text:
Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Frank-Walter Steinmeier (born 5 January 1956) is a German politician who became president of Germany on 19 March 2017. He was previously federal minister for foreign affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as vice chancellor of Germany from 2007 to 2009. Steinmeier was chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2016.

Steinmeier is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), holds a doctorate in law and was formerly a career civil servant. He was a close aide of Gerhard Schröder when Schröder was minister-president of Lower Saxony during most of the 1990s, and served as Schröder's chief of staff from 1996. When Schröder became Chancellor of Germany in 1998, Steinmeier was appointed Under-Secretary of State in the German Chancellery with the responsibility for the intelligence services. From 1999 to 2005 he served as Chief of Staff of the Chancellery.

Following the 2005 federal election, Steinmeier became foreign minister in the first grand coalition government of Angela Merkel, and from 2007 he additionally held the office of vice chancellor. In 2008, he briefly served as acting chairman of his party. He was the SPD's candidate for chancellor in the 2009 federal election, but his party lost the election and he left the federal cabinet to become leader of the opposition. Following the 2013 federal election, he again became Minister for Foreign Affairs in Merkel's second grand coalition. In November 2016 he was announced as the candidate for President of Germany of the governing coalition, consisting of his own party and the CDU/CSU, and thus became the presumptive electee, as the coalition held a large majority in the Federal Convention. He left the cabinet on 27 January 2017. He was elected president by the Federal Convention on 12 February 2017 with 74% of the vote. On 13 February 2022, he was re-elected by the Federal Convention for a second and final term with 78% of the vote.

Steinmeier belongs to the right wing of the SPD, known as reformists and moderates. As chief of staff, he was a principal architect of Agenda 2010, the Schröder government's reforms of the welfare state. His lenient policies toward countries such as Russia and China have earned him criticism both in Germany and internationally, and he has been criticized for prioritizing German business interests over human rights.

Early life and education
Steinmeier was born in 1956 in Detmold. Although his full name is Frank-Walter, his friends call him Frank. His father, a carpenter, was affiliated with the Church of Lippe (one of Germany's few Calvinist regional church bodies, and a member church of the Protestant Church of Germany). His mother, born in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland), came as a refugee from a Lutheran part of Silesia during the flight and expulsion of Germans after World War II.

Following his Abitur, Steinmeier did his military service from 1974 to 1976, then studied law and political science at the Justus Liebig University Giessen, where Brigitte Zypries was a fellow student. In 1982 he passed his first and in 1986 his second state examination in law. Steinmeier worked as a scientific assistant to the professor of public law and political science at Giessen University until he obtained his doctorate of law in 1991. His dissertation explored the state's role in preventing homelessness.

Family life
Steinmeier is married and has one daughter. On 24 August 2010, he donated a kidney to his wife Elke Büdenbender.

In 2015, Steinmeier served as best man at the wedding of Rüdiger Grube and Cornelia Poletto in Hamburg.

Interests
Steinmeier enjoys jazz, and is an avid football fan.

Religion
Steinmeier is a Reformed Protestant and an active member of the Reformed Bethlehem congregation in Berlin-Neukölln. He was baptized into his father's church (the Church of Lippe) as a youth.

Early career
Steinmeier became an adviser in 1991 for Law of Communication media and media guidelines in the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony in Hanover. In 1993, he became director of the Personal Office for the prime minister of Lower Saxony, Gerhard Schröder. In 1996, he became the Secretary of State and head of the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony.

Schröder Federal Chancellery, 1998–2005
Steinmeier was appointed in November 1998 as Secretary of State, a junior Chancellery bureaucrat, and Commissioner for the Federal Intelligence Services at the office of the chancellor following Schröder's election victory. He replaced Bodo Hombach as the head of the office of the chancellor in 1999, after the later entered European Union politics. He held onto his Secretary of State rank and therefore was the only Head of the Chancellery to not be appointed Minister for Special Affairs, i. e. does not have cabinet rank, from 1984 to today. During this period Steinmeier was also one of the advisors to Schröder. He was crucial in securing a red-green majority in parliament for Schröder's contentious "Agenda 2010" of economic reforms. Because of his effective management beyond the spotlight of politics, he was nicknamed Die Graue Effizienz (The Grey Efficiency) —a pun on Graue Eminenz, the German for éminence grise.

As Commissioner for the Federal Intelligence Services (a title often held by the Head of the Chancellery) Steinmeier was responsible for co-ordinating Germany's intelligence services. In 2003, he supported Schröder in his controversial decision to forge a coalition with Russia and France against the U.S.-led war against Iraq. Meanwhile, he approved the decision to install a German intelligence officer in the Qatar-based office of General Tommy Franks, the American commander of the U.S. invasion in Iraq, who passed on to the United States information being gathered in Baghdad by two German intelligence officers operating there.

In 2004, Steinmeier participated in diplomatic negotiations settling on compensation payments with Libya for victims of the 1986 terrorist bombing of the LaBelle disco in Berlin.

A major controversy during Steinmeier's term as chief of staff was the imprisonment of a German-born Turk, Murat Kurnaz, in Guantánamo Bay from 2002 until August 2006. Steinmeier denied during a parliamentary inquiry in March 2007 that he had blocked Kurnaz's release. Instead, he claimed that Berlin had feared Kurnaz was a threat and should go to Turkey, not Germany, if released. Only after Merkel's election was Kurnaz released and brought back to Germany.

First term as Foreign Minister, 2005–2009
On 22 November 2005, after the 2005 federal elections, Steinmeier became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Grand coalition cabinet led by Angela Merkel. He was the first SPD Foreign Minister since Willy Brandt (1966–1969).

Upon taking office, Steinmeier led the preparations for Germany taking over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2007.

Following Franz Müntefering's departure from the cabinet on 21 November 2007, Steinmeier also filled the position of Vice-Chancellor.

During his time in office, Steinmeier was widely regarded as having good working relations with Angela Merkel but often taking a different stance on foreign affairs. By and large, he allowed Merkel to set the pace in foreign policy., working harmoniously with her on a range of foreign policy issues, from confronting Iran over its nuclear program to negotiating binding goals to combat climate change. In one significant foreign-policy disagreement, Steinmeier held in 2009 that Germany should by 2013 lay the groundwork for withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, a deployment that around two-thirds of Germans opposed by then. Unlike Merkel, he also favored Turkish entry into the European Union.

Also, Steinmeier became known for his rather Russia-friendly stance, arguing strenuously for engagement with the increasingly assertive power to the east, rather than its isolation. He formulated a policy toward Russia deliberately reminiscent of "Ostpolitik", the eastward-facing policy pioneered by Chancellor Willy Brandt in the early 1970s. Together with Gernot Erler, the SPD's leading Russia expert and the deputy foreign minister, Steinmeier initiated Germany's so-called Partnership for Modernization with Russia (announced in 2008), which became an official EU policy in 2010.

Pressed by lawmakers to say more on his attitude toward Russia in the wake of the high-profile murders of opposition figures Anna Politkovskaya and Alexander Litvinenko at a January 2007 hearing at the European Parliament, Steinmeier stated that "[t]here is a certain trend toward [media] hysterics and one needs to get a sense of reason back into the debate".

Dr Frank Umbach had warned as early as February 2006 that Germany had become too dependent of Russia but Steinmeier, citing the new Ostpolitik, disregarded him. In March 2007 Steinmeier published a long article in reply to Umbach explaining his rationale on EU being such a exceptional role model on international cooperation that Putinite Russia will unavoidably get "like us" by merely "intertwining of interests" (Verflechtung), and also that "a pan-European peace order and a lasting solution to important security problems (…) can only be achieved with Russia, not without it or even against it". Steinmeier helped to admit Putin's Russia into the WTO, which occurred in 2011.

On 18 December 2007, Steinmeier and Dmitry Medvedev signed an agreement on behalf of BASF to exploit another gas field. At the time, 40 per cent of German demand was satisfied by Russian supply.

In May 2008, he became the first foreign official to hold talks with President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin after they took up their new positions following the 2008 Russian presidential election.

In 2006, Foreign Affairs published an analysis of the state of US and Russian nuclear forces, concluding that post-Cold War US nuclear forces seemed designed to carry out a preemptive strike against Russia or China and that the planned missile defense would be valuable primarily in an offensive context as an adjunct to a US first-strike capability. The article elicited a semi-official Russian response from ex-PM Yegor Gaidar in the Financial Times a few days later. In 2007, the US government reportedly was reportedly deeply irritated, although publicly silent, about Steinmeier, who had sounded supportive of Russian accusations that a planned US missile defense complex in Poland would upset the strategic balance in Europe – and who then left without challenge Russian General Nikolai Solovtsov's threat of retaliation against Poland and the Czech Republic if they deployed U.S. defensive systems.

Russian opposition activists later celebrated when Steinmeier and the SDP lost the 2009 election, signaling their discontent with Steinmeier. Oleg Petrovich Orlov, head of the Memorial human rights group, said that Steinmeier had prolonged Schröder's policies on Russia and that Germany's policies were "extremely bad for civil society, democracy and the country as a whole".

In February 2009, Steinmeier became the first member of Merkel's cabinet to be received by the incoming Obama administration.

During his time in office, Steinmeier managed to extract German hostages from Iraq and Yemen. In 2007, he also succeeded in securing the release of a German citizen who was imprisoned in Iran for illegally entering the country's waters on a fishing expedition.

