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Radio Canada International

Radio Canada International (RCI) is the international broadcasting service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Prior to 1970, RCI was known as the CBC International Service ("CBC IS"). The broadcasting service was also previously referred to as the Voice of Canada, broadcasting on shortwave from powerful transmitters in Sackville, New Brunswick. "In its heyday", said Radio World magazine, "Radio Canada International was one of the world's most listened-to international shortwave broadcasters". However, as the result of an 80 percent budget cut, shortwave services were terminated in June 2012, and RCI became accessible exclusively via the Internet. It also reduced its services to five languages (in contrast with the 14 languages it used in 1990) and ended production of its own news service.

On December 3, 2020, RCI announced that its staff was being reduced from 20 to 9 (in contrast to 200 employees in 1990) and that its English and French language sections would close and be replaced by curated content from the domestic CBC and Radio-Canada services. RCI would also begin offering online services in Punjabi and Tagalog. The changes went into effect on May 19, 2021.

The early years (1942–1953)
The idea for creating an international radio voice for Canada was first proposed as far back as the 1930s. Several studies commissioned by the CBC Board of Governors in the late 1930s had come to the conclusion that Canada needed a radio service to broadcast a Canadian point of view to the world.

By the early 1940s, this need was also recognized by a series of Parliamentary Broadcasting Committees. Finally, in 1942, Prime Minister William Lyon MacKenzie King announced that Canada would begin a shortwave radio service that would keep members of the Canadian Armed Forces in touch with news and entertainment from home. The CBC International Service became a reality with the signing of an Order-in-Council on September 18, 1942. By the end of 1944, both the production facilities and the transmitting plant were ready for test broadcasts. These tests, which began on December 25, 1944, were broadcast to Canadian troops in Europe in both English and French. Psychological warfare in German to Europe began in December 1944 as well. The German section was staffed by refugees such as Helmut Blume and Eric Koch and would go on to broadcast "denazification" programming as well as broadcasts aimed at East Germany during the Cold War.

In early 1945, it was announced that the CBC International Service was ready and would go on the air on February 25 using the name the "Voice of Canada".

By 1946, the CBC International Service had expanded to include regular transmissions in Czech and Dutch. Beginning in July, special once-a-week programs were broadcast to Scandinavia in Swedish and Danish and later in Norwegian, as well.

In November 1946, daily broadcasts started to the Caribbean in English. There were also Sunday night programs broadcast to Cuba, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador in Spanish and to Brazil in Portuguese.

Daily Spanish and Portuguese transmissions began on July 6, 1947. At around the same time as the expansion into the Caribbean and Latin America, the CBC International Service became involved with the newly formed United Nations. United Nations broadcasts through the CBC International Service continued until November 29, 1952, when they were transferred to larger shortwave facilities run by the Voice of America.

Early Cold War broadcasting (1950–1967)
Throughout its early years, the CBC International Service concentrated on broadcasting to Western Europe in the aftermath of World War II.

By the early 1950s several international shortwave stations began to beam programs into the Soviet bloc countries in an effort to circumvent heavy censorship of world news to their citizens.

 * The CBC International Service's Russian-language transmissions were jammed during the 1950s and into the mid 1960s, stopping about 1967.
 * On March 4, 1961, the Danish, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, and Swedish services were all discontinued.
 * In addition, the German service was reoriented from its previous emphasis on West Germany to focus on East Germany.

New English and French programs directed to Africa were added giving the International Service direct coverage to every continent except Asia.

The Cold War era (1967–1991)
The CBC International Service played a major role in covering Canada's Centennial celebrations in 1967. Ceremonies from coast to coast were carried over short-wave to the world on July 1, 1967 as Canada marked its 100th birthday.

In July 1970, the service was renamed Radio Canada International.

The change took place because it was felt that RCI should have its own identity, separate from the CBC domestic network, even though RCI had just been fully integrated into the CBC system.

On November 7, 1971, RCI inaugurated its new 250 kW transmitters which were five times more powerful than the existing units. This significantly improved RCI's signal quality in Europe and Africa.

Canada recognized the People's Republic of China in 1971. Before beginning its Mandarin Chinese service, RCI produced a 40-week series called Everyday English which was broadcast in 1988 and early 1989 over local stations in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. With an estimated audience of almost 20 million, the course was a huge success.

Just 10 months after beginning the Chinese broadcasts, RCI started a series of Arabic broadcasts to the Middle East. This coincided with the United Nations effort in the Persian Gulf to support the Gulf War, of which Canada was a participant.

RCI under threat (1991–2006)
In early 1991, facing further budget deficits, the Government of Canada ordered an across-the-board budget cut. Every ministry and Crown corporation, including the CBC, was required to participate. After evaluating its own budget, the CBC decided it could no longer pay for Radio Canada International without extra funding from the federal government. To save the service, RCI Program Director Allan Familiant announced a major restructuring that took effect on March 25, 1991. As a result, six of the thirteen languages included in the programming (Czech, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Polish, and Portuguese) were discontinued. There was also a short-wave program that went out to sub-Saharan Africa that was discontinued in 2000.

In December 1995, CBC announced that it could no longer fund RCI and that the service would cease on March 31, 1996. However, after a global response to the proposed shutdown, it was announced in March 1996 that the service would continue with half of RCI's budget coming from CBC and the other half from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

While the English and French services survived, all RCI-produced programming (except for news broadcasts) were eliminated and replaced with CBC Domestic network programs. Since then, some RCI-produced programs in English and French have been restored. RCI then began a two audio stream, which became a three audio stream programming delivery structure after 2000.

Initial programming delivery structure (2000–2004)
 * RCI-1 English / French
 * RCI-2 French / Multilingual

Later programming delivery structure (2004–2006)
 * RCI-1 English
 * RCI-2 French
 * RCI-3 Multilingual

These audio streams were available from RCI's website as well as across Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa, utilizing the Hotbird-6 satellite. In late 2006 the online streams were eliminated in favour of a single online multilingual stream.

On December 1, 2005, Radio Canada International began broadcasting its program across North America as RCIplus, utilizing the Sirius satellite radio system. This was part of a CBC/Radio-Canada selection of satellite channels which included national versions of domestic radio stations from CBC Radio and Première Chaîne.

RCI Viva, the Internet Era (2006–2012)
Following an internal review in the summer of 2006, Radio Canada International announced a restructuring of its programming output. Its homepage press release read: "Radio Canada International is proud to announce that it will launch its new English programming on Monday, October 30th. In the interim, our current shows will be replaced by two programs, from October the 2nd to the 29th." On October 30, 2006 Radio Canada International relaunched its English and French programming with a new focus on information for new immigrants to Canada as well as continuing to broadcast to the world, moving away from news and current affairs. It also increased its broadcast hours to 12 hours a week, which could be heard via satellite and online, although its shortwave hours were restricted and remained unchanged.

