sebastian Vettel for Ferrari was a further 21 points behind Rosberg, having closed the gap by winning the previous round in Hungary. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes with 383 points were leading Ferrari by 147 points, while third placed Williams were a further 85 points behind.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background, Regulation changes
In an attempt to limit the influence of pit walls on their drivers during race starts, new regulations were introduced for the start procedure from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards. Drivers were now only allowed to adjust one clutch level after leaving the pit garage for the starting grid. The response from drivers was mixed, with Nico Rosberg commenting that the new start procedures would be challenging, while Fernando Alonso opined that the changes were not significant, and Daniel Ricciardo hoped the new procedure might help his team.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background, Lotus legal troubles
The Lotus team experienced legal difficulties over the Spa weekend, as a legal battle with former test driver Charles Pic, concerning the time the team had granted Pic at the wheel of their 2014 car. With the case in arbitration court, Lotus faced the threat of their cars being impounded and unable to move following the conclusion of the Grand Prix weekend. The bailiffs returned the cars to Lotus and the team was eventually able to travel to Italy, after Bernie Ecclestone, chief executive of the Formula One Group, "stepped in to ensure staff were paid", while their financial problems continued to question the team's future.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
Per the regulations for the 2015 season, three practice sessions were held, two 90-minute sessions on Friday and another one-hour session before qualifying on Saturday. In the first practice session on Friday morning, Nico Rosberg was fastest after initial trouble with his power unit, a quarter of a second ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) was third, just five hundredths of a second slower than Hamilton, with Kimi Räikkönen another tenth down in fourth.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
Fifty minutes into the session, a red flag came out when Pastor Maldonado lost traction at the rear end of his Lotus E23 Hybrid at the exit of Les Combes corner and crashed into the tyre barriers, damaging the front-right of his car. The session was stopped for ten minutes for the track marshals to repair the barriers. Speaking about his accident, Maldonado said: "It was very unlucky because I nearly saved the car. But anyway, it happened.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
This track is always very difficult when you have a moment or whatever, especially at that point where the second sector is quite narrow. But this can happen. Now we can't change that. We need to look forward." In the second Lotus, Romain Grosjean was again replaced by Jolyon Palmer, who finished practice 17th.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
Nico Rosberg, speaking about his spin in Free Practice 2


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
Another accident marred the second practice session on Friday afternoon, when a rear tyre on Nico Rosberg's Mercedes blew, causing him to spin in the run-up to Blanchimont corner. Rosberg was able to avoid hitting the tyre barriers, but the session was nevertheless red-flagged in order to clear the track of the car. Prior to this incident, Rosberg had set the fastest time of the session with 1:49.687, three-tenths of a second faster than teammate Hamilton, in second. Ricciardo was again third, a further 0.4 seconds adrift, ahead of fellow Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat, one second behind Rosberg.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
The Williams cars of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were 14th and 16th respectively, ahead of the two McLaren drivers, who were faster only than the two Manor Marussia cars. Rosberg's tyre failure was later deemed the result of an "external cut", excluding the possibility of "any structural integrity issues". Rosberg however remained worried about the reliability of the tyres for Sunday's race, saying: "The problem is that we don't really understand it. There are theories but there is no real evidence, so that's a bit worrying for sure."