Steinmeier served as acting chairman of the SPD from 7 September 2008 to 18 October 2008. Domestically, throughout his term he was the only major politician with approval ratings consistently as high as or higher than Merkel's. This was helped by the especially high ratings foreign ministers generally receive in Germany.

Opposition leader, 2009–2013
On 7 September 2008, following the resignation of SPD chairman Kurt Beck, Steinmeier was chosen as the SPD candidate for chancellor for the 2009 federal elections and also designated as acting SPD Chairman, pending the return of Müntefering to that position. In his election campaign, he argued for new tax rules to deter high executive pay and bonuses, and for minimum wages to slow the growing gap between Germany's highest and lowest earners. He also focused on improving public healthcare.

After the SPD's decisive defeat in the elections – the party's worst performance since World War II by then – Steinmeier, who had been elected to represent Brandenburg an der Havel – Potsdam-Mittelmark I – Havelland III – Teltow-Fläming I, was elected Peter Struck's successor as chairman of the SPD's parliamentary group in the Bundestag, and as such leader of the opposition. After a hospitalization for donating a kidney to his wife in August 2010, Steinmeier returned to his office in October 2010.

During his time as leader of the parliamentary opposition, Steinmeier regularly accused Angela Merkel's government of increasing the national debt and pandering to the rich. In 2011, Steinmeier argued that Merkel's decision to appoint her economics adviser, Jens Weidmann, to be the next head of Bundesbank undermined the political independence and public trust in the German central bank.

In late 2012, Steinmeier was once again considered a possible candidate to challenge Chancellor Angela Merkel in the 2013 general election, but soon withdrew from the contest. As a consequence, SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel later announced that the leadership agreed to nominate Peer Steinbrück.

Second term as Foreign Minister, 2013–2017

After the elections of 2013 and the new grand coalition government, Steinmeier was appointed foreign minister for a second time in December 2013. He replaced Guido Westerwelle, who had signed the P5+1 accord with Iran in November 2013. His deputies are Michael Roth (SPD) and Maria Böhmer (CDU). Upon taking office, Steinmeier initiated an ambitious review of Germany's foreign policy, holding meetings nationwide and drawing in more than 12,000 people who work at the ministry or abroad.

Over the course of 2014, Steinmeier alternated with Merkel as Germany's most popular politician in polls of eligible voters.

In light of criticism from the United States, Steinmeier stood firm on Germany's approach in the Ukraine conflict, where it was balancing support for European economic sanctions on Russia with leaving the door open to a revived partnership. In May 2014, he proposed a greater mediation role for the OSCE, including the convening of local "round table" talks in Ukraine to defuse conflicts. The Steinmeier formula, as it is known to readers of Russian media, is synonymous with the Minsk II agreement. Between 2015 and 2016, Steinmeier hosted a series of Normandy format meetings in Berlin to negotiate a solution of the situation in the East of Ukraine.

During the Minsk II talks on a ceasefire for eastern Ukraine in early 2015, he successfully negotiated with Russian President Vladimir Putin on allowing German doctors to visit Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who had been on hunger strike for more than two months in a Russian jail. Steinmeier has repeatedly ruled out arms shipments to resolve the conflict, and that was German policy until two days after the 24 February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, at which time Chancellor Olaf Scholz ended it.

In 2015, Steinmeier hosted a meeting of the delegations from Libya's two rival governments, who were battling for control of the country, and United Nations Special Representative Bernardino León to discuss a UN-sponsored peace and power-sharing proposal despite splits among some of the parties.

Steinmeier later was instrumental in convening the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) and the Syria peace talks in Vienna in October 2015, drawing together Saudi Arabia; its main regional rival, Iran; as well as Russia, the United States and other Western powers and regional actors including Turkey and Iraq.

Human rights
In the past, Human Rights Watch has labeled Steinmeier as "Realpolitik advocate", for whom, "when it comes to defining his relationship with countries" such as Russia, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia, "human rights play only a subordinate role".

In Steinmeier's opinion, the "[r]ejection of capital punishment is one of the keystones of German human-rights policy. The death penalty goes against our fundamental ethic and moral principles". He personally called for the abolition of the death penalty in Uzbekistan; capital punishment in Uzbekistan has been abolished since 2008. In April 2014, he summoned the Egyptian ambassador Mohamed Higazy after a Cairo court sentenced 683 individuals to death for inciting violence during protests in summer 2013, following the military overthrow of elected President Mohammed Morsi. Following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, he warned that any move by Turkey to reinstate the death penalty would derail its efforts to join the European Union. He criticized the 2016–present purges in Turkey.

In response to the protests following the 2009 Iranian presidential election against the disputed victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Steinmeier condemned what he called "brutal actions" against demonstrators in Tehran and summoned the Iranian ambassador Alireza Sheikhattar to explain.

European integration
After Germany had only narrowly managed to avoid a deficit warning from the European Commission in 2002, Schröder and Steinmeier became the driving forces behind weakening the Stability and Growth Pact, a rule-based framework for the coordination of national fiscal policies originally intended as the guarantor of a stable euro.

In a joint article in the Financial Times on 14 December 2010, Steinmeier and Peer Steinbrück proposed to solve the European debt crisis with "a combination of a haircut for debt holders, debt guarantees for stable countries and the limited introduction of European-wide bonds in the medium term, accompanied by more aligned fiscal policies". In February 2011, Steinmeier proposed Steinbrück as a candidate to lead the European Central Bank.

Under Steinmeier's parliamentary leadership, the Social Democrats raised pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel to agree to more burden-sharing to stem the euro zone crisis, repeatedly calling on her to assume greater risks to avert a breakup of the single currency. In both February and November 2012, his parliamentary group voted largely in favour of the Merkel government's proposal for eurozone bailout packages for Greece,  while criticizing the measures as being "not an enduring solution for the Greeks". In July 2014, he helped build the opposition's support for a euro zone rescue package for Spanish banks. Later, as foreign minister, he publicly advised against "frivolous" talk of a Greek withdrawal from the eurozone, calling for a serious search for a solution.

Reacting to a growth of euro-skeptic political parties across Europe by early 2014, Steinmeier offered the United Kingdom limited support on renegotiating the Treaties of the European Union, saying Germany wanted to see Britain's influence in the "midst" of the EU, not on "the sidelines". After Britain's vote to leave the EU in 2016, he argued that the union lacked the cohesion to undertake major new integration steps and should instead focus on migration, high youth unemployment and security.

At the same time, Steinmeier worked to develop new formats and revive new ones. In December 2014, he met with the foreign ministers from the three Nordic countries Denmark, Finland and Sweden – Margot Wallström, Erkki Tuomioja and Martin Lidegaard – for the so-called "N3 + 1" format to discuss issues of common concern for the first time.

In August 2016, he joined French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in pledging to "reinvigorate" the Weimar Triangle and published a document 'A strong Europe in a world of uncertainties'.

Between 2014 and 2016, he visited the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – six times, the highest number of visits by any German Foreign Minister.

Also in late 2014, Steinmeier and his British counterpart Philip Hammond united in a bid to end a deadlock in relations between Bosnia and the European Union, arguing that the EU should abandon its insistence on changes to Bosnia's electoral code as a precondition for a Stabilization and Association Agreement on the path to EU membership.

Energy policy
In 2007, Steinmeier said he opposes European Commission proposals on unbundling the ownership of energy networks in the European Union, as it was proposed in the Third Energy Package.

Relations with France
On 14 May 2014, Steinmeier became the first German foreign minister to attend a meeting of the French cabinet. Together with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius, he flew on several joint diplomatic missions between 2014 and 2015, including to Moldova, Georgia, Tunisia, Nigeria and Bangladesh. In 2016, he joined Fabius' successor Jean-Marc Ayrault for trips to Ukraine, Libya, Mali and Niger.

Relations with Russia
In May 2007, the daily Financial Times Deutschland reported that Steinmeier had served as mediator in the so-called Bronze Night controversy, an Estonia-Russia dispute over the removal of a Red Army memorial in Tallinn. According to the report, Steinmeier suggested the Estonian ambassador to Russia, Marina Kaljurand, go on vacation in an effort to calm the situation. Steinmeier called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to suggest not only that Kaljurand take a holiday, but also that Russia drop the dispute for the time being. After speaking with Lavrov, Steinmeier reportedly called Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and got him to agree to the deal. Kaljurand left Moscow for a two-week vacation and pro-Kremlin youth activists blockading the Estonian embassy in Moscow ended their protests the same day.

Upon returning to government in late 2013, Steinmeier criticized Russia in his inaugural speech for exploiting Ukraine's economic plight to prevent it from signing the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement. In March 2014, he defended Russia's membership of the G8, saying "The format of the G8 is actually the only one in which we in the West can speak directly with Russia." When Germany held the chairmanship of the group in 2015, he maintained that excluding Russia over its actions in Ukraine was a necessary step but not a goal in itself; citing the Middle East, he argued that "a look at the world shows that we need Russia as a constructive partner in a number of conflicts".

In April 2014 Steinmeier argued that a policy of de-escalation towards Russia was necessary, instead of the sanctions which were applied in the wake of the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

In a 2015 letter to Cecilia Malmström, the EU's trade chief, Steinmeier proposed a joint declaration between the EU and Russia offering Moscow the prospect of long-sought investment and energy concessions to create a more integrated economic area from the Atlantic to the Pacific. According to the letter, "by the content of this declaration we could respond to Russia's wishes and begin a closer exchange of views on energy and investment protection issues, even if the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement does not directly touch on them".