A new Internet service called RCI Viva acted as an online portal for new Canadian immigrants. RCI Viva was an on-demand listening portal as well as an online stream, whereas listeners in North America could listen via satellite subscription radio from Sirius Canada entitled RCI plus. Both RCI Viva and RCI plus used a similar multilingual schedule.

Listeners in Europe were still able to listen to RCI's three channels in English, French and multilingual. An interim program, on the English-language service during October called Canada Today in Transition was broadcast as a single program across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, replacing the two regular editions for Europe and Africa. It was hosted by ex-Canada Today for Africa presenter Carmel Kilkenny. The new two-hour English-language flagship program is called The Link and is hosted by Marc Montgomery, replacing RCI's previous weekday programs Canada Today, Media Zone, Sci-Tech File, and Business Sense. Its French-language counterpart is called Tam-Tam Canada and is presented by Raymond Desmarteau, which replaced Le Canada en direct, Le sens des affaires and its previous current-affairs based shows. Programs in Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Ukrainian were relatively unchanged. The Link was also repeated on CBC Radio One, as part of the CBC Radio Overnight lineup.

In November 2006, Radio Sweden's medium-wave broadcast from Sölvesborg ceased regular transmissions as a result of a modification in its shortwave time-share agreement which had Radio Sweden to broadcast to North America via RCI's transmitters in Sackville and RCI to Europe via Radio Sweden until Sackville's closure in 2012.

Budget cuts and the end of shortwave broadcasting (2012)
On April 4, 2012, an approximate 80 percent budget cut to the International service from $12.3 million a year to $2.3 million a year was announced by RCI Director Hélène Parent. In the 2012 federal budget, a 10 percent funding reduction was announced for the domestic broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada. The Crown corporation subsequently translated this to an 80 percent reduction to the International service under its financial and managerial control.

These changes effectively ended broadcasting by RCI via shortwave and satellite. RCI News service (as a separate news service from the CBC/Radio-Canada derived news) ended, and the Brazilian and Russian sections closed.

All shortwave transmissions (including those from the Sackville Relay Station in Sackville, New Brunswick), satellite, and all broadcast programming ended on June 26, 2012. In addition:

 * All contractual and temporary staff, along with fully two-thirds of permanent staff, lost their jobs.
 * China Radio International and other international broadcasters which leased transmitter time from RCI had their contracts terminated
 * The Sackville Relay Station's transmitter complex in Sackville, New Brunswick was dismantled in winter/spring 2014 and CBC/Radio-Canada. The property has since been sold.
 * As of 2014, RCI consisted of a skeleton staff based in Toronto and Montreal for producing podcasts and limited webpage content in five languages (Spanish, Arabic, French, English, and Mandarin).

RCI today
Until 2020, Radio Canada International maintained a website, a mobile app, and a cybermagazine, in English, French, Mandarin, and Arabic that was updated with news items and features written by RCI staff. The service produced podcasts in those languages, both general interest podcasts featuring news, interviews, and reports on Canada, and limited series thematic podcasts on various topics related to Canada or Canadian activity internationally. As of 2020, the flagship half-hour weekly podcasts were The Link (English), Tam-Tam Canada (French), Canadá en las Américas Café (Spanish), Voice of Canada (Mandarin), and Without Limits (Arabic).

On December 3, 2020, RCI announced that its staff was being reduced from 20 to 9 - consisting of "five journalists assigned to translate and adapt CBC and Radio-Canada articles, three field reporters, and one chief editor" and that its English and French language sections would close and be replaced by curated content from the domestic CBC and Radio-Canada services, and the Arabic, Spanish, and Chinese sections would also be cut in size. However, RCI would also begin offering online services in two new languages: Punjabi and Tagalog.

RCI's old website was closed and instead, RCI content was incorporated into an RCI portal on the CBC website which features curated articles from the CBC and Radio Canada websites in English and French and articles from CBC and Radio-Canada translated into five foreign languages as well as reports from RCI's field reporters. 10-minute weekly podcasts of Canadian news are also posted in those five languages rounding up the top Canadian stories for foreign audiences as well as reports from the field in Chinese, Arabic and Punjabi. RCI's five mobile apps were deleted and folded into the CBC News and Radio-Canada Info mobile apps.

According to RCI's announcement: "RCI’s operations will focus on three main areas: translating and adapting a curated selection of articles from CBCNews.ca and Radio-Canada.ca sites; producing a new weekly podcast in each RCI language; and producing reports from the field in Chinese, Arabic and Punjabi."

As of 2024, RCI was producing weekly 10-minute podcasts in Mandarin, Arabic, Punjabi, Tagalog, and Spanish. Its web portal offered text in those languages as well as curated English and French material from CBC and Radio Canada.

Reaction to 2021 changes
Tony Burman, a former editor-in-chief of CBC News, criticised the changes saying they were "flipping RCI’s historic mission on its head" by refocussing RCI on immigrants within Canada rather than on producing content for international audiences. In February 2021, an open letter was sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed by 32 prominent Canadians including former prime minister and foreign minister Joe Clark, former foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy, former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations Stephen Lewis, actor Donald Sutherland, author Naomi Klein, former CBC Radio managing editor Jeffrey Dvorkin, and others, calling on CBC to rebuild the international service stating that "In an interconnected world in search of truth, facts and honest journalism, countries like Canada cannot abdicate their role on the world stage.”

History of RCI's foreign-language services
History of RCI Language Broadcasting Services

Interval signal
RCI's interval signal was the first four notes of O Canada played on a piano, followed by "Radio Canada International" pronounced in English, and then French.
 * Prior to the late 1980s, there were two interval signals used. One was the aforementioned piano signal and the other was the same four notes of O Canada played on an auto harp.
 * This second (now decommissioned) tuning signal was also known as a "slewing signal". This slewing signal was used whenever RCI's transmitter beams had to be reversed (say from broadcasting to Europe to the western United States) quickly.
 * The slewing signal was dropped when computer control was added to RCI's transmitter plant in the mid-to-late 1980s.
 * From the late 1970s to the early 2000s a jazz version of the French-Canadian folk song "Vive la Canadienne" (arranged by Lee Gagnon and published on LP in 1976) was used as an additional signature tune.

Studios
The main studios for RCI have been in Montreal since RCI was created in 1943–44.