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
World champion Lewis Hamilton bounced back in the third session on Saturday morning, being quickest, almost half a second faster than Rosberg. In "an uneventful session", the two Ferrari drivers were third and fourth, with Vettel leading Räikkönen. Meanwhile, the Force India drivers Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg ended the session in fifth and eighth respectively, separated by the Red Bull drivers. The only nuisance in third practice occurred when Romain Grosjean almost spun having to go around Kimi Räikkönen in turn 16, complaining to his team about a "very, very dangerous" manoeuvre.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
Qualifying consisted of three parts, 18, 15 and 12 minutes in length respectively, with five drivers eliminated from competing after each of the first two sessions. Valtteri Bottas was first and last out on track during the first part of qualifying (Q1), starting the lap that saved him from elimination in the very last moments of the session. Excluded from further participation were both Manor Marussia cars, both McLaren drivers and Sauber's Felipe Nasr. Max Verstappen succeeded in progressing into Q2 despite complaining about a loss of power on his car.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
The second part of qualifying saw Kimi Räikkönen come to a halt on track due to a loss of oil pressure. The session was briefly red-flagged to clear the track and when it resumed, both Mercedes drivers decided not to head out again, since their first times where sufficient to advance to Q3. Max Verstappen did not compete in Q2 at all due to the problems on his car, leaving him in provisional 14th (bar his penalty) and Räikkönen in 15th on the grid. The other three drivers to be eliminated were Marcus Ericsson for Sauber, Daniil Kvyat and Nico Hülkenberg. Hülkenberg's time was just three-tenths of a second slower than that of Sebastian Vettel in tenth and he became the only driver of a Mercedes-powered car not to compete for pole position.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton was the first Mercedes driver to set a timed lap in Q3, being almost half a second faster than Rosberg in Q2. While Rosberg succeeded in bettering his times as well, he nevertheless ended up 0.458 seconds behind his teammate and second on the grid. This handed Lewis Hamilton his tenth pole position in eleven races, meaning that he secured the FIA Pole Position Trophy at this early stage of the season. The next fastest car, Valtteri Bottas for Williams was 1.3 seconds off Hamilton's time of 1:47.197. Fourth fastest was Grosjean, who delivered what the BBC called a "stunningly impressive" lap. Sergio Pérez put in a surprising effort as well, finishing fifth for Force India. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel, who had won the previous race in Hungary, managed only ninth fastest after a mistake at the final chicane.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
After qualifying, Hamilton stated his performance was mainly due to improvements he made in the middle sector of the lap, saying: "Sector two has been probably in the past a bit of a weak point. I knew the lines but could never really put the corners together. Definitely on those last two laps that was a very, very strong area for me." Indeed, he gained most of his time on Rosberg in this sector, containing the majority of the circuit's corners.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
He became the first driver since Michael Schumacher – who achieved the feat in 2000–2001 – to secure six consecutive pole positions, while the last driver to score six consecutive poles in one season was Mika Häkkinen in 1999. Following their poor qualifying performance and grid penalties, Jenson Button expected a "lonely race" for McLaren, saying: "I actually enjoyed driving the car, and when you cross the finishing line and you see the time you think 'That's not bad'. But then when you see where you are, a second off the guy in front of you, it's a massive margin, it hurts."