In June 2016, Steinmeier criticised NATO 'warmongering' on Russia: "The one thing we shouldn't do now is inflame the situation with loud sabre-rattling and warmongering." The CDU politicians Volker Bouffier and Herbert Reul criticised him for his stance on Russia, while his comments were welcomed by the Russian media.

In their book Die Moskau-Connection, journalists Bingener and Wehner describe the network around Schröder and his support for Putin's policies. Steinmeier was part of that network. Bingener and Wehner write that Steinmeier considered Putin to be rational and accessible. Steinmeier also did not draw any conclusions from the annexation of Crimea in February 2014. Steinmeier did not resolutely oppose Putin's logic, in which there is only winning and losing. Bingener and Wehner: "This is another reason why he is well-liked in Moscow. He is a rather timid person. While his predecessor Joschka Fischer got along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov easily and often interrupted [...him], Steinmeier has a hard time speaking to Lavrov. 'Dear Sergei', as Steinmeier sometimes calls him, is often harsh and hurtful to his interlocutors. He doesn't need to be that with the German Foreign Minister."

Relations with the United States
Steinmeier voiced his support for Barack Obama when Obama was still a presidential candidate, and supported Obama's wish to deliver a speech before the iconic Brandenburg Gate during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign.

In 2016 Steinmeier described then-U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump as a "hate preacher". After Trump's election, Steinmeier refused to congratulate him, and condemned Trump's views. He has been described as "the German government's most strident detractor" of Trump.

Relations with Central Asia
During a 2006 meeting with Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov, Steinmeier criticized Turkmenistan for its slow progress in implementing the rule of law and human rights and said that the state's progress in carrying out political reforms had been "too halting".

When Germany chaired a United Nations group aimed at resolving 2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Steinmeier presented to the three conflict parties – Georgia, Abkhazia and Russia – a plan which included a three-stage peace proposal, entailing an end to violence, confidence-building measures over the following year that could lead to the resumption of direct talks between Georgia and Abkhazia, and the return of about 250,000 Georgian refugees to Abkhazia. However, both Georgia and Abkhazia rejected the proposal. In September 2008, Steinmeier called for an international probe into the conflict over Georgia's breakaway provinces. During a 2014 visit to the country, he reiterated that membership of NATO and of the EU would remain off the cards for a long while to come.

In August 2006, Steinmeier made his first visit to Afghanistan, where Germany had taken over the command of the 21,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) shortly before. Ahead of the 2009 federal elections, Steinmeier – then still in his capacity as foreign minister – commissioned an internal report on Germany's engagement in Afghanistan which recommended that Germany should start pulling out of the country within four years; at the time, this was seen as a stark departure from Steinmeier's earlier insistence Germany should not set a date for withdrawing its then 4,200-strong contingent from the north of Afghanistan as the move could play into the hands of Taliban insurgents.

In October 2014, Steinmeier visited both Armenia and Azerbaijan to facilitate a negotiated solution to the long-standing conflict over Nagorny Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan controlled by ethnic Armenians. In 2016, he returned to both countries to in his capacity as chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to reinvigorate the talks.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
In the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Steinmeier supports a two-state solution and calls for an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. He welcomed the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 and said the Israeli settlements on occupied territory form an obstacle to peace and a two-state solution. He further said that "a democratic Israel is achievable only through a two-state-solution". Steinmeier praised the speech by US Secretary of State John Kerry which outlined the United States' position on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in December 2016; in the speech Kerry said a peace agreement must be based on the 1967 lines, that all citizens must enjoy equal rights, that occupation must end, that the Palestinian refugee issue must be resolved, and that Jerusalem must be the capital of both states, and criticised the Netanyahu government's agenda as driven by "extreme elements".

Steinmeier voiced support for Israel during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. He called on Arabs living in Germany to distance themselves from Hamas.

Relations with Iran
Steinmeier is a staunch proponent of the Iran nuclear deal framework, and has called the agreement "an opening for further diplomatic endeavors".

Relations with the Arab world
Steinmeier has visited the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan twice to learn more about the plight of Syrians fleeing the violence in the ongoing Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011, first in his capacity as chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in May 2013 and later as foreign minister in May 2015. In early 2014, upon taking office as foreign minister, he agreed with Chancellor Angela Merkel and Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen that Germany would help destroy Syria's arsenal of chemical weapons materials as part of an international disarmament program. In October 2014, he co-chaired the Berlin Conference on the Syrian Refugee Situation along with Development Minister Gerd Müller and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres.

In March 2015, Steinmeier said he "can understand" Saudi Arabia's decision to mount a military intervention in Yemen and acknowledged the operation had "support from the region". However, he said the crisis could not be solved by violence and urged a negotiated solution.

Relations with Greece
In 2015 Steinmeier rejected claims for war reparations from the Greek Syriza party in response to Germany's position on the Greek government-debt crisis. When incoming Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, in his first major speech to parliament in early 2015, pledged to seek war reparations from Germany, Steinmeier replied to Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias that Germany was fully aware of its political and moral responsibility for the "terrible events" in Greece between 1941 and 1944 when German troops occupied the country. "Still, we are firmly convinced that all reparations issues, including forced loans, are judicially settled once-and-for-all," Steinmeier said.

Relations with Namibia
At the state memorial service for deceased Namibian president Hage Geingob in Windhoek on 24 February 2024, Steinmeier said that it was "high time" for Germany to "tender an apology to Namibia" for the Herero and Nama genocide from 1904 to 1908.

Refusal to meet with Dalai Lama
Steinmeier openly attacked Merkel over her 2007 meeting with the Dalai Lama, accusing the chancellor of "playing to public opinion" without regard for the effectiveness of the meeting in improving political or religious rights on the ground in China. In 2008, he refused to meet the Dalai Lama during his five-day visit, arguing that such a meeting could undermine international efforts to promote sustained contact between China and Tibet. Instead, Steinmeier issued the statement "it takes a lot of courage not to meet with the Dalai Lama these days", which The New York Times described as "extraordinarily cynical" and accused Steinmeier of prioritizing business interests over human rights.

Murat Kurnaz torture case
In the case of Murat Kurnaz, innocently imprisoned in 2002 and tortured by the US, Steinmeier allegedly had an offer by the United States Department of Defense and the CIA already in September 2002 regarding a transfer of Murat Kurnaz to Germany, where he was born and raised. Kurnaz had been first sold as a terror suspect in Pakistan, then imprisoned in Afghanistan and later in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, until 2006. By refusing the offer Steinmeier is thought to have been politically directly responsible for his continued imprisonment.

A BND-commission of enquiry was consulted.

Armenian genocide denial
During a 2015 debate about Germany's recognition of the Armenian genocide on the occasion of its centenary, Steinmeier was the politician most reluctant to endorse it, mainly because of Germany's relations with Turkey. He was widely criticized for his position and accused of Armenian genocide denial. When the German Bundestag almost unanimously approved a resolution in 2016 that recognises the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces as a genocide, a description that Turkey strongly rejects, Steinmeier abstained from the vote and criticized the resolution in public; Steinmeier was one of only two of the 630 members of parliament who did not support the resolution. And Steinmeier alleged that calling Armenian massacres genocide risks belittling the Holocaust.

Plagiarism allegations
Following the 2013 elections, Steinmeier became the first prominent member of the Social Democrats to be confronted with allegations that he plagiarized parts of his 1991 doctoral dissertation about the role of the state in the prevention of homelessness. Similar accusations had previously led to the resignation of two ministers of the Merkel government. In response, Steinmeier rejected the charges and said that he had asked the University of Giessen to check his dissertation for unacknowledged citations. In May 2013, a university committee for safeguarding academic practices found that Steinmeier had no fraudulent intent and had not committed academic misconduct in his dissertation. The committee did find "technical weaknesses" in Steinmeier's citations, but said they were not severe enough to consider revoking his degree.

Candidacy for President
President Joachim Gauck announced in June 2016 that he would not run for re-election, resulting in a search for a candidate to succeed him. In November 2016, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives agreed with the Social Democrats to support Steinmeier's candidacy for president in the presidential election, scheduled for 12 February 2017.

Merkel had originally wanted to nominate Green politician Marianne Birthler, and as the CDU/CSU and the Greens control a majority in the Federal Convention, Birthler's election would have been secured. However, Birthler after some time decided not to run.

On 12 February 2017 Germany's 16th Federal Convention elected Steinmeier President on the first ballot, with 931 votes out of a total of 1,260.

Steinmeier took office as President of Germany on 19 March 2017, after the expiration of his predecessor's term in office, and on 22 March 2017 he took the oath that newly invested presidents must take before a joint session of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, according to the Basic Law.

2017 Bundestag election
Following the federal election in September 2017, coalition talks began between the Christian Democratic Union, Christian Social Union, Free Democratic Party and the Green Party. The talks continued for 4 weeks until just past midnight on 20 November when the Free Democrats and their leader Christian Lindner walked out of the talks and they subsequently collapsed. The collapse of the talks left another Grand Coalition as the only coalition with a majority in the Bundestag; this however seemed difficult, as the Leader of the Social Democratic Party Martin Schulz had ruled out another Grand Coalition on multiple occasions.

In the following weeks, Steinmeier played an important role in the formation of the next government. This is because if the Bundestag fails to elect a chancellor in 14 days of voting, the president can either appoint the individual with most votes to lead a minority government or dissolve the Bundestag and call new elections. This type of political crisis had never been seen in Germany before and pushed the president into a quite powerful position which is rare for Germany. Steinmeier declared he would not consider a dissolution of the Bundestag as a preferable solution, and managed to persuade Schulz to meet with Angela Merkel and start preliminary talks. After long coalition talks, CDU, CSU and SPD formed a new grand coalition. Merkel was re-elected in the Bundestag on 14 March 2018.

