Latest news with #Papadimitriou
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Yahoo
Home of former Greek rail disaster probe chief attacked
An incendiary device exploded early Sunday outside the apartment block where a former senior state investigator probing Greece's worst train tragedy lives, police said. Athens News Agency reported that unidentified individuals had placed it at the entrance of the and that it had exploded shortly before 03:00 am on Sunday. The explosion caused minor material damage to the entrance and police found the remains of gas cannisters, firecrackers and duct tape. State security is investigating the incident at the building, which according to police sources is where Christos Papadimitriou, until recently head of the state accident investigation agency's railway sector, lives. Papadimitriou resigned early in April, citing "personal and family reasons", having said he had received threats over his work. That followed a row over statements he made about the fireball explosion that followed the devastating train collision of Tempe in 2023. Fifty-seven people, most of them young students, were killed in February 2023 when a passenger train and a freight train collided in Tempe, central Greece, having been allowed to run on the same track. But investigators say some those who died were killed not in the crash but by an 80-metre (260-feet) fireball that came after the collision. - 'Questionable' methodology - On February 27, Papadimitriou presented a report that indicated the "possible presence" of an "unknown fuel" that could have caused the fireball, a conclusion that has divided experts. In subsequent television interviews he said that European train safety officials had pressed for this conclusion to be included in the report, but that it required further investigation. "I received threats because I continued to look into it," he told Skai TV. The fireball theory was based on "questionable" methodology that was "not universally accepted" by experts, he added. Papadimitriou mentioned that there was an alternative theory that involved train engine silicone oils. If that theory turned out to be correct, then "all trains" running in Europe" could be "dangerous", he had warned. The disaster and its aftermath have sparked strikes and hundreds of protests in Greece and abroad this year. It has also led to two votes of no confidence in the conservative government, which the administration overcame. The train's Italian-owned operator Hellenic Train has denied knowledge of any illegal cargo on the freight train. Prosecutors have so taken action against more than 40 people over the accident, including the local station master responsible for routing the trains. A trial into the accident is not expected before the end of the year. Early in April, a bomb exploded outside the Athens offices of Hellenic Train, after anonymous calls to Greek media warned of the attack near one of the capital's busiest highways. No one was injured. kan/jj
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill Gates' Harvard Professor Thought, 'What A Waste' When He Left Academia, But That 'Small Company' He Founded Changed The World
Before he became one of the wealthiest people on the planet with Microsoft Inc. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Bill Gates was just another Harvard undergrad, albeit one whose intelligence made a long-lasting impression on his professors. One of them, Christos Papadimitriou, recalled thinking Gates was the smartest person he had ever encountered. But when Gates ditched academia to pursue business, Papadimitriou had just one reaction: 'what a waste'. What Happened: In the 1970s, Gates co-authored a paper on a mathematical problem called "pancake sorting" with Papadimitriou. His unique solution slashed the number of necessary operations drastically and held the world record for decades. Don't Miss: Inspired by Uber and Airbnb – Deloitte's fastest-growing software company is transforming 7 billion smartphones into income-generating assets – with $1,000 you can invest at just $0.26/share! Are you rich? Here's what Americans think you need to be considered wealthy. But just two years later, when Papadimitriou called Gates to share the news that their paper had been accepted for publication in a prestigious journal, Gates had already changed course, relocating to New Mexico to concentrate on his software company. Speaking about the episode at the ACM Awards several years later, Papadimitriou said: "Two years later, I called to tell him our paper had been accepted to a fine math journal. He sounded eminently disinterested. He had moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to run a small company writing code for microprocessors, of all things. I remember thinking: 'Such a brilliant kid. What a waste.' Why It Matters: Gates' early departure from Harvard to build Microsoft appeared like a diversion from academic glory. But it instead signalled the start of of one of the most dynamic and influential careers in the tech world. While Papadimitriou saw Gates' re-orientation as a loss in the early days, history proved otherwise. Bill Gates may have walked away from math journals and complex theories, but not from problem-solving. His story demonstrates how intellectual ability can take many shapes and forms, and how a "waste" in one domain can transform into world-changing success in another. Read Next: BlackRock is calling 2025 the year of alternative assets. One firm from NYC has quietly built a group of 60,000+ investors who have all joined in on an alt asset class previously exclusive to billionaires like Bezos and Gates. These five entrepreneurs are worth $223 billion – they all believe in one platform that offers a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends Photo Courtesy: Alexandros Michailidis On Send To MSN: Send to MSN UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Bill Gates' Harvard Professor Thought, 'What A Waste' When He Left Academia, But That 'Small Company' He Founded Changed The World originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