RCI as a corporate entity (separate from its broadcasting operations) has also been based in Montreal since its inception in the 1940s, with its studios and offices located initially in a former brothel, moving to the converted Ford Hotel a few years later, and then to rented office tower space. In 1973, RCI moved to its current home, Maison Radio-Canada.

Budget
Figures are Canadian dollars (CAD). RCI's Gross Cost per Canadian resident (per year) was: CAD0.38 (2003, 2004).
 * 2003: 14.2 million / year
 * 2004: 14.4 million
 * 2011: 12.3 million
 * 2013: 2.3 million

Hours of programming produced (per week)
Note: there are 168 hours in a week (24 hours × 7 days).

RCI's Programming Production (historical)
 * 1950s: 85 (WWII recovery phase for broadcaster)
 * 1960s: 80 (Language services to Western Europe cut, Russian & Ukrainian launched)
 * 1970s: 98 (Cold War détentes)
 * 1980s: 134 (late Cold War)

In the 1990s RCI's programming output peaked
 * 1990: 195
 * 1996: 175

Sackville relay station
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, RCI's parent, owned and operated the Sackville transmitter site (CKCX). The site was on the Tantramar Marshes, several kilometres east of Sackville, New Brunswick. RCI leased or bartered its spare transmission capacity with other international broadcasters. Sackville was used by Radio Japan, China Radio International, the Voice of Vietnam, the BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle and Radio Korea as part of a transmitter-time exchange agreement. Canada's only high-power shortwave relay station, Sackville also broadcast CBC North to northern Quebec and Nunavut.

The CBC-SRC network runs three 1 kW relays of domestic radio, one of which originated from Sackville. Sackville's northern-hemisphere transmission-targeting capabilities were similar to those of the Wertachtal relay station in Bavaria. Its site layout was similar to Wertachtal's, with a few differences. Wertachtal has three arms of HRS type antennas spaced at about 120 degrees, allowing for near-360-degree global coverage.

The Sackville site was built in 1938 for local CBC broadcasting over CBA. Five years later, two RCA shortwave transmitters were installed. In 1970, all CBC operations moved to Moncton, New Brunswick for the installation of new Collins transmitters. During the mid-1980s, the RCA transmitters were replaced by three Harris transmitters.

With the end of Radio Canada International's shortwave service in June 2012, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation tried to sell the Sackville transmitter complex to another international broadcaster or a wind-farm company. According to CBC transmission director Martin Marcotte, "[The Sackville complex] will be fairly costly to dismantle and as a last resort we would dismantle the facility, return it to bare land as it was when we first acquired that site." On October 30, the CRTC granted a CBC request to revoke CKCX's broadcast license effective November 1. When no purchase offers were received for the complex, its antennas and towers were dismantled in 2014. In 2017, the 90 ha property was sold to a non-profit consortium of New Brunswick Mi'kmaq bands known as Mi'gmawe'l Tplu'taqnn. The intended use of the property was not disclosed at the time of purchase. As of 2019, the Mi'gmawe'l Tplu'taqnn band plans to add the land to the Fort Folly First Nation Reserve and is still considering potential re-development options.

Technology
The Sackville facility was computerized in a main control room. Frequencies, antennas and input feeds were switched in accordance with internationally agreed-on schedules which were renegotiated twice per year. At the time shortwave broadcasting ceased in 2012, there were nine transmitters in operation: three 100 kW, three 250 kW and three 300 kW. Although the site was capable of using 500 kW transmitters, the end of the Cold War and improved shortwave-frequency coordination made an upgrade to 500 kW unnecessary.

New Brown, Boveri & Cie digital transmitters used phase-shift keying (PSK) and had 250 kW output. Newer Thales 300 kW transmitters could use amplitude and phase-shift keying (APSK), the design successor partially based on PSK modulation).

All modern Sackville shortwave transmitters employed dynamic carrier control (DCC), automatically reducing the carrier wave in the presence of low-level (or no) audio. With no audio (silence) the carrier power was reduced by 50 percent; a 250 kW transmitter put out a carrier of 125 kW during audio pauses, saving power.

title: Radio Canada International


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Julian Carroll

Julian Morton Carroll (April 16, 1931 – December 10, 2023) was an American lawyer and politician from the state of Kentucky. A Democrat, he served as the 54th governor of Kentucky from 1974 to 1979, succeeding Wendell H. Ford, who resigned to accept a seat in the U.S. Senate. He was most recently a member of the Kentucky Senate, representing Anderson, Franklin, Woodford, Gallatin, and Owen counties. He was the first Kentucky governor from the state's far-western Jackson Purchase region. Thelma Stovall, who served as lieutenant governor with him, was the first woman to be elected lieutenant governor of Kentucky.

After graduating from the University of Kentucky and spending three years as an Air Force lawyer, Carroll returned to McCracken County, Kentucky, where he gained acclaim for leading a campaign to allow the Tennessee Valley Authority to provide low-cost electricity to the county. He was elected to the first of five terms in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1962 and served as speaker of that body from 1968 to 1970. He ran for lieutenant governor in 1971 on an informal ticket with former governor Bert T. Combs. Combs lost in the Democratic primary to Wendell Ford, but Carroll defeated his primary opponents and went on to win the general election. He was elevated to the governorship in December 1974, after Ford unseated moderate Republican U.S. Senator Marlow Cook. Carroll won a term as governor in his own right in 1975.

As governor, Carroll increased funding for public education and promoted the use of coal as a means of alleviating the 1973 energy crisis. He also oversaw a major reorganization of the state's judicial system following voters' approval of a constitutional amendment in 1975. Many natural and man-made disasters occurred during his term in office, including the Great Blizzard of 1978 and the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, leading to better safety practices and stricter law enforcement in the state. When Carroll left office, both he and his predecessor were under the cloud of an investigation for an alleged insurance kickback scheme, but Carroll was not convicted of any wrongdoing. In 2004, he was elected to the Kentucky Senate. Re-elected in 2008 and 2012, he won a fourth term without opposition in 2016. He announced shortly after his 88th birthday that he would not run for re-election in 2020.

Early life
Julian Carroll was born in West Paducah in McCracken County, Kentucky. He was the third of eleven children born to Elvie B. "Buster" and Eva (Heady) Carroll. His father was a tenant farmer, but shortly after the Ohio River flood of 1937, the family moved to Heath in McCracken County, where Buster Carroll sold tractor implements and in 1940 opened an automobile repair shop. Through his early teenage years, Carroll lived with his grandparents to help care for an ailing grandfather.