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Penalties
McLaren, who were expected to benefit from the start changes, were set to start the race from the back of the grid. After they had already been allowed to use one additional power unit in the 2015 season, the team had used their sixth power unit for the Hungarian Grand Prix, and now equipped both cars with a seventh, heavily revised version of their power unit for Belgium on Friday. McLaren made another power unit change on Saturday, since a mid-season change in regulations meant that penalties could no longer result in in-race time penalties. The cumulative 105-place grid penalty set a new record in Formula One.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Penalties
Max Verstappen received a ten-place grid penalty after he equipped his sixth power unit on Friday. After Lotus changed the gearbox on Romain Grosjean's car on Saturday, Grosjean was handed a five-place grid penalty, moving him from fourth to ninth on the grid. For the same reason, Kimi Räikkönen received a five-place grid penalty, which only set him back two places due to penalties of other drivers.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Prior to the race start, Nico Hülkenberg returned to the pit garage after reporting a loss of power on his Force India, but he eventually made it to the grid. His problem returned during the formation lap and when his car stalled on the starting grid, the starting procedure was aborted and another formation lap commenced. Carlos Sainz Jr. experienced a similar problem during the second formation lap and was called into the pit lane. He was eventually sent out after the race started. The race distance was therefore shortened to 43 laps.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
At the start, Nico Rosberg did not get away well, falling back to fifth behind Pérez, Ricciardo and Bottas, but overtook the latter for fourth by the end of the lap. Fernando Alonso did also start well for McLaren, moving up to twelfth, while Lewis Hamilton retained his lead, pulling clear of Pérez's Force India early on. On lap two, Pastor Maldonado became the second retirement of the race when he stopped his car due to a power failure. On lap six, Daniil Kvyat took eighth place from Felipe Massa, while Romain Grosjean had quick first laps as well, overtaking the second Williams of Bottas for sixth on lap eight.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
An early pit stop by Ricciardo on lap eight forced the hand of Force India, who brought in Pérez one lap later, but Pérez still came out behind the Red Bull. Several more drivers came in over the next couple of laps, including Bottas and Grosjean, with the Williams taking back his position during the stops only to be overtaken again on lap ten. Bottas was also set for a penalty, as his team had simultaneously equipped him with two different types of tyre compounds. He would later serve a drive through penalty.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Lap eleven saw a risky overtaking manoeuvre by Max Verstappen, who went around the outside of Nasr at Blanchimont to take eleventh place. Following these first stops, the order at the front was Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Räikkönen and Ricciardo, with the first four yet to stop. Rosberg was the first to do so on lap 13, coming out slightly ahead of Pérez, who had overtaken Ricciardo a lap earlier. Pérez carried his momentum into Eau Rouge and up to turn seven, but ultimately failed to get the better of the Mercedes. Hamilton and Vettel made pit stops for new tyres on laps 14 and 15 respectively.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Over the next laps, Rosberg steadily closed on Hamilton in front without being able to catch his teammate. Lap 18 saw Romain Grosjean gain another position at Ricciardo's expense, moving into fourth. Just two laps later, a DRS aided move on Pérez handed him third place. On lap 21, Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull came to a sudden stop at the exit of the 'Bus Stop' chicane, leading to a Virtual Safety Car period, during which many drivers made pit stops for new tyres, among them Grosjean, Massa and Verstappen.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
By lap 29, Kvyat had made a pit stop for new soft tyres, being able to go fast until the end of the race, while Vettel decided to try and finish the race without pitting for new tyres a second time. Kvyat's newer tyres allowed him to overtake Bottas, Räikkönen, Massa and Pérez to eventually finish fourth. Sainz, Jr. eventually retired from the race on lap 34. Vettel's strategy however did not work out. By lap 42, less than two laps from the finish, his right rear tyre exploded while on the Kemmel straight, handing Grosjean the final podium position. Vettel ended his race in the pit lane, but was classified down in twelfth place. Unchallenged by his teammate in second, Lewis Hamilton finished the race to take his 39th Grand Prix victory.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
At the podium interviews, conducted by former Formula One driver David Coulthard, Lewis Hamilton said that he felt "fairly relaxed at the front", naming looking after the tyre wear as his only concern during the race. Nico Rosberg conceded that he "just completely messed up the start" and added that Hamilton "did a great job, so deserved to win". Romain Grosjean was delighted with his tenth career podium, speaking of "an incredible weekend" and claimed that the podium "has the feel of a race win".


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Asked about his title aspirations, Hamilton insisted that it was "definitely way too early" to speak about winning the world title. During the post-race press conference, Grosjean described the moment of Vettel's tyre failure as "a bit of a scary moment", saying that it was "very unfortunate he had that puncture".


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Following the race, Sebastian Vettel voiced harsh criticism of tyre supplier Pirelli, concerning not only his own but also Nico Rosberg's tyre failure on Friday. He was quoted saying: "I think it is a sort of thing that keeps going around and no-one mentions. It is unacceptable. If Nico tells us he did not go off the track, he didn't go off the track, why should he lie to us? It is the same with me, I didn't go off the track – it is out of the blue the tyre exploded [...]."