Al Arabiya
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Lead investigator of 2023 deadly Greek train crash resigns
The supervisor of Greece's national investigation into a 2023 train crash resigned on Wednesday, a move expected to further complicate efforts to shed light on the country's worst rail disaster that killed 57 people. According to opinion polls, most Greeks view the crash as emblematic of the neglect of the country's railways in recent decades and also of a persistent failure by the state to address safety concerns. The crash has prompted angry protests, fueled further by a lack of trust in institutions. Christos Papadimitriou, the head of the railway division at Greece's Air and Rail Accident Investigation Authority (HARSIA), stepped down days after a top court prosecutor ordered a probe into HARSIA's findings. In February, HARSIA said the safety gaps, which failed to prevent the head-on collision of a freight train and a passenger train on February 28, 2023, had not yet been fixed. It also found that a fireball that followed the collision could not have been caused by train equipment, generating doubts about the freight train's cargo as well as political wrangling. HARSIA decided this week to remove the section which refers to the causes of the fireball, after at least one of the foreign universities cited in its report said it had neither reviewed nor authorized the content. Greece's Supreme Court prosecutor ordered a probe into the developments to determine if there was an attempt to influence a judicial investigation which has been underway since 2023. HARSIA, an independent authority, was only set up in late 2023. It launched its probe in March 2024, more than a year after the crash, which meant it had to rely on others for much of its information. 'I tried to serve the public interest... in a difficult situation,' said Papadimitriou in his resignation letter, standing by HARSIA's main findings.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lead investigator of 2023 deadly Greek train crash resigns
ATHENS (Reuters) - The supervisor of Greece's national investigation into a 2023 train crash resigned on Wednesday, a move expected to further complicate efforts to shed light on the country's worst rail disaster that killed 57 people. According to opinion polls, most Greeks view the crash as emblematic of the neglect of the country's railways in recent decades and also of a persistent failure by the state to address safety concerns. The crash has prompted angry protests, fuelled further by a lack of trust in institutions. Christos Papadimitriou, the head of the railway division at Greece's Air and Rail Accident Investigation Authority (HARSIA), stepped down days after a top court prosecutor ordered a probe into HARSIA's findings. In February, HARSIA said the safety gaps, which failed to prevent the head-on collision of a freight train and a passenger train on February 28, 2023, had not yet been fixed. It also found that a fireball that followed the collision could not have been caused by train equipment, generating doubts about the freight train's cargo as well as political wrangling. HARSIA decided this week to remove the section which refers to the causes of the fireball, after at least one of the foreign universities cited in its report said it had neither reviewed nor authorised the content. Greece's Supreme Court prosecutor ordered a probe into the developments to determine if there was an attempt to influence a judicial investigation which has been underway since 2023. HARSIA, an independent authority, was only set up in late 2023. It launched its probe in March 2024, more than a year after the crash, which meant it had to rely on others for much of its information. "I tried to serve the public interest... in a difficult situation," said Papadimitriou in his resignation letter, standing by HARSIA's main findings.
Reuters
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Lead investigator of 2023 deadly Greek train crash resigns
ATHENS, April 9 (Reuters) - The supervisor of Greece's national investigation into a 2023 train crash resigned on Wednesday, a move expected to further complicate efforts to shed light on the country's worst rail disaster that killed 57 people. According to opinion polls, most Greeks view the crash as emblematic of the neglect of the country's railways in recent decades and also of a persistent failure by the state to address safety concerns. The crash has prompted angry protests, fuelled further by a lack of trust in institutions. Christos Papadimitriou, the head of the railway division at Greece's Air and Rail Accident Investigation Authority (HARSIA), stepped down days after a top court prosecutor ordered a probe into HARSIA's findings. In February, HARSIA said the safety gaps, which failed to prevent the head-on collision of a freight train and a passenger train on February 28, 2023, had not yet been fixed. It also found that a fireball that followed the collision could not have been caused by train equipment, generating doubts about the freight train's cargo as well as political wrangling. HARSIA decided this week to remove the section which refers to the causes of the fireball, after at least one of the foreign universities cited in its report said it had neither reviewed nor authorised the content. Greece's Supreme Court prosecutor ordered a probe into the developments to determine if there was an attempt to influence a judicial investigation which has been underway since 2023. HARSIA, an independent authority, was only set up in late 2023. It launched its probe in March 2024, more than a year after the crash, which meant it had to rely on others for much of its information. "I tried to serve the public interest... in a difficult situation," said Papadimitriou in his resignation letter, standing by HARSIA's main findings. Reporting by Yannis Souliotis; Writing by Renee Maltezou Editing by Gareth Jones