In 1949, Carroll was selected to represent Heath High School at Kentucky Boys State, a week-long civic affairs summer camp for high school seniors-to-be. Participants in the camp create a miniature state government based on their state's actual government. At the camp, Carroll was elected governor of the miniature government. The following year, he graduated as salutatorian and student body president of Heath High School.

Carroll began dating Charlann Harting near the end of 1950. In mid-1951, they parted ways to attend college – Harting, whose family was better off financially, at the University of Kentucky and Carroll at nearby Paducah Junior College. After their first year, Carroll and Harting decided to get married. The ceremony took place on July 22, 1951, and the couple eventually had four children – Kenneth, Patrice, Bradley, and Ellyn. Ellyn, born June 27, 1975, was the first child born to a Kentucky First Family while they were residing in the Governor's Mansion.

Carroll earned an Associate in Arts degree from Paducah Junior College in 1952. That summer, the family moved to Lexington where Carroll matriculated to the University of Kentucky. He funded his further education working for the Fayette County Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Office. In 1954, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, and in 1956, he earned a Bachelor of Laws degree.

While in college, Carroll had received training through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. By graduation, he had risen to the rank of Commandant of Cadets, the highest rank of any student at the university. After graduation, he enlisted in the Air Force and was stationed at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas. For three years, he served as an Air Force attorney, then returned to Paducah and joined the law firm of Reed, Scent, Reed, and Walton. He was active in civic affairs, including membership in the Jaycees and serving as charter president of the Paducah Optimists Club in 1962. He was a frequent lay speaker in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and from 1966 to 1967, served as moderator for the Kentucky Synod.

In January 1960, a group of local businessmen approached Carroll about leading a campaign to allow the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to provide electricity to McCracken County. It was proposed that the TVA could provide electricity at a much lower cost, but voters would first have to hold a public referendum on buying out Kentucky Utilities, the private power provider in the area. Carroll agreed to lead the campaign, and nine months later, voters approved the buyout by a three-to-one margin.

State legislature
The TVA campaign had put Carroll squarely in the public eye in McCracken County, and in 1962, he was elected to the first of five consecutive terms representing the county in the Kentucky House of Representatives. He was chosen Speaker of the House from 1968 through 1970. In the 100-member House of Representatives, it was not uncommon for lobbyists to roam the floor freely, for members to bring their lunches to their desks, or for them to bring their friends and family members onto the floor during debate. Determined to bring a higher degree of decorum to the chamber's proceedings, Carroll opened the 1968 legislative session with a single, powerful whack of his gavel. The gavel shattered, stunning the legislators. Carroll subsequently barred outsiders from the floor during debate and forbade eating in the chamber. Carroll shattered three more gavels during the legislative session – he was finally given a sturdier one made of solid oak and Formica – but he brought order to the chamber's proceedings. At the end of the session, a member of the opposing party declared from the floor, "The decorum of this House has improved 100 percent... I must compliment the present Speaker of this House for ... eliminating the abominable practices. Today every member has a right to speak ... without fear of interruption and catcalls or being shouted down." The legislator's compliment was followed by a standing ovation for Carroll.

Lieutenant governor

Carroll had considered running for the U.S. Senate in 1968, but dropped out of the race after just two weeks when he discovered that it would take well over $100,000 to run a competitive primary campaign. In 1971, former governor Bert T. Combs sought a second term as governor and chose Carroll as his informal running mate. (The governor and lieutenant governor were elected separately at the time.) Combs, an Eastern Kentucky native, sought geographic balance for the ticket by selecting Carroll, from the far-west Jackson Purchase. Combs said he would provide the needed financing, and Carroll agreed to enter the race.

Seven other Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor entered the race, the most formidable being sitting attorney general John B. Breckinridge. While Combs lost to sitting Lieutenant Governor Wendell Ford in the gubernatorial primary, Carroll won the separate primary for lieutenant governor, partly on the strength of the Eastern Kentucky votes he gained from his association with Combs. Carroll went on to defeat Republican Jim Host in the general election for lieutenant governor. As lieutenant governor, Carroll chaired the Legislative Research Commission and the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors.

Governor of Kentucky
Governor Ford's allies encouraged Carroll to run for the U.S. Senate in 1974, but Carroll had already set his sights on the governorship. Instead, Ford ran for and won the Senate seat, and Carroll succeeded him as governor. In 1975, he sought a full term in office and won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in a four-way primary against Jefferson County Judge Todd Hollenbach, former state Auditor Mary Louise Foust, and Robert McCreary Johnson.

In the general election, Carroll faced Republican Robert E. Gable, a coal company owner. The main issue of the campaign was the imposition of desegregation busing on the city of Louisville. Both candidates opposed the busing, but Gable did so more vehemently and criticized the sitting governor for not "doing something about it". In a televised debate with Carroll, Gable insisted on using what he called a "truth bell". Gable rang the bell every time that he perceived that Carroll was not telling the truth. Eventually, the moderator of the debate, newspaper publisher Al Smith, ordered Gable to put the bell away, and Gable's credibility suffered in the eyes of voters. Carroll won the general election by a vote of 470,159 (63%) to 277,998 (37%), representing a record margin of victory in the Kentucky governor's race. He carried every congressional district, as well as Jefferson County, where a Democrat had not won a race in 20 years. His separately selected running mate, Thelma Stovall, became the first woman elected lieutenant governor of Kentucky.

With considerable experience in the General Assembly – first as speaker of the House, and later presiding over the Senate as lieutenant governor – Carroll exercised a great deal of control over the proceedings of the legislature. One observer quipped "A cockroach couldn't crawl across the Senate floor without an OK from the governor stamped on his back." His reaction to criticism was often severe, prompting his political enemies to derisively refer to him as "Emperor Julian." During the final year of Carroll's term, Lt. Gov. Stovall, who was left as acting governor when Carroll had left the state on business, called a special session of the legislature to enact a tax cut that Carroll opposed but later endorsed. The General Assembly passed the tax cut and began asserting its independence, especially in the Senate, which especially resented Carroll's tight control of previous sessions.

Carroll was charged with implementing an amendment to the state constitution approved by voters in 1975 to drastically reorganize the state's judicial system. The Kentucky Court of Appeals, the state's court of last resort, was renamed the Kentucky Supreme Court, and a new Court of Appeals was created and interposed between the Supreme Court and the state's circuit and district courts. The position of county judge was made a purely administrative position, and the office was renamed county judge/executive. Historian Lowell H. Harrison opined that the amendment made Kentucky's legal system "a model for the nation." Carroll also pushed through legislation eliminating the private bail-bond system.

