Sprinter Katerina Thanou, now back from a two-year doping-related ban, ended sixth in the women’s 60-meter dash at the weekend’s European Indoor Championships in Birmingham, UK, yesterday. Old foe Kim Gevaert of Belgium won her third successive gold medal. Greece’s Louis Tsatoumas won his first senior-level medal in international competition, with a silver in the men’s long jump.

Thanou settles for sixth...

A funeral director is due to be questioned by a prosecutor in Piraeus today after a human foot was found in a dumpster outside the Tzaneio Hospital. The foot belonged to a patient who underwent an operation at the hospital. Tzaneio staff claim the funeral parlor had been responsible for disposing of the foot.

An earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale struck the northeastern Aegean island of Lemnos yesterday. The tremor was felt at 6.14 p.m. but no injuries or damage were reported. Seismologists at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki said that the earthquake’s epicenter was in the sea north of the island. They added that the tremor was a normal occurrence in the area and not something to cause concern.

Police in central Greece have issued arrest warrants for five people on suspicion of dealing drugs after they attempted to sell some 6 kilos of hashish to an undercover officer. Police said on Saturday that they had mounted a 15-day surveillance operation to track the gang. The five suspects arranged to meet the undercover officer near Karditsa but fled when they realized the police were lying in wait.

A 47-year-old homeowner and the 46-year-old man who broke into his home in Iraklion, Crete, early yesterday both ended up in the hospital after the older man confronted the alleged robber. Police who arrived shortly afterward to arrest the intruder said the two men suffered slight injuries. The 46-year-old Romanian national was arrested.

Culture Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis pledged yesterday to put Crete on the “international cultural map” as he completed a five-day trip to the island during which he visited a number of archaeological sites. Voulgarakis said he had asked the island’s four prefects to suggest cultural events which could take place around Crete and become traditions that can be recognized by people around the world.