Political positions as president
In October 2017, Steinmeier visited Putin and Gorbachev in Moscow. His visit was the first by one of his rank since 2010.

As early as June 2021, an Estonian academic characterized Steinmeier's politics of Russian rapprochement as "dangerous idealism".

Second presidential term
On 13 February 2022 he was re-elected as president.

Ukraine controversy
Shortly after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Steinmeier expressed regret for his earlier stance on Russia, saying his years of support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline had been a clear mistake. In April 2022 he called for a war crimes tribunal against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Steinmeier said that he "wrongly believed that Vladimir Putin would not precipitate a complete economic, political, and moral devastation of his country because of his imperial mania."

In April 2022, Steinmeier abandoned plans to visit Kyiv after admitting he would not be welcome in Ukraine in what was seen as a serious snub for one of Germany's most senior politicians. At the time, German news media cited Ukrainian officials as saying that the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky would refuse to meet Steinmeier if he came to Kyiv. Ukraine had previously criticized Steinmeier for his connections to Russia and his role in strengthening German-Russian relations under the Change through Trade policy.

On 25 October 2022, Steinmeier made an official visit to Ukraine, after a scheduled visit on 20 October was cancelled for security reasons due to a wave of cruise missile and drone attacks across Ukraine. At the time, DW News was talking about a new €350-billion Marshall Plan to aid Ukraine even while Russian bombs were still falling from Kyiv skies. Upon his return to Berlin he spoke at length of his Ukrainian experiences on 28 October, and opened with vivid descriptions of the horrors of war, noting that it had caused "the deepest crisis" that a reunified Germany has seen. He warned that "tougher, rough years are ahead of us."

On 29 November 2022 Steinmeier was interviewed again on this subject by a journalist from Deutsche Welle at his official residence. While opining that it is too early to talk about security guarantees for Ukraine, he condemned Russia's recent attacks on civilians and on gas and electricity supplies in Ukraine, saying, "A cease-fire now would mean Russia would keep the territories it has occupied. It is also reckless to suggest a cease-fire now, because to establish a cease-fire at this point in time would essentially condone all of the injustice that has already taken place."

Other activities

 * German Coordinating-Council for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Organizations, member of the board (2009–2013)
 * Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), member
 * German Protestant Church Assembly, member of the board
 * German Protestant Institute of Archaeology, member of the board
 * International Journalists' Programmes, member of the board of trustees
 * Peace of Westphalia Prize, member of the jury
 * Rudolf Pichlmayr Foundation for Organ Transplantation, member of the board
 * Aktion Deutschland Hilft (Germany's Relief Coalition), member of the board of trustees (−2017)
 * Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, ex-officio member of the board of trustees (−2017)
 * KfW, ex-officio member of the supervisory board (−2017)

Honorary appointment

 * Honorary doctorate of the Ural State Technical University, Russia (2010)
 * Willy Brandt Prize (2013)
 * Honorary citizen of Reims (2015)
 * Honorary doctorate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (2015)
 * Honorary doctorate of the University of Piraeus, Greece (2015)
 * Honorary doctorate of the University of Paderborn (2016)
 * Toleranzpreis der Evangelischen Akademie Tutzing (2016)
 * Ignatz Bubis Award (2017)
 * World Food Programme's Hunger Hero Award (2017)
 * Honorary doctorate of the Lebanese University (2018)
 * Leo Baeck Medal (2021)
 * Henry A. Kissinger Prize (2022)

National honours

 * GER Bundesverdienstkreuz 9 Sond des Grosskreuzes.svg Grand Master of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (19 March 2017 – Present)
 * GER Bundesverdienstkreuz 9 Sond des Grosskreuzes.svg Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (19 March 2017)

Foreign honours

 * 🇦🇹 Austria: Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash of the Order of Merit of the Austrian Republic (23 April 2016)
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (5 December 2023)
 * 🇧🇬 Bulgaria: First Class of the Order of Stara Planina (20 September 2007)
 * 🇨🇾 Cyprus: Grand Collar of the Order of Makarios III (12 February 2024)
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant (10 November 2021)
 * 🇪🇨 Ecuador: Grand Collar of the National Order of Merit (13 February 2019)
 * 🇫🇷 France: Grand Officer of the National Order of Legion of Honour (26 January 2017)
 * 🇫🇮 Finland: Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (17 September 2018)
 * 🇮🇸 Iceland: Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Falcon (12 June 2019)
 * 🇮🇹 Italy:
 * Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (17 September 2019)
 * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (21 March 2006)
 * 🇱🇻 Latvia: Commander Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of the Three Stars (19 February 2019)
 * 🇱🇺 Luxembourg: Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (10 July 2023)
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (5 July 2021)
 * 🇳🇴 Norway: Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (15 October 2007)
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal:
 * Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry (1 March 2018)
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (2 March 2009)
 * 🇷🇴 Romania: Collar of the Order of the Star of Romania (24 May 2023)
 * 🇸🇰 Slovakia: Grand Cross or (1st Class) of the Order of the White Double Cross (17 November 2017)
 * 🇸🇮 Slovenia: Member of the Order for Exceptional Merits (13 October 2022)
 * Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Collar of the Order pro Merito Melitensi (21 October 2019)
 * 🇪🇸 Spain: Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (11 October 2022)
 * 🇸🇪 Sweden: Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (7 September 2021)
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (29 March 2023)

title: Frank-Walter Steinmeier


text:
Inger Christensen

Inger Christensen (16 January 1935 – 2 January 2009) was a Danish poet, novelist, essayist and editor. She is considered the foremost Danish poetic experimentalist of her generation.

Life and work
Born in the town of Vejle, on the eastern Jutland coast of Denmark, Christensen's father was a tailor, and her mother a cook before her marriage. After graduating from Vejle Gymnasium, she moved to Copenhagen and, later, to Århus, studying at the Teachers’ College there. She received her certificate in 1958. During this same period, Christensen began publishing poems in the journal Hvedekorn, and was guided by the noted Danish poet and critic Poul Borum (1934–1996), whom she married in 1959 and divorced in 1976.

After teaching at the College for Arts in Holbæk from 1963 to 1964, she turned to writing full-time, producing two of her major early collections, Lys (Light, 1962) and Græs (Grass, 1963), both examining the limits of self-knowledge and the role of language in perception. Her most acclaimed work of the 1960s, however, was It (Det), which, on one level, explored social, political and aesthetic issues, but more deeply probed large philosophical questions of meaning. The work, almost incantatory in tone, opposes issues such as fear and love and power and powerlessness.

In these years Christensen also published two novels, Evighedsmaskinen (1964) and Azorno (1967), as well as a shorter fiction on the Italian Renaissance painter Mantegna, presented from the viewpoint of various narrators (Mantegna's secretary Marsilio, the Turkish princess Farfalla, and Mantagena's young son), Det malede Værelse (1976, translated into English as The Painted Room by Harvill Press in 2000).

Much of Christensen's work was organized upon “systemic” structures in accordance with her belief that poetry is not truth and not even the “dream” of truth, but “is a game, maybe a tragic game—the game we play with a world that plays its own game with us.”

In the 1981 poetry collection Alfabet, Christensen used the alphabet (from a ["apricots"] to n ["nights"]) along with the Fibonacci mathematical sequence in which the next number is the sum of the two previous ones (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34...). As she explained: "The numerical ratios exist in nature: the way a leek wraps around itself from the inside, and the head of a snowflower, are both based on this series." Her system ends on the n, suggesting many possible meanings including “n’s” significance as any whole number. As with It, however, despite its highly structured elements this work is a poetically evocative series concerned with oppositions such as an outpouring of the joy of the world counterposed with the fears for and forces poised for its destruction.

Sommerfugledalen of 1991 (Butterfly Valley: A Requiem, 2004) explores through the sonnet structure the fragility of life and mortality, ending in a kind of transformation.

Christensen also wrote works for children, plays, radio pieces, and numerous essays, the most notable of which were collected in her book Hemmelighedstilstanden (The State of Secrecy) in 2000.

Awards and honors
In 1978, she was appointed to the Royal Danish Academy; in 1994, she became a member of the Académie Européenne de Poésie ("European Academy of Poetry"); in 2001, a member of the Academy of Arts, Berlin. She won the Grand Prix des Biennales Internationales de Poésie in 1991; She received the Rungstedlund Award in 1991. Der österreichische Staatspreis für Literature ("Austrian State Prize for European Literature") in 1994; in 1994, she won the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize, known as the 'little Nobel'; the European Poetry Prize in 1995; The America Award in 2001; the German Siegfried Unseld Preis in 2006; and received numerous other distinctions. Her works have been translated into several languages, and she was frequently mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature.