Improvements in public schools were the hallmark of Carroll's term. Using money from a coal severance tax enacted by Ford's administration and increased revenue from an improving economy, Carroll increased teacher salaries and eliminated fees for required classes. He strengthened the Minimum Foundation Program and provided free textbooks. A School Building Authority was also created to help poor school districts construct new buildings. Vocational and special education were expanded, and a program for gifted and talented students was piloted. Consequently, Kentucky improved in most national educational benchmarks, including moving from 46th to 38th nationally in teacher salaries.

Higher education did not fare as well under Carroll. He cut the proposed budget for the state's Council on Higher Education by 40 percent. Because of the considerable political clout of the Golden Triangle (Lexington, Louisville, and Covington), the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Northern Kentucky University were spared the more severe budget cuts imposed on the state's regional universities.

As governor of what was the leading coal-producing state in the nation, Carroll advocated the use of coal to alleviate the 1973 energy crisis. He was called to testify before several congressional committees and served as an energy adviser to President Jimmy Carter. At the state level, he created a department of energy and constructed "resource recovery roads" in the state's coalfield regions. Among Carroll's other accomplishments were the initiation of a grant program to support the arts and the expansion of the state park system. He was one of many who opposed the damming of the Red River, which would have flooded Red River Gorge. Carroll was a supporter of a lemon law (that sought to provide a remedy for purchasers of cars that failed to meet quality standards) that was defeated in the 1976 legislative session.

Carroll served as chairman of the National Governors Association in 1978. He chaired the association's Natural Resources and Environmental Management Committee. He also served as the state's co-chairman of the Appalachian Regional Commission. He received honorary degrees from the University of Kentucky, Morehead State University, Murray State University, and Eastern Kentucky University in Kentucky, and from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee. He was named to the University of Kentucky Alumni Association's Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 1975.

Carroll's tenure was plagued by disasters, both natural and man-made. Record flooding struck in the eastern part of the state in April 1977, and in December 1978, flooding the worst since 1937 occurred in the state capital of Frankfort. In the former case, he declared ten eastern Kentucky counties as disaster areas. Extreme cold gripped the entire state in 1977 and 1978, including the Great Blizzard of 1978. Two mine explosions in Letcher County killed 26 people, and the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire claimed 165 lives. Many of these disasters led to stricter enforcement of safety laws. Carroll formed the Department of Housing, Buildings, and Construction and strengthened the state fire marshal's office.

In September 1978, at a tribute ceremony for Muhammad Ali held at Fairgrounds Stadium in Louisville, Carroll proclaimed 1978 the "Year of Ali" and presented to Ali the Governor's Distinguished Service Award. Ali had recently become heavyweight champion of the world for the third and final time.

Carroll's credibility took a severe hit as a result of an investigation into an alleged insurance kickback scheme during the Ford administration and carrying on into his administration. When called before a grand jury in 1980, Carroll invoked the Fifth Amendment. He was not convicted of any wrongdoing, but his first state Democratic Party chairman, Howard P. "Sonny" Hunt, was after refusing to cooperate with the investigation. The probe also hurt commerce commissioner Terry McBrayer, Carroll's choice for governor in 1979. McBrayer finished third out of five candidates in the Democratic primary that year, won by late entry John Y. Brown Jr.

Later political career
After concluding his service as governor, Carroll resumed his law practice in Frankfort, Kentucky. Brown made him chairman of a non-profit organization to fight drugs in 1983. In 1987, he unsuccessfully sought another term as governor, finishing fifth in the Democratic primary behind Brown, Lt. Gov. Steve Beshear, former Human Resources Secretary Grady Stumbo, and the winner, businessman Wallace G. Wilkinson. Carroll again returned to his Frankfort law practice. In 2001, Kentucky's Purchase Parkway was renamed the Julian M. Carroll Purchase Parkway. In 2003, Carroll actively lobbied the General Assembly to legalize casino-style gambling at the state's horse racetracks.

State Senate
In 2004, Carroll was elected to the Kentucky Senate from District 7, defeating Harold Fletcher – the older brother of then-governor Ernie Fletcher – by a wide margin. The district included all or portions of Anderson, Fayette, Franklin, and Woodford counties. He made headlines in 2007 when he called on Fletcher's lieutenant governor, Steve Pence, to resign for his disloyalty after Pence endorsed Anne Northup in the Republican gubernatorial primary rather than backing Fletcher's re-election bid. Pence refused to resign, citing an investigation of the administration's hiring practices as his reason for refusing to endorse Fletcher. Fletcher won the Republican primary, but lost in the general election to Democrat Steve Beshear.

Carroll was re-elected without opposition in 2008. In advance of the 2011 legislative session, he unsuccessfully ran for the open position of Senate Democratic floor leader, losing to R. J. Palmer of Winchester. Carroll blamed his contentious relationship with Senate President David L. Williams as the reason his colleagues were hesitant to choose him for the post. On November 6, 2012, he defeated Republican Frank Haynes to retain his seat for another four years. He was re-elected without opposition in 2016 from a district now comprising Anderson, Woodford, Franklin, Owen, and Gallatin counties.

Controversies
On July 22, 2017, Spectrum News reported allegations by a male photographer that Carroll had groped him and propositioned him for sex in 2005. The following day, the Senate Democratic caucus voted to remove Carroll from his position as caucus whip and called on him to resign his seat immediately after hearing an audio recording allegedly containing Carroll's proposition to the man. On July 27, Carroll announced that he would not resign.

Carroll announced shortly after his 88th birthday that he would not run for re-election in 2020 and was endorsing State Representative Joe Graviss to succeed him. His term expired December 31, 2020.

Death
Carroll died at a medical center in Frankfort, Kentucky, on December 10, 2023, at age 92. He had spent his final months in hospice care in Frankfort. In a statement following his death, Governor Andy Beshear said that Carroll "dedicated his career to public service" and that "for decades he worked to support public education and those he represented in Frankfort". He would lie in state in Kentucky State Capitol's rotunda in Frankfort on December 15. His memorial service would be held in the rotunda the same day as well, with his family and numerous Kentucky state officials delivering remarks. On December 16, 2023, Carroll's funeral would be held at Elevate Church in Frankfort, and he would then be buried at Frankfort Cemetery.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Julian Carroll


text:
Ana María Polo

Ana María Cristina Polo González (born 11 April 1959) is a Cuban-American television arbitrator on Caso Cerrado and Ana Polo Rules.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Ana moved to Miami when she was 2 years old accompanied by her family. Later, they moved to Puerto Rico where she participated in different musicals including Godspell, Jubilee and Show Boat in addition to singing with the chorus of Jubilee, which was invited by Pope Paul VI to sing at St. Peter's Basilica as part of the celebration of the 1975 Holy Year. She is now the arbitrator on a show called Caso Cerrado, which airs on Telemundo at different times throughout the entire day and she even performed the show's theme song.