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
He saw the safety of the drivers at risks, asserting that "[i]f it happens 200 metres earlier, I am not standing here now." Pirelli's Motorsport Director Paul Hembery reacted to Vettel's accusations by saying: "I am not going to criticise Sebastian. It is a hot moment and I don't want to enter into a war of words over that – it is pointless for everybody. We were concerned when we saw the number of laps that were going to be done.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Nobody really suggested they were going to do a one-stop race and it was a bit of a surprise – if anything people were talking about doing three stops rather than two." Nico Rosberg however backed up his compatriot Vettel, telling the press: "The exploding tyres is poor. It shouldn't happen. That it keeps on happening in other categories as well and with me on Friday. Both of us were so lucky. If it had happened a couple of metres later or earlier, we would have one of the biggest shunts ever.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
They need to figure out something to make it safer." He also called for immediate action considering the Italian Grand Prix – the race following Spa-Francorchamps – due to its nature as the fastest race of the year. Pirelli reacted by demanding a maximum stint length for their tyres, a suggestion the company had already put in at the end of 2013. The day after the race, Pirelli announced that they had found cuts on other tyres from other teams, mainly on the rear tyres, and that they were still searching for the cause of the damages.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
However, the company reasserted their stance that while Rosberg's failure was caused by external damage, Vettel's was due to "pure wear". Vettel received additional support from Coulthard, who wrote that Vettel was "right to tackle Pirelli" over the issue of tyres, as well as Coulthard's former teammate Mika Häkkinen. Vettel once again defended the team's decision to try a one-stop race on the Tuesday after the race, saying: "Our strategy was never risky, at any point. The team is not to blame." When the tyre supplier released the findings of their own investigation into the matter, the company needed to overturn their claim that the failure was caused by wear, since the report proved that the damage to Vettel's tyre was caused by debris.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Max Verstappen received particular praise for his overtake on Felipe Nasr through Blanchimont. Former driver Allan McNish wrote: "This is the first time in my life I have seen someone go around the outside of someone at Blanchimont. That was big[.] " At the FIA Prize Giving ceremony on 4 December 2015, Verstappen received an award for Action of the Year, acknowledging his manoeuvre. Jenson Button on the other hand called McLaren's race an "embarrassment", after he had suffered from a lack of battery power throughout the race, finishing only ahead of the two Manor Marussia drivers.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Lotus disclosed that Maldonado's retirement was in part caused by "heavy contact with the kerbs", with the intensity of impact being as high as 17 g0 (170 m/s2). Technical director Nick Chester felt it was "a big shame" that Maldonado, who had been running ahead of eventual third placed Grosjean when he retired, was unable to contribute to a "strong result" for the team. Lotus later revealed that the retirement was caused by damage to the clutch control system sustained when he went off the track at Eau Rouge.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
At the same time, the team applauded Grosjean for a "faultless" drive. Additional praise for Grosjean came from motorsport journalist Mark Hughes, who felt that Grosjean was "still seriously under-rated" in Formula One. Williams launched an internal investigation into the tyre mix-up at Valtteri Bottas's first pit stop, feeling that it might have cost him a podium position.


2015 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
As a result of the race, Lewis Hamilton extended his championship lead over Rosberg to 28 points, the biggest margin it had been all season up to that point. Vettel's tyre failure cost him points as he was now 67 points off the lead in the standings. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes extended their lead over Ferrari to 184 points, while Lotus moved into fifth place at the expense of Force India.


2015 Belgian Super Cup
The 2015 Belgian Super Cup was a football match that was played on 16 July 2015, between Gent, the winners of the 2014–15 Belgian Pro League and 2014–15 Belgian Cup winners Club Brugge. Gent won 1–0, winning the Super Cup for the first time.


2015 Belgium Tour
The 2015 Lotto-Belisol Belgium Tour  is the third edition of the Lotto-Belisol Belgium Tour, previous called Lotto-Decca Tour, a women's cycle stage race in Belgium. The tour has an UCI rating of 2.2.


2015 Belgium Tour, Stages, Stage 3
Floortje Mackaij (Liv-Plantur) won the third stage in and around Haaltert. She escapes from a front group of nine riders and rode solo to the finish. Emma Johansson from Sweden won behind Mackaij the sprint of the group ahead of the Danish Amalie Dideriksen and is the new leader in the general classification.


2015 Belizean general election
General elections were held in Belize on 4 November 2015 to elect members of the House of Representatives. On 28 September 2015 Prime Minister Dean Barrow announced that he had advised the Governor-General to dissolve the National Assembly and to fix Wednesday 4 November 2015 as the date for the next general elections.


2015 Belizean general election
Barrow's United Democratic Party increased its majority from 17 seats to 19 seats. While the People's United Party won 12 seats.


2015 Belizean general election, Date
The prior general election was held on 7 March 2012, and the previous National Assembly opened on 21 March 2012. According to Section 84 of the Constitution of Belize, the National Assembly must be dissolved "five years from the date when the two Houses of the former National Assembly first met" unless dissolved sooner by the Governor-General of Belize upon the advice of the prime minister. A general election must be called within three months of a dissolution, which meant the latest possible date for the next Belizean general election was 21 June 2017.


2015 Belizean general election, Date
In March 2015 UDP leader and Prime Minister Dean Barrow ruled out the possibility of a snap election later in 2015 despite his party's recent interim electoral successes.


2015 Belizean general election, Date
In early September 2015 Barrow indicated the election would be called in early 2016, however no firm date had been set at the time.


2015 Belizean general election, Date
The poll is the second consecutive snap election in Belize held closer to four years rather than five. Both Barrow and the opposition People's United Party support lowering the maximum term of the National Assembly to four years.