Works
Years link to corresponding "[year] in poetry" article for books of poems, or "[year] in literature" for other literary works:
 * 1962: Lys: digte ("Light"), poems
 * 1963: Græs: digte ("Grass"), poems
 * 1964: Evighedsmaskinen, ("Eternity Machine"), novel
 * 1967: Azorno, novel (translated into English by Denise Newman; New Directions, 2009)
 * 1969: Det, ("it"), poems 1969 (translated into English by Susanna Nied)
 * 1972: Intriganterne ("The Scheming"), play
 * 1976: Det malede værelse ("The Painted Room: A Tale of Mantua"), novel (translated into English by Denise Newman; Harvill Press, 2000)
 * 1979: Brev i april ("Letter in April"), poems
 * 1979: Den historie der skal fortælles
 * 1981: Alfabet, 1981 - "Alphabet", poems (translated into English by Susanna Nied), twice translated into Swedish
 * 1982: Del af labyrinten ("Part of the Maze"), essays
 * 1982: Den store ukendte rejse ("The Big Unknown Journey"), children's book
 * 1987: En vinteraften i Ufa og andre spil ("A Winter Evening in Ufa"), plays
 * 1989: Digt om døden ("Poem on Death")
 * 1989: Lys og Græs ("Light and Grass"), poetry
 * 1990: Mikkel og hele menageriet (illustrated by Lillian Brøgger) children's book
 * 1991: Sommerfugledalen, ("Butterfly Valley: A Requiem"), poems (translated into English by Susanna Nied)
 * 1998: Samlede digte ("Collected Poems")
 * 2000: Hemmelighedstilstanden ("The State of Secrecy"), essays

Musical settings
The complete "Butterfly valley" has been set twice by two Danish composers, Niels Rosing-Schow and Svend Nielsen. Both versions were, separately, recorded by Ars Nova Copenhagen with poetry reading by the poet.

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

title: Inger Christensen


text:
Hughie Williams

Hughie Williams (3 September 1933 – 15 October 2017) was the former State Secretary of the Queensland Branch of the Transport Workers Union of Australia. He was State Secretary from 1992–2010 and was the national president in 2000. He was also State Secretary during the early 1980s and had been secretary of the now defunct Brisbane sub-branch throughout the 1980s.

Williams was a stalwart of the Union movement in his time as organiser and then Branch Secretary.

Williams dedicated his life to fighting injustices and was instrumental in the protests against the Springboks Tour in the 1970s.

On 10 December 2010 Williams stood aside as secretary after being defeated by a landslide defeat in the quadrennial elections by 'The New Transport Worker Team' headed by Peter Biagini.

Williams was raised in the coalmining area of Maitland in NSW. Williams has also competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in wrestling and was involved in organising for Brisbane's 1982 Commonwealth Games.

Williams died on 15 October 2017.

title: Hughie Williams


text:
Continuous cruiser

A continuous cruiser licence is a class of boat licence issued on United Kingdom inland waterways under the control of the Canal and River Trust (a charity which replaced British Waterways in July 2012). The term "continuous cruiser" refers specifically to boats and/or owners operating under such licence.

A definition of continuous cruising
The continuous cruiser licence is so called as it applies to boats continuously cruising the waterway network as defined in the preamble. The reason such a classification is important (and contested) is that a boat claiming "continuous cruiser" status need not obtain a (paid-for) home mooring. Officially recognised moorings usually attract substantial mooring fees, so a boater, exploring the network full-time and having no need of a permanent base, is not required by law to have a permanent mooring or "home port". Applicants for a continuous cruiser licence make a binding declaration to abide by rules for continuous cruising.

"Real" and "other" continuous cruisers
The Canal and River Trust (C&RT) defines as a "continuous cruiser" any boat which is always on the move and making "reasonable progress" between successive moorings. The C&RT recommends that a boater who keeps a log of their trip is less likely to have problems justifying their credentials.

Some boaters do not wish to move their boat very far – or not at all – if possible, (either to avoid expense, or to stay within an area e.g. from which they can travel to work) and cannot acquire (or, alternatively, do not wish to pay for) an "official mooring" in that place. Such boaters risk not being re-licensed (and hence they also risk having their boat removed from the Canal and River Trust's canals) by being repeatedly "logged" by C&RT spotters in or near one location.

Because of the need to make journeys long enough to justify the terms of their licence as defined by the licensing authority (or at least to avoid coming to the attention of local officials), but short enough to keep them near their desired location, boaters based in one area but with a "continuous cruising" licence are sometimes disparagingly termed "bridge-hoppers" or "continuous moorers".

History
Prior to 1995, all boats on the canal system controlled by [the then authority] British Waterways were required to have a permanent base for their boat known as a "home mooring". (similar in concept to registration of marine craft in a "home port"). Many boaters moved 'continuously', living on board as they travelled around, stopping in one place for a limited time. They neither wanted nor needed permanent moorings. Such boaters resented having to declare a home mooring, because they would have to pay a marina owner for services they had no intention of using, subsidising boaters who actually moored up either permanently, frequently or seasonally. This anomaly was recognised in the enactment of the British Waterways Act 1995 where Parliament accepted the boat owners' argument for fairness and built proviso into the 1995 act for boats not to have a home mooring.

Current position
The amount of licence fee paid under the jurisdiction of the Canal & River Trust depends on a boat's length and breadth, whether or not a "home mooring" is declared. However, boaters without a home mooring must agree to abide by guidelines for continuous cruising written by the authority under their interpretation of the Act and without consultation or agreement with the users.

All boats on the system, whether having a home mooring or not, must proceed under British Waterways Act 1995 section 17(3)(c)(ii) states "without remaining continuously in any one place for more than 14 days or such longer period as is reasonable in the circumstances". However, many boaters without a home mooring feel they are discriminated against by 'heavy handed' action of C&RT enforcers and obliged to adhere to "guidelines" not conforming with the spirit or the wording of the 1995 act.

Judicial review
On 23 July 2013 the Court of Appeal granted permission to Nick Brown for a judicial review of the authority's "Guidance for Boaters Without a Home Mooring". Lord Justice Jackson said in his judgement that the issue of whether the 2011 guidance accurately sets out the powers of CRT and the restrictions on licence holders arising from section 17 of the British Waterways Act 1995 merited pursuit in judicial review. In February 2014, two days after the judicial review started, Nick Brown, the legal officer of the National Bargee Travellers Association, applied to abandon his claim for a review. The judge, Mr Justice Lewis, accepted the application and awarded substantial costs to be paid by Mr Brown to the CRT.

title: Continuous cruiser


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Andy linn

 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was Delete (7d, 1k)--Scimitar parley 19:14, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

Andy linn
Non-notable bio. User:JYolkowski thinks he is notable so I am bringing it here. -- RHaworth 10:13, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete as vanity. --GraemeL (talk) 12:44, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, he isn't notable yet. -- Kjkolb 14:07, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, I know a few hundred socialists here at KU who are chomping at the bit for their own article as well... ESkog | Talk 17:53, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete... he's not even notable in Detroit. No support in article for claims of notability other than membership in activist groups and a non-notable musical release.--Isotope23 19:09, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Note that I didn't say that he's notable, but rather that the article asserts notability. Delete unless references added by end of AfD.  JYolkowski // talk 20:55, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, but agree with JY, not a speedy. Christopher Parham (talk) 04:20, 14 October 2005 (UTC)
 * ""Save"", i happen to know of the guy. he's a figure around these parts. i originally made the article, seems like there's some debate about Linn among your cats, though. i'm sort of newer to wikipedia, what kind of references are neccessary to prove notariety?  thanks -james
 * Delete local figure isn't equal to notable in the historic sense. Best of luck to him and his causes, but sorry, we can't list 'em all, we're too close to critical mass. Pete.Hurd 05:41, 18 October 2005 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in an undeletion request). No further edits should be made to this page.


text:
Asian Australians

Asian Australians are Australians of Asian ancestry, including naturalised Australians who are immigrants from various regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants. At the 2021 census, the proportion of the population identifying as Asian amounted to approximately 17.4 percent with breakdowns of 6.5 percent from Southern and Central Asia, 6.4 percent from North-East Asia, and 4.5 percent from South-East Asia.

Terminology
The term Asian Australian was first coined in the 1950s by European Australians who sought to strengthen diplomatic and trade ties with Asia. However, the term was not originally used to describe or recognise the experiences of people of Asian descent living in Australia. It was not until the late 1980s and 1990s that the term was adopted and used by Asian Australians themselves to discuss issues related to racial vilification and discrimination. Today, the term is widely accepted and used to refer to people of Asian descent who are citizens or residents of Australia, although its usage and meaning may vary within the Asian Australian community.

When people use the term Asians in everyday conversation, they are usually referring to two main groups: East Asians (including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Mongolian) and Southeast Asians (including Filipinos, Cambodians, Vietnamese, Laotians, Indonesians, Thais, and Singaporeans). Additionally, South Asians (including Indians, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Nepalese, and Pakistanis) may also be included.

Census definition
Information relating to the racial composition of the population was collected for the first time at the Census of 1911. The following were classified as "Asiatic": • Chinese

• Hindus

• Japanese

• Syrians

• Malays

• Filipinos

• Javanese

• Cingalese

• Afghans and Baluchis

• Timorese

• Arabs

• Asiatic Turks

• Persians

• Asiatic Jews

• Siamese

• Asiatic (so described)

• Armenians

• Burmese

• Tibetans At censuses prior to 1966 the instructions relating to race were insufficient to enable respondents to classify themselves according to the degree of racial mixture. As one report for the 1966 Census of Population and Housing details: "For example, from 1933 to 1961 persons were asked the following question: For persons of European race, wherever born, write 'European '. For non-Europeans state the race to which they belong, for example, 'Aboriginal', 'Chinese', 'Negro', 'Afghan', etc. If the person is half-caste with one parent of European race, write also 'H.C.', for example 'H.C. Aboriginal', 'H. C. Chinese', etc. At the 1966 Census the instructions were re-designed... in an endeavour to obtain precise data on racial mixture and also to avoid the opprobrium attaching to the term 'half-caste'..."