A breast cancer survivor, Polo frequently speaks and raises funds for the cause. She has advocated for LGBT rights throughout her career.

She graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 1987, and is a member of the Florida Bar. Aside from her work on Caso Cerrado, she was a member of the law firm of Emmanuel Perez & Associates, P.A. in Coral Gables, Florida.

In 2010, Caso Cerrado, which Polo created, was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program. The nomination marked the first time a program from a Spanish-language network had been nominated for an Emmy Award.

title: Ana María Polo


text:
Talk:Whisky

Contradiction
"Whiskies and cognacs typically contain more of this than vodkas, but significantly less than rums or brandies."

Cognac is a brandy, therefore it is a contradiction to state that cognac, a brandy, contains less than brandy.

Is there's no one amongst Wikipedia's editors capable of intercepting this trivially self-contradictory statement? It would seem not. 81.156.104.123 (talk) 23:32, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

 * It's what the source says, sorta. Frankly, I think our phrasing here poorly summarizes the source and loses all nuance. That said, if the source doesn't correctly recognize the simple fact that cognac is a category of brandy, one must question the competence of the source. I would not object to removal of the passage or to removal of the source. oknazevad (talk) 03:25, 19 December 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Whisky


text:
Talk:Whiskey

Merge
This page and whisky should be merged, and one made into a redirect to the other. Any prefrences on which to keep and which to make a redirect? Gentgeen 08:37, 5 Nov 2003 (UTC)

title: Talk:Whiskey


text:
User talk:Vernon Nero De Stafford

Could you please explain the reason and origin of this page? anyone?

 * You did just create it. That's all. The interesting question is how you came to edit this page which is not linked from anywhere. andy 08:52, 5 Nov 2003 (UTC)
 * Of course the above does only apply to the original location of this page, now it is moved to your normal talk page. andy 08:53, 5 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Hi Vernon :) I hope you like the place and choose to stay.

Some links that may be of use:
 * Welcome, newcomers
 * How to edit a page
 * Village pump - ask questions you may have here, or leave a message on my talk page

(This page is for people to leave you messages and for you to respond to them :) By the way, could you explain exactly what Doomsday Accounting is? Articles need to have some kind of introduction and context established.

Thanks, and keep contributing! :) Dysprosia 04:47, 8 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Vernon Nero De Stafford,

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia. The information you added to 1047 appears to be copied from. Unless you are the author of the original information and you are able to release it under the GFDL then the page will need to be deleted. Please see Copyrights for further information. Even if this is a copyright violation, we would still welcome any original contributions from you. See the instructions on how to edit a page for more info. Thanks.

Note that if you face being banned if you continue to violate copyrights and add vandalism to articles. Daniel Quinlan 08:19, Nov 8, 2003 (UTC)

No need to be unduly worried about the votes for deletion tags on some of the articles or the vandalism bit above. It's common for newcomers not to know how to produce articles which look perfect to those who've been here for a while. Some tips:
 * Read those introductory articles.
 * Start at the top level of a topic and grow a large page about it first, then split it into pieces if there's too much for one (too much is something like ten pages, maybe more). That way, the child pages will look more substantial when they are first created and people are less likely to think that they aren't part of a larger project.
 * When building up a page, if you're using windows, use control-A then control-insert to copy the page to the Windows clipboard just before clicking on Save page or Show preview. If Wikipedia is slow or loses the edit you can edit again, then use control-a and shift-insert to get back the version you tried to save. Then save it again.
 * When you want to check how something looks, use Show preview instead of Save page. This helps people to see a fairly large set of changes in the page history and make it easier for them to see the whole effect of what you've done. Not doing this is probably what led Daniel to think it was vandalism rather than you adding interesting pieces to the Normans article. Use Save page only when you think that you're finished with your edits and have reread the article in preview to catch any typing mistakes.
 * Put and  around words for articles you're planning to create. This is called wikifying and it helps you to produce a plan and others to see how you're planning to link things together.
 * Have the first couple of sentences of an article give the context for it. If John was a Norman king, include that and put and  around Norman to make a link back to the Normans page. Use Norman to get the singular displayed but go directly to the plural article - you can do the same any time you want a text other than the article topic to link to an article. | is often split in the middle on keyboards and is often near the enter / return key.

It'll probably take you a few days to get comfortable with the basics of editing and a week or two to be quite comfortable with all the details of wikifying and how to produce articles which fit the style here. Takes a lot of learning at first but it's worth it. JamesDay 12:27, 8 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * You might also want to read how to write a great article. The facts you are adding need to be carefully checked before you add them to Wikipedia. If you can not verify that something is true, then please leave it out. For example, your edits to Richard Stallman added completely false information. Angela 12:35, Nov 8, 2003 (UTC)

Proposed deletion of Richard De Saint Sauveur I
A proposed deletion template has been added to the article Richard De Saint Sauveur I, suggesting that it be deleted according to the proposed deletion process. All contributions are appreciated, but this article may not satisfy Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, and the deletion notice should explain why (see also "What Wikipedia is not" and Wikipedia's deletion policy). You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the  notice, but please explain why you disagree with the proposed deletion in your edit summary or on its talk page.

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised because even though removing the deletion notice will prevent deletion through the proposed deletion process, the article may still be deleted if it matches any of the speedy deletion criteria or it can be sent to Articles for Deletion, where it may be deleted if consensus to delete is reached. Do you want to opt out of receiving this notice? Aervanath's signature is boring 05:42, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

AfD nomination of Richard De Saint Sauveur I
An article that you have been involved in editing, Richard De Saint Sauveur I, has been listed for deletion. If you are interested in the deletion discussion, please participate by adding your comments at Articles for deletion/Richard De Saint Sauveur I. Thank you. Do you want to opt out of receiving this notice? Aervanath lives in the Orphanage 03:52, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Vernon Nero De Stafford


text:
George Papandreou

George Andreas Papandreou (Γεώργιος Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου, , shortened to Giorgos (Γιώργος)  to distinguish him from his grandfather; born 16 June 1952) is an American-born Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2009 to 2011. He is currently serving as an MP for Movement for Change.

Belonging to a political dynasty of long standing, he served under his father, then-prime minister Andreas Papandreou as Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs (1988–1989 and 1994–1996). He served as Minister for Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Costas Simitis from 1999 to 2004. Papandreou was leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party, which his father founded, from February 2004 until March 2012, and has been President of the Socialist International from 30 January 2006 to 25 November 2022.