2015 Belizean general election, Background
The ruling UDP led by Barrow attempted to win a third consecutive election for the first time in its history. The UDP won the 2012 election with a considerably smaller majority than it enjoyed after the 2008 election. However, the PUP had not won a major election since 2003.


2015 Belizean general election, Background
Going into the 2015 election, the UDP held eight of the 10 constituencies in Belize City, by far the country's largest city. Continued dominance in Belize City was seen as key to future UDP success. Meanwhile, the opposition People's United Party sought to maintain its edge in the rural districts. Gains in the Toledo, Stann Creek and Orange Walk Districts more than made up for the PUP's net loss in Belize City in 2012.


2015 Belizean general election, Background
Based on a previously scheduled purge of electoral lists by the Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission, Opposition Leader Francis Fonseca has requested international observation of the election from the Caribbean Community, the Organization of American States or the Commonwealth of Nations.


2015 Belizean general election, Background, Constituency boundaries
Constituency boundaries were unchanged from 2012 as Belize does not have a regular reapportionment schedule. Belizean electoral divisions were last redrawn in 2005. In October 2015 the opposition Vision Inspired by the People party filed suit seeking to nullify the election results based on this lack of a recent reapportionment.


2015 Belizean general election, Background, Party leadership
Barrow, who has led the UDP since 1998, led the party for a fourth consecutive election. He stated this election would be his last as party leader.


2015 Belizean general election, Background, Party leadership
The PUP was led by Leader of the Opposition Francis Fonseca, despite Fonseca facing a leadership challenge from several PUP area representatives earlier in 2015. The election was Fonseca's second as party leader.


2015 Belizean general election, Background, Minor parties
Third parties traditionally perform poorly in Belize, with no third party running independently finishing with more than one percent of the vote nationwide since 1984. Belize's active minor parties at the time of the 2012 election, Vision Inspired by the People and the People's National Party, ran a total of nine candidates between them in 2012 but were not competitive in any seat.


2015 Belizean general election, Background, Minor parties
In September 2015, shortly after the election was called, the PNP merged with members of the VIP and other opposition groups to form the Belize Progressive Party (BPP). The BPP ran in 25 out of 31 constituencies. Another minor party, the Belize Green Independent Party, ran a single candidate in Toledo East, but garnered only 5 votes.


2015 Belizean general election, Background, Interim elections, January 2015 Cayo North by-election
The Cayo North constituency held a by-election on 5 January 2015 to elect a successor to PUP Area Rep. Joseph Mahmud, who unexpectedly resigned in November 2014. Mahmud had previously indicated he was standing down.


2015 Belizean general election, Background, Interim elections, January 2015 Cayo North by-election
The by-election was only the third in Belize since independence, and the first since a by-election in Cayo South in October 2003. Candidate nominations closed on 15 December 2014 with PUP nominee Richard Harrison and UDP nominee Omar Figueroa qualifying. No third party candidates appeared on the ballot. Figueroa won the by-election by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, increasing the UDP's overall majority in the Belize House.


2015 Belizean general election, Background, Interim elections, March 2015 municipal elections
Municipal elections held on 4 March 2015 resulted in a decisive UDP victory, with the governing party easily re-electing Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley and retaining control of the Belize City Council. The UDP also defeated PUP-controlled local governments in Dangriga and Punta Gorda. The PUP prevailed in only one municipality nationwide, Orange Walk Town.


2015 Belizean general election, Background, Interim elections, July 2015 Dangriga by-election
On 8 June 2015 PUP Area Rep. Ivan Ramos resigned after controversially failing to retain his standard bearer status in Dangriga. A by-election was held on 8 July. Nominations were formally made on 22 June. Former Dangriga Mayor Frank "Papa" Mena was the UDP nominee, while retired educator Anthony Sabal stood as the PUP candidate after initial reports the PUP might not contest the by-election at all. Llewellyn Lucas from the Belize Green Independent Party was also nominated, becoming that party's first official candidate in any election since it was founded in 2012. A fourth candidate endorsed by both of Belize's other active minor parties, the PNP and VIP, was disqualified due to holding dual citizenship. Belizean candidates for public office may not hold citizenship in any other country.


2015 Belizean general election, Background, Interim elections, July 2015 Dangriga by-election
The by-election was won by Mena with 57.89 percent of the vote, giving the UDP its third consecutive by-election win dating to 2003.