The Australian Bureau of Statistics and Australian Census no longer collect data on race as a standalone category. Instead, they collect information on distinct ancestries, of which census respondents can select up to two. The ABS has classified certain ancestries into categories for the purposes of aggregating data, including:
 * North-East Asian (including Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, etc.);
 * South-East Asian (including Vietnamese, Filipinos, Indonesians, etc.); and
 * Southern and Central Asian (including Indians, Sri Lankans, Afghans, etc.).

Ancestry is the primary statistical measure of ethnicity or cultural origins in Australia. The different ancestry groups may have distinct histories, cultures, and geographical origins. Therefore, information on Australians with ancestry from Asia can be found in the respective articles for each separate article (e.g., Chinese Australians, Indian Australians, etc.).

It is important to note that Australians of Middle Eastern ancestries are not classified as part of the Asian category under the ABS's Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups (ASCCEG). Instead, they are separately classified under North African and Middle Eastern. This includes Australians of Arab, Turkish and Iranian ancestries. However, Armenians, for example, are classified as Central Asian and therefore part of the Asian category.

Gold rush

The Victorian gold rush of the 1850s and 1860s witnessed a significant rise in Chinese immigration to Australia. While small numbers of Chinese settlers had arrived as early as 1818, the gold rush triggered a dramatic increase in their presence. However, existing prejudices and cultural misunderstandings led to conflict between Chinese and European communities, culminating in violent riots at Lambing Flat and Buckland. These tensions resulted in the enactment of anti-Chinese legislation by various Australian colonies, foreshadowing the implementation of the discriminatory White Australia policy from 1901 to 1973.

Afghan cameleers
During the period from the 1860s to 1900, small groups of cameleers, mostly from British India but also from other countries including Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, and Turkey, were shipped in and out of Australia on three-year contracts to service the inland pastoral industry. These workers, who were commonly referred to as "Afghans" or "Ghans", were responsible for carting goods and transporting wool bales by camel train. Most of the cameleers were Muslims, with a sizeable minority being Sikhs from the Punjab region. They established camel-breeding stations and rest house outposts, known as caravanserai, throughout inland Australia, creating a permanent link between the coastal cities and remote cattle and sheep grazing stations. This practice continued until around the 1930s, when the cameleers were largely replaced by automobiles.

Immigration restriction
During the 1870s and 1880s, the trade union movement in Australia raised concerns about the impact of foreign labour particularly from Asia, on the lives of Australian workers. These concerns, fuelled by anxieties about economic competition and cultural differences, led to calls for restrictions on immigration. While some argued that Asian labourers were essential for development in tropical regions, union pressure ultimately led to the introduction of legislation between 1875 and 1888 aimed at curbing Chinese immigration. These policies, though motivated by a mix of economic and social factors, also contributed to the marginalization and exploitation of non-European workers, including Asian and Chinese immigrants, by limiting their access to better wages and working conditions.

Internment during WWII
During WWII, Japanese and Taiwanese (the latter due to the fact that Taiwan was then under Japanese colonial rule) from various locations were interned in Tatura and Rushworth, two towns in Victoria, due to government policies. Roughly 600 Taiwanese civilians, including entire families, were held at "Internment Camp No. 4" in Rushworth, between January 1942 and March 1946. Most Japanese and Taiwanese were arrested for racist reasons. Some Japanese and Taiwanese people were born in the camp and received birth certificates. During internment, some adults operated businesses and schools in the camp. Filipinos, Koreans, Manchus, New Caledonians, New Hebrideans, and people from various locations were also held at the camp, as well as mixed-Japanese Aboriginal Australians. Schools mainly taught English, Japanese, Mandarin and Taiwanese languages (Hokkien, Hakka, indigenous Formosan).

Repatriation after WWII
After the war, internees were resettled in their country of ethnic origin, with the exception of Japanese Australians. Non-Australian Japanese were repatriated to Japan, while Taiwanese were repatriated to Occupied Taiwan. The repatriation caused public outcry due to the poor living conditions on the ship, known as the "Yoizuki Hellship scandal". The government wanted to expel non-citizen Japanese internees, including most Taiwanese. Many believed the Taiwanese should be seen as citizens of the Republic of China (ROC) and hence allies, not expelled under poor conditions. This debate further inflamed outrage at the treatment of Taiwanese internees, and there was a minor controversy regarding the destination of repatriation for some Taiwanese internees. Despite public pressure, the Australian government ultimately still deported the Taiwanese internees.

Post-war immigration

The government began to expand access to citizenship for non-Europeans and increase immigration numbers from non-European countries in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1973, the prime minister implemented a more non-discriminatory immigration policy.

In 1957, the government allowed access to citizenship for 15-year residents. In 1958, the Migration Act was reformed to allow skilled and professional non-Europeans to immigrate and temporarily reside in the country. During the Fraser government, the country experienced the largest intake of Asian immigrants since the 1850s and 1860s due to an increase in Vietnamese refugees after the Vietnam War. In 1983, British immigration was lower than Asian immigration for the first time in Australian history. Overall, immigration policy has evolved towards non-discrimination and broadening pathways to citizenship for Asians, following the dismantling of European-only policies.

Arts, culinary and entertainment

Asian Australians have been involved in the entertainment industry since the first half of the 19th century. One notable example is comedian Anh Do, who is of Vietnamese descent. Do has gained widespread recognition for his work as an author, actor, comedian, and painter. His 2011 memoir The Happiest Refugee has won multiple awards, including the 2011 Australian Book of the Year, Biography of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, as well as the Indie Book of the Year Award 2011, Non-fiction Indie Book of the Year 2011, and it was shortlisted for the 2011 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Community Relations Commission Award. Another prominent Asian Australian artist is, Australian singer and songwriter Dami Im. Im rose to fame after winning the fifth season of The X Factor Australia in 2013. On 3 March 2016, it was announced Im would represent Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. Her song was "Sound of Silence".

Cook and television presenter Poh Ling Yeow, gained national attention as a contestant for the first series of MasterChef Australia. Yeow signed with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for a cooking series (Poh's Kitchen) and a two-book publishing deal with ABC Books. The production on the series began in November 2009 in her home town of Adelaide. The series was aired from 10 February 2010. Yeow was nominated for the Logie Awards of 2011 in the category of Most Popular New Female Talent. Yeow has appeared in four films: Human Touch (2004), Peaches (2004), Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger (2008) and the Tropfest short film Jackie's Spring Palace (2009). She is also credited as production designer on Jackie's Spring Palace. Aside from her cooking programs, Yeow had substantial roles in Room 101, Can of Worms, Reality Check. She appeared in the 2013 ABC comedy series It's a Date, along with Dave Lawson.

YouTuber, actress, and comedian Natalie Tran, began posting to her YouTube channel in 2006, initially posting responses to other videos she had seen on the site. Her content then consisted of observational comedy skits and vlogs, which lampooned everyday situations, in which she played all of the characters and gave monologues throughout. By 2009, Tran was the most subscribed-to YouTuber in Australia and the 37th most subscribed-to globally. In 2010, she became the 18th most subscribed-to YouTuber globally. She became an ambassador for YouTube's Creators for Change initiative in September 2016. In December 2017, as part of the program, she released White Male Asian Female, a 40-minute documentary about negative perceptions of relationships between Asian women and Caucasian men such as her own, on her YouTube channel. She hosted a video guide segment for the 2019 Sydney Film Festival called the Launch Show, released in May 2019. From 2010 to 2011, Tran worked as a Sydney correspondent for The Project's The Whip segment. The Daily Telegraph called her "one of Australia’s original success stories on YouTube".

Australian author and journalist Benjamin Law, best known for his books The Family Law, a family memoir published in 2010, and the TV series of the same name. The six-part series, loosely adapted from Law's 2010 book of the same name, was written by Law and Marieke Hardy. The program has received critical acclaim from critics. One critic from Daily Review Australia said "the core challenge is making a captivating comedy series about normal people living normal lives. The Family Law gives it a good crack, and has an amiable quality that many viewers will find endearing." Another critic from The Guardian said "there’s so much detail, warmth and gentle humour to the script, direction and production design that the characters and settings are relatable for anyone who grew up – or is growing up – in Australia." She gave the program 4 out of 5 stars. In 2018, Sashi Cheliah was the winner of the tenth series of Masterchef Australia.

Journalism
Asian Australians have made significant contributions to the field of journalism in Australia, bringing new perspectives and challenging mainstream media narratives. Notable journalists of Asian heritage include Yalda Hakim, a BBC World News presenter who has contributed to SBS's Dateline program, Benjamin Law, an accomplished writer and journalist known for his insightful commentary on Australian society, Lee Lin Chin, a prominent Australian journalist and television presenter, Iskhandar Razak, an award-winning investigative journalist who has worked for the ABC and SBS, and Fauziah Ibrahim, a journalist and presenter for ABC News who has reported on a wide range of stories across Australia and Asia.

Sports
Asian Australians have contributed to sports in Australia through much of the 20th Century. Some of the most notable contributions include Olympic sports, but also in professional sports, particularly in the post-World War II years. As the Asian Australian population grew in the late 20th century, Asian Australian contributions expanded to more sports. Examples of female Asian Australian athletes include Lisa Sthalekar, Catriona Bisset, Alexandra Huynh, Setyana Mapasa, Priscilla Hon, and Cheltzie Lee. Examples of male Asian Australian athletes include Jason Day, Massimo Luongo, Geoff Huegill, Usman Khawaja, Peter Bell, and Martin Lo.

Overview
The Australian government collects data on distinct ancestries rather than race at each census, and at the 2021 census, approximately 17.4 percent of the population identified as having Asian ancestry.