On 6 October 2009, George Papandreou became the 182nd Prime Minister of Greece. He was the third member of the Papandreou family to serve as the country's prime minister, following his father Andreas and his grandfather Georgios Papandreou. He resigned on 11 November 2011 during the Greek government debt crisis to make way for a national unity government.

In March 2012, he resigned as leader of PASOK, and in January 2015, he left the party completely, founding his own political party, the Movement of Democratic Socialists (KIDISO), which was the 8th most voted-for party in the January 2015 elections, but did not manage to enter Parliament. In 2017, KIDISO joined the Democratic Alignment, a political alliance formed by PASOK and other centre-left parties. Democratic Alignment later evolved into Movement for Change, which in the 2019 elections was the third most voted-for party, with Papandreou himself returning to Parliament as an MP representing the region of Achaea.

Early life and education
Papandreou was born 16 June 1952 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, where his father, Andreas Papandreou, at that time held a professorship at the University of Minnesota. His mother is the American-born Margaret Papandreou, née Chant. He renounced his US citizenship in 2000.

He received his secondary education at schools in Illinois in the United States, in Sweden, and graduated from King City Secondary School (near Toronto) in Canada in 1970. He attended Amherst College in Massachusetts (where he was a friend and dormitory roommate of future political rival and prime minister of Greece himself, Antonis Samaras ), Stockholm University, the London School of Economics and Harvard University. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Amherst (1975) and a master's degree in sociology from the LSE (1977). He was a researcher on immigration issues at Stockholm University in 1972–73. He was also a fellow of the Foreign Relations Center of Harvard University in 1992–93. In 2002 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws by Amherst College and in 2006 he was named distinguished professor in the Center for Hellenic Studies by Georgia State College of Arts and Science. Papandreou's father studied and worked as professor of economics from 1939 to 1959. His paternal grandfather, Georgios Papandreou, was a three-time prime minister of Greece.

Political career
The younger George Papandreou came to Greece after the restoration of Greek democracy in 1974. He then became active in the political party his father had founded, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). He joined the Central Committee of PASOK in 1984.

Papandreou was elected to the Greek Parliament in 1981, the year his father became Prime Minister, as MP for the constituency of Achaea. He became Under Secretary for Cultural Affairs in 1985, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs in 1988, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1993, Minister for Education and Religious Affairs again in 1994, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs again in 1996 and Minister of Foreign Affairs in February 1999. He was also Minister Responsible for Government Coordination for the Bid for 2004 Olympic Games in 1997.

In his second term as Minister of Education, Papandreou was the first politician in Greece to introduce affirmative action, allocating 5% of university posts for the Muslim minority in Thrace. He was also instrumental in initiating the Open University in Greece.

Papandreou received numerous awards and honorary degrees in recognition of his work for human rights. As Foreign Minister he fostered closer relations with Turkey and Albania. He worked to solve the dispute over Cyprus. Papandreou also worked to resolve tensions regarding the Macedonia naming dispute. Papandreou stated in 1999 that he supported Turkey's application to join the European Union.

In December 2003, European Voice shortlisted him for nomination of the Europeans of the Year award as "Diplomat of the Year", naming him as "The Bridge-Builder" and quoting Le Monde that dubbed him the "architect of Greek-Turkish rapprochement". He is a founding member of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly.

President of PASOK (2004–2012)
In anticipation of the 2004 national elections in Greece, polls indicated that PASOK was very likely to lose as the conservative New Democracy party was heading towards a landslide. In January 2004, the incumbent PM Costas Simitis announced his resignation as leader of PASOK, and passed the leadership to Papandreou by recommending him as the new leader. On 8 February 2004 PASOK introduced for the first time the procedure of open primaries for the election of party leadership. Even if Papandreou had no opponent, this was a move designed to solidify the open primaries, democratize the party, and make a clean break with the tradition of "dynastic politics".

In May 2005, Papandreou was elected Vice President of the Socialist International following a proposal by the former president, António Guterres. In January 2006, Papandreou was unanimously elected President of the Socialist International.

In the 2007 general election, PASOK again lost to the incumbent New Democracy party of Kostas Karamanlis and Papandreou's leadership was challenged by Evangelos Venizelos and Kostas Skandalidis. Papandreou, however, retained his party's leadership at a leadership election in November.

In June 2009 and under his leadership, his party won the 2009 European Parliament election in Greece. Four months later, PASOK won the October 2009 general elections with 43.92% of the popular vote to ND's 33.48%, and 160 parliament seats to 91.

Taking office and revelations
The inauguration of George Papandreou as the 182nd Prime Minister of Greece took place on 6 October 2009.

Upon inauguration, Papandreou's government revealed that its finances were far worse than previous announcements, with a year deficit of 12.7% of GDP, four times more than the eurozone's limit, and a public debt of $410 billion. This announcement served only to worsen the severe crisis the Greek economy was undergoing, with an unemployment rate of 10% and the country's debt rating being lowered to BBB+, the lowest in the eurozone. Papandreou responded by promoting austerity measures, reducing spending, increasing taxes, freezing additional taxes and hiring and introducing measures aimed at combatting rampant tax evasion and reducing the country's public sector. The announced austerity program caused a wave of nationwide strikes and has been criticised by both the EU and the eurozone nations' finance ministers as falling short of its goals.

Crisis management and bailouts
On 23 April 2010 during a visit at the island of Kastelorizo, Papandreou issued a statement to the press that he instructed Finance Minister Papakonstantinou to officially ask the EU partners to activate the support mechanism, 'an unprecedented mechanism in the history and practice of the European Union'. The support mechanism, which was put in place by the European heads of state and government and further elaborated by Euro Group ministers, is a European mechanism to which the IMF is associated with financing and it involves a comprehensive three-year economic program and financing conditions. On 23 April 2010, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that Greece made a request for a Stand-By Arrangement. Papandreou and his Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou managed to convince the IMF and EU to participate in a €110bn bailout package on 9 May 2010. Greece's sovereign debt crisis, considered part of the European sovereign debt crisis, was marked by massive strikes and demonstrations.

In an opinion poll published on 18 May 2011, 77% of the people asked said they had no faith in Papandreou as Prime Minister in handling the Greek economic crisis.

On 25 May 2011 the Real Democracy Now! movement started protesting in Athens and other major Greek cities. At the time, the peaceful protests were considered to be a sign of popular rejection of Mr. Papandreou and his government's economic policies, with as much as three-quarters of the Greek population being against the policies of the Papandreou government. Among the demands of the demonstrations at Athens's central square, who claim to have been over 500,000 at one point, was the resignation of Papandreou and his government.

In the early hours of 22 June, George Papandreou and his government narrowly survived a vote of confidence in the Greek parliament, with 155 of the 300 seats in parliament. His government held 152 seats.

On 17 September, he cancelled a visit to the IMF building in Washington, D.C., and the UN Headquarters in New York City amid mounting concern over the country's debt crisis.

An opinion poll by Public Issue on behalf of Skai TV and Kathimerini in October 2011 showed that Papandreou's popularity had dropped considerably. Of the people asked, only 23% had a positive view of George Papandreou, while 73% had a negative opinion; ranking him lower than any other leader of a party in the Hellenic Parliament. Papandreou also ranked low on the question of who is more suitable for Prime Minister, with just 22%, as both Antonis Samaras (28%) and "neither" (47%) ranked higher than him.

On 26 October 2011, the European Summit agreed to hand to the Greek government the Sixth Tranche of €8 billion bailout early in the 2012, while the private-sector banks, the holders of Greek debt, have agreed to a 50% haircut on their outstanding Greek government bonds.

On 28 October 2011, during the national day parade, protesters blocked the parades, forcing the President of Greece and other officials to leave.

Called-off referendum and stepping aside
On 31 October, Papandreou announced his government's plans to hold a referendum on the acceptance of the terms of a eurozone bailout deal. The referendum was to be held in December 2011 or January 2012. However, following the insistence of EU leaders at the G20 summit in Cannes that the referendum should be on Greece's continued membership of the eurozone, and severe criticism of such a referendum by Greek Finance Minister Venizelos and within parliament, Papandreou scrapped the plan on 3 November.

On 5 November, his government only narrowly won a confidence vote in parliament and opposition leader Antonis Samaras called for immediate elections. The next day Papandreou met with opposition leaders trying to reach an agreement on the formation of an interim national unity government. However, Samaras gave in only after Papandreou agreed to step aside, allowing the EU bailout to proceed and paving the way for elections on 19 February 2012. Both the Communist Party (KKE) and the leftist SYRIZA coalition had refused Papandreou's invitation to join talks on a new unity government.

After several days of intense negotiations, the two major parties along with the Popular Orthodox Rally agreed to form a grand coalition headed by former Vice President of the European Central Bank Lucas Papademos. On 10 November, George Papandreou formally resigned as Prime Minister of Greece. The new coalition cabinet and Prime Minister Lucas Papademos were formally sworn in on 11 November 2011.

Comeback aspirations
In August 2012, Papandreou was re-elected President of the Socialist International at its congress in Cape Town. Within domestic politics, he however remained largely sidelined within PASOK, while still an ordinary Member of the Hellenic Parliament.

On 2 January 2015, Papandreou announced his aspirations to return to high-profile domestic politics. Launching his new party Movement of Democratic Socialists to contest the 25 January 2015 parliamentary elections, he confirmed the long-expected breakup with PASOK.

While his decision was fiercely criticized by PASOK officials, Papandreou referred to the extraordinary situation with the country facing important challenges amidst a highly polarized political situation. He said that under these circumstances he "needed to make a bold political choice. PASOK, the party I belonged to since my youth, and led for many years, had become assimilated into conservative practices and policies."

Receiving only 2.46% of the electoral vote, Papandreou's new party however fell short of the 3% electoral threshold. His failure to be reelected marks the first time since 1923 where a representative of the Papandreou political dynasty is not present in the Hellenic Parliament. Following the election he said in a BBC Newsnight interview that his conscience was clear: "I was able to save Greece from default."

In March 2017, at the Congress of the Socialist International that took place in Cartagena, Colombia, Papandreou was unanimously re-elected President of the organization.

He is also co-chair of the Democratic Alignment, a coalition of the center left parties in Greece, composed by the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), the Democratic Left (DIMAR) and the Movement of Democratic Socialists.

In May 2017, Papandreou delivered the keynote speech to the European Association of Political Consultants (EAPC) in Brussels. On 20 October 2021, Papandreou announced his candidacy for the leadership of Movement for Change (Greece).

Personal life
George Papandreou was married to Ada Papapanou, until 2016, and they have a daughter, Margarita-Elena (born 1990). He also has a son, Andreas (born 1982), from a previous civil wedding to Evanthia Zissimides (1976–1987), who is from Cyprus. He has two younger brothers, Nikos Papandreou and Andreas Papandreou, and two younger sisters, Sophia Papandreou and Emilia Nyblom. Apart from Greek and English, he is also fluent in Swedish. One of his paternal great-grandfathers, Zygmunt Mineyko, was an army officer and an engineer of Polish-Lithuanian descent.

In 2016, Papandreou co-signed a letter to Ban Ki-moon calling for a more humane drug policy, along with people like Glenn Greenwald, Olusegun Obasanjo and Anthony Romero.

Honours and decorations

 * 1996: Commander of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (Ukraine)
 * 1996: Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion (Finland)
 * 1996: Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland II class (Poland)
 * 1998: Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (Spain)
 * 1999: Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star (Sweden)
 * 1999: Order of the White Star I class (Estonia)
 * 1999: Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
 * 2000: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 2001: Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain)
 * 2001: Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)
 * 2002: Grand Cross of the Order of Infante dom Henrique (Portugal)
 * 2002: Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX (Vatican)
 * 2003: Grand Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
 * 2003: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
 * 2003: Gran Cruz El Sol de Peru (Peru)

Awards

 * 1988: " Botsis's Foundation for the Promotion of Journalism " award for "his multifaceted struggles, which established the Free Radio as part of our democratic institutions"
 * 1996: SOS against anti-Semitism, and affiliated organizations" Committee award, for his work against anti-Semitism
 * 1997: Abdi Ipekci special award for Peace and Friendship ( June 1997) "for his activities in favor of Greek-Turkish approach during the period 1995–1996 while serving as Minister of National Education and Religion"
 * 2000: Eastwest Institute 2000 Awards – Peace Building Awards . The 2000 "Statesman of the Year Award" given to Foreign Minister George Papandreou of Greece and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem of Turkey for their great efforts at improving relations between their respective countries
 * 2002: Jackie Robinson Humanitarian Award (United States Sport Academy)
 * 2003: Recipient: Defender of Democracy (Parliamentarians for Global Action)
 * 2006: Open Fields Award (Truce Foundation USA)
 * 2010: Quadriga Award (Werkstatt Deutschland, Germany), for The Power of Veracity (transparency regarding the state of the Greek economy)

title: George Papandreou