At the 2021 census the most commonly nominated Asian ancestries were as set out in the following table. The largest group are Chinese Australians.

Details
Thirty percent of Asian Australians go to university, 20 percent of all Australian doctors are Asian, and 37 percent of Asian Australians participate in some form of organised sport. Chinese and Indian Australians, particularly second and third generation immigrants, are present in large numbers in Sydney and Melbourne, with Chinese Australians constituting Sydney's fourth largest ancestry group.

Political representation

Members of minority groups make up about 6 percent of the federal Parliament. Both Labor and Greens voters were more likely to agree that Asian Australians experience discrimination, but more than three-quarters of those who said they would vote for the Liberal/National Coalition also agreed.

Discrimination and violence against Asian Australians
Asian Australians have faced discrimination and racial violence based on their race and ethnicity. Some Sikh Australians have experienced discrimination due to their religious garments being mistaken for those worn by Arabs or Muslims, particularly after the September 11 attacks.

COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in anti-Asian sentiment in Australia.

Racial stereotypes
There are racial stereotypes that exist towards Asian Australians. Some view Asian Australians as "perpetual foreigners" and not as truly "Australian".

Model minority
The term "model minority" refers to a minority group whose members are perceived to have achieved a higher level of socio-economic success than the population average. In the case of Asian Australians, this stereotype is often applied to groups such as Chinese Australians, Indian Australians, and Korean Australians. While it is true that some members of these groups have achieved success in education and income, it is important to note that the model minority stereotype is an oversimplification that ignores the diversity and challenges faced by individuals within these groups.

Bamboo ceiling
The bamboo ceiling is a term used to describe the barriers that prevent Asian Australians from achieving leadership positions in the workplace. Despite making up 9.3 percent of the Australian labour force, Asian Australians are significantly underrepresented in senior executive positions, with only 4.9 percent achieving these roles. This disparity is often attributed to unconscious bias and discrimination within the workplace.

Disparities among Asian Australians
There are social and economic disparities among Asian Australians. While Asian Australians are over-represented in high-performing schools and university courses, some ethnic groups face challenges. For example, Cambodian Australians have lower rates of educational qualifications and higher participation in semi-skilled and unskilled occupations compared to the general Australian population. Laotian Australians also have lower rates of higher non-school qualifications and higher unemployment rates compared to the total Australian population.

Vietnamese Australians have slightly lower participation in the labour force and higher unemployment rates compared to the national average. Hmong Australians have historically had high unemployment rates and a large proportion in unskilled factory jobs, though this has improved somewhat in recent years. In contrast, Bangladeshi Australians have higher educational levels and a higher participation in skilled managerial, professional, or trade occupations compared to the total Australian population.

title: Asian Australians


text:
Anna Blundy

Anna Blundy (born 11 April 1970) is an English novelist and journalist. She was born in London and educated at the City of London School for Girls and Westminster School. Her first book was published in 1998: Every Time We Say Goodbye, a memoir of her father David Blundy, a foreign correspondent killed in El Salvador in 1989. Her series of novels featuring the female war correspondent Faith Zanetti started with The Bad News Bible in 2004. The second in a series, Faith Without Doubt, was published in September 2005. The third in the series, Neat Vodka was published in September 2006 by Little, Brown.

Anna Blundy studied Russian at University College, Oxford. She is a columnist for The Times and was its Moscow Bureau Chief during the 1998–99 financial crisis. She has appeared since 2006 on BBC Television's Newsnight Review and its successor The Review Show.

Books

 * Every Time We Say Goodbye
 * Oligarch's Wife
 * Only My Dreams

 * Faith Zanetti novels
 * 1) Bad News Bible
 * 2) Faith Without Doubt
 * 3) Neat Vodka
 * 4) Double Shot, US title: Breaking Faith
 * 5) My Favourite Poison

title: Anna Blundy


text:
Taeniacide

A taeniacide is a substance that kills tapeworms. This makes it a class of antihelminthic agents. It gets its name from the genus Taenia.

Examples
Pharmaceutical taeniacides include diatrizoic acid, praziquantel, albendazole,  niclosamide, and bunamidine.

title: Taeniacide


text:
Edward Riou

Edward Riou FRS (20 November 1762 – 2 April 1801) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary Wars under several of the most distinguished naval officers of his age and won fame and honour for two incidents in particular.

Riou entered the navy at 12 years of age, and after a period spent in British and North American waters, served as a midshipman on Captain James Cook's third and final voyage of discovery. Prior to this voyage he had his portrait painted by popular artist Daniel Gardner. Rising through the ranks, he saw service on a number of the navy's stations, but also endured periods of unemployment. He received his first command in 1789, the former fifth-rate HMS Guardian (1784), which was being used to transport stores and convicts to Australia. He had the misfortune to run his ship onto an iceberg, which nearly caused his ship to sink outright. After several attempts to stop the flooding into the damaged hull, most of the crew abandoned ship. Despite fully anticipating his death, Riou refused to leave his ship, and he and a few others were left to attempt the nearly impossible task of navigating the sinking ship several hundred leagues to land. After nine weeks at sea, and with continued labour and endurance, Riou successfully navigated his half-sunk ship back to port, saving the lives of those who had elected to remain with him.

His feat earned him promotions and finally commands, but a period of ill-health forced his temporary retirement from active service. Recovering quickly, he was given command of the new 38-gun HMS Amazon (1799), and was assigned in 1801 to Sir Hyde Parker's expedition to the Baltic. Riou worked closely with Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson during the approach to the Battle of Copenhagen, earning Nelson's trust and admiration. Nelson appointed Riou to command his frigate squadron during the battle, but when the engagement began badly for the British, Riou used his initiative to attack the Danish forts, despite being heavily outgunned. When Parker sent the signal to withdraw, Nelson ignored it and Riou felt he had no choice but to obey his commanding officer, despite his despair at what Nelson would think of retreat. As the Amazon swung away, she exposed her vulnerable stern to the Danish batteries. Riou was encouraging his men to the end when he was cut down by a round shot. Nelson, on learning of Riou's death, called the loss 'irreparable'. A monument was erected to his memory in St Paul's Cathedral, while a poem commemorated the loss of the 'gallant, good Riou'.

Family and early career
Riou was born at Mount Ephraim, near Faversham, Kent, on 20 November 1762, the second son of Captain Stephen Riou of the Grenadier Guards, and his wife Dorothy. He embarked on a naval career at the age of 12, joining Sir Thomas Pye's flagship, the 90-gun HMS Barfleur (1768) at Portsmouth. His next ship was the 50-gun HMS Romney (1762), flagship of Vice-Admiral John Montagu on the Newfoundland station. Riou was rated midshipman by 1776 and joined Captain Charles Clerke's HMS Discovery (1774) for a voyage to the Pacific under Captain James Cook aboard HMS Resolution (1771). The expedition was Cook's third voyage of discovery, and after his death at Hawaii Clerke took command, transferring to Resolution and bringing Midshipman Riou with him.

Riou took and passed his lieutenant's examination on 19 October 1780, shortly after the expedition's return to Britain, and received his promotion on 28 October. His first appointment as lieutenant was to the 14-gun brig-sloop HMS Scourge (1779), which was sent to serve in the West Indies. Here Riou appears to have become ill, a common experience for naval officers serving in the tropics, but he survived to return to Britain and was discharged from his ship on 3 February 1782 and went into the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar. He recovered his health and by April 1783 was back on active service, joining the Portsmouth guardship HMS Ganges (1782). Discharging from the Ganges in June 1784, he went on to half-pay, which lasted for two years until he received another appointment, this time to the 50-gun HMS Salisbury (1769) in March 1786. The Salisbury was the flagship of Rear-Admiral John Elliot, who sailed to Newfoundland take up his post as Commodore-Governor there. During this period in his life, Riou was described by a seaman aboard the Ganges as 'a strict disciplinarian with a fanatical regard for cleanliness'. He was also noted to be a religious man, and an affectionate son and brother. A further period on half-pay followed his discharge from the Salisbury in November 1788, but meanwhile he had succeeded in attracting the attention of the Townsend family, and was able to use their patronage to secure an appointment to command HMS Guardian (1784), in April 1789.

Command of the Guardian
The Guardian was a former two-decked 44-gun fifth-rate, but had been armed en flûte and loaded with stores to be taken to the British colony at Botany Bay. In addition to these stores, consisting of seeds, plants, farm machinery and livestock with a total value of some £70,000, the Guardian was also to transport a number of convicts and their overseers. Aboard the Guardian was a young midshipman named Thomas Pitt, the son of politician Thomas Pitt, and nephew of Prime Minister William Pitt.

With over 300 people aboard his ship, Riou left Spithead on 8 September 1789, and had an uneventful voyage to the Cape of Good Hope where he loaded more livestock and plants. While at the Cape, Riou met Lieutenant William Bligh, who had sailed with Riou on Cook's third voyage during which Bligh had been the sailing master of Resolution. Bligh had arrived at the Cape from Timor, where he had landed after a 3,618 mile voyage in an open boat following a mutiny aboard his ship, HMS Bounty. After completing his re-provisioning, Riou sailed from the Cape in mid-December, and picking up the Westerlies, began the second leg of his voyage to New South Wales. On Christmas Eve, twelve days after his departure from the Cape, a large iceberg was spotted, and Riou decided to use the ice to replenish his stocks of fresh water that were quickly being depleted by the need to supply the plants and animals he was transporting.

Riou and the iceberg
Riou positioned himself near the iceberg, and despatched boats to collect the ice. By the time the last boats had been recovered, night had fallen and a sudden fogbank descended, hiding the iceberg from view. Riou found himself in a dangerous situation. Somewhere to leeward lay a large mass of ice, concealed in the darkness and fog. He posted lookouts in the bows and rigging, and began to edge slowly forward. After sometime the danger seemed to be past, and the iceberg left behind, when at 9 o'clock a strange pale glow was reported by the lookout in the bows. Riou ordered the helm to turn hard a starboard, turning into the wind as a wall of ice higher than the ship's masts slid by along the side. It briefly appeared that the danger had been avoided, but as she passed by, the Guardian struck an underwater projection with a crash. Caught in a sudden gust of wind, the ship reared up and swung about, driving the stern into the ice, smashing away the rudder, shattering her stern frame and tearing a large gash in the hull. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Riou remained calm, using the sails to pull clear of the ice, and then taking stock of the damage.

Now clear of the immediate danger of the ice, Riou found himself in a desperate situation. There was two feet of water in the hold and more was rushing in, while the sea was rising and a gale had sprung up. The pumps were manned, but could not keep up with the influx of water, and by midnight there was 6 feet of water in the hold. At dawn on Christmas Day, an attempt was made to fother the hull, which involved lowering an oakum-packed studding sail over the side to cover the gash in the hull and slow the flooding. This was temporarily successful and by 11 o'clock the pumps had been able to reduce the water to a level of 19 inches. The respite was short-lived, as the sail split under the pressure of the water and the water level began to rise again. A number of seaman requested permission to take to the ship's boats. Riou convinced them to stay, but another attempt to fother the hull with another sail failed when the sail immediately ripped. By nightfall on 25 December, the water in the hold had risen to 7 feet, and the ship was rolling violently, allowing water to pour over the ship's side. Riou ordered the stores, guns and livestock to be thrown overboard in an attempt to lighten the ship, but was injured when his hand was crushed by a falling cask while trying to clear the bread-room. By morning the next day, the ship was settling by the stern, while the sails had been torn away in the gale. Again the seamen, this time joined by the convicts, requested to be allowed to take to the boats. Riou at last agreed to this, well aware that there were not enough boats for everyone, and announced 'As for me, I have determined to remain in the ship, and shall endeavour to make my presence useful as long as there is any occasion for it.'

'I have determined to remain in the ship'
While the boats were prepared, Riou wrote a letter to the Secretary to the Admiralty; "Sir, If any part of the officers or crew of the Guardian should ever survive to get home, I have only to say their conduct after the fatal stroke against an island of ice was admirable and wonderful in everything that related to their duties considered either as private men or on his Majesty's Service. As there seems no possibility of my remaining many hours in this world, I beg leave to recommend to the consideration of the Admiralty a sister who if my conduct or service should be found deserving any memory their favour might be shown to her together with a widowed mother. I am Sir remaining with great respect Your ever Obedt & humble servt, E. Riou"

Riou gave the note to Mr Clements, the master of the Guardian, who was given command of the launch. A total of 259 people chose to join the five boats, leaving Riou with sixty-two people; himself, three midshipmen, including Thomas Pitt, the surgeon's mate, the boatswain, carpenter, three superintendents of convicts, a daughter of one of the superintendents, thirty seamen and boys and twenty-one convicts. The Guardian was nearly awash by now with 16 feet of water in the hold, but a bumping noise on the deck attracted attention, and on investigation was found to be a number of casks that had broken free and were floating in the hold, trapped under the lower gundeck. Realising that this was providing extra buoyancy, Riou had the gun deck hatches sealed and caulked, while another sail was sent under the hull to control the flooding. Having now created a substitute hull out of his deck, Riou raised what little sail he could and began the long journey back to land, with the pumps being continuously manned.

For nine weeks Riou and his small crew navigated the Guardian, by now little more than a raft, across the 400 leagues to the Cape of Good Hope. The Cape of Good Hope was sighted on 21 February 1790, and whalers were despatched from Table Bay to help the battered ship to safety. Riou ran her aground to prevent her sinking, but a gale struck the coast shortly afterwards, completing the wreck of the Guardian. The voyage was described by J. K. Laughton in the Dictionary of National Biography as 'almost without parallel'. Those who remained with the Guardian were among the few survivors of the accident. Of the boats sent out on 25 December, only the launch with 15 people survived, having been rescued by a French merchant. The launch had witnessed the sinking of the jolly-boat, before losing contact with the two cutters and the long-boat. Riou arranged for the surviving convicts who had helped to save the ship to be pardoned for their good service.

Promotion and early service in the French Revolutionary Wars
Riou returned to Britain and was met with popular acclaim for his feat. Acquitted of any blame for the loss of his ship, he was promoted to master and commander on 21 September 1790, and advanced to post-captain on 4 June 1791. These promotions were for rank only, and he did not receive a command until after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. Appointed to command the sixth-rate HMS Rose (1783) in June 1793, he served in the West Indies with Sir John Jervis and was active in the operations against Guadeloupe and Martinique in 1794. He was moved to the 40-gun HMS Beaulieu (1791) in November 1794, capturing a number of small French vessels before ill-health forced him to be invalided home. In the meantime, he was appointed to the yacht HMS Princess Augusta, but his health improved and he was able to return to active service in June 1799 with an appointment to command the 38-gun HMS Amazon (1799). He was active against French privateers, before being assigned to Sir Hyde Parker's expedition to the Baltic in 1801 to compel the Danes to abandon the League of Armed Neutrality.

In May 1796 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society

Battle of Copenhagen
After the British force had surveyed the Danish positions around Copenhagen, a council of war was held between Parker, his second in command Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, and the other British captains. Riou was among those present. Riou had worked closely with Nelson and Captain Thomas Foley in the lead up to the attack, and Nelson duly appointed him commander of the frigates and smaller vessels, with the instruction to deploy his ships to support the main fleet. As the battle began, several of Nelson's ships ran aground on shoals in the harbour, and a new plan of attack had to be improvised. As Nelson's ships of the line engaged their Danish counterparts, Riou took his frigates in to harass the Tre Kroner forts and blockships. Despite being heavily outmatched and dangerously exposed, they exchanged fire for several hours. The ships suffered heavy casualties; Riou was hit on the head by a splinter.

Death
At 1:15 pm, Parker, waiting outside the harbour with the reserve, raised a signal ordering Nelson to withdraw. Nelson acknowledged the signal but ignored it, while Nelson's second in command, Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves repeated the signal but did not obey it. Riou now found himself in a difficult position. Too junior an officer to risk disobeying a direct order, he reluctantly gave the order for his small squadron to withdraw. In doing so his ships were forced to turn their sterns to the Danish guns, leaving themselves open to heavy fire on their most vulnerable area. The withdrawal of HMS Alcmene (1794) and then HMS Blanche (1800) reduced the thick cloud of gun smoke that was helping to obscure the British ships, leaving the Amazon exposed to the full force of the Danish guns. Riou remained in action for a further half an hour before reluctantly giving the order to withdraw. Lieutenant-Colonel William Stuart, commanding the soldiers of the 48th Regiment recorded that Riou: "...was sitting on a gun, was encouraging his men, and had been wounded in the head by a splinter. He had expressed himself grieved at being thus obliged to retreat, and nobly observed, 'What will Nelson think of us?' His clerk was killed by his side; and by another shot, several marines, while hauling on the main-brace, shared the same fate. Riou then exclaimed, 'Come, then, my boys, let us all die together!' The words were scarcely uttered, when the fatal shot severed him in two."

Command of the Amazon devolved to her first lieutenant, Lieutenant John Quilliam, who completed the withdrawal.

Memorials
Nelson, who had not known him before this expedition, had conceived a great affection for Riou, and wrote 'In poor dear Riou the country has sustained an irreparable loss.' The naval historian Sir Jahleel Brenton declared that he had all the qualities of a perfect officer.

Parliament commemorated his memory with a joint memorial (shared with Cpt. James Robert Mosse) in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral. The poet Thomas Campbell wrote The Battle of the Baltic, with the lines "Brave hearts! To Britain's pride, Once so faithful and so true, On the deck of fame that died With the gallant, good Riou"

title: Edward Riou


text:
Parochial Union of Ordino

The Parochial Union of Ordino (Unió Parroquial d'Ordino, UPd'O) was a local political party in Ordino, Andorra.

History
The party first contested national elections in 1997, when it took part in parliamentary elections. The party did not participate in the national-level vote, but put forward candidates in the parish-level elections in alliance with the Liberal Union. The party won both seats in the Ordino provincial circumscription, with Simón Duró Coma and Josep Àngel Mortés Pons being elected to the General Council.

The party has not contested any elections since 1997.

title: Parochial Union of Ordino


text: User talk:144.139.171.24

title: User talk:144.139.171.24


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/GURPS Halo

 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was DELETE. — J I P | Talk 07:45, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

GURPS Halo
Non notable unfinished book for which I couldn't think of a proper speedy CambridgeBayWeather 10:17, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete fancruft.--Isotope23 13:54, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete — Appears to be a form of vanity. — RJH 14:57, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete - clearly a personal project, non-notable, not encyclopedic. BD2412  talk 22:20, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete Not a published or even proposed GURPS project except in some nerds mind and now on Wikipedia. SchmuckyTheCat 22:42, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. I think you have Wikipedia mixed up with your unknown blog. Oh, how I wish it could be speedied. the wub  "?!"  22:53, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in an undeletion request). No further edits should be made to this page.