The magistrate in Thessaloniki investigating the disappearance last year of 11-year-old Alex Meshivili from Veria, northern Greece, yesterday asked the five schoolboys suspected of killing their classmate to testify next week. The boys’ parents have also been asked to give evidence. Sources said that this will be the last step in the investigation, which should be wrapped up in the next two weeks unless the schoolboys or their parents ask for more time before they submit to questioning from the prosecutor Michalakis Georgiou.

Two men, aged 40 and 45, were killed early yesterday morning after the car they were traveling in hit a stray dog on the Thessaloniki ring road before crashing into a street light, police said. The 40-year-old driver had probably swerved to avoid the dog, according to officers. Also yesterday, six people were injured when the bus they were traveling in collided with a car in the Piraeus suburb of Nikaia. According to police, the car violated a stop sign before hitting the bus head on, prompting the bus driver to swerve and hit a truck.

Scientists revealed yesterday that they have detected higher-than-usual levels of toxic bacteria in Lake Koroneia, near Thessaloniki, but said that they are not as high as in 2004 when 30,000 birds and hundreds of fish were killed by pollutants. Authorities said the plummeting water level has caused the rise in the level of harmful bacteria. The depth of the lake currently measures 1.20 meters compared to the normal level of 1.80 meters. A crisis management team has been set up to try to make sure the bacteria do not affect wildlife.

Two students allegedly involved in disturbances outside the Aegean and Island Policy Ministry on Thursday that led to a guard firing a warning shot in the air were yesterday released from custody pending a hearing on Monday. The unnamed suspects face misdemeanor charges. Some 100 people, including students and members of the Communist Party-affiliated union PAME, gathered outside the court to support the two students, whom they claim had been framed by authorities.

Eight people have been indicted for prosecution after Attica police identified them in camera footage of violent clashes between fans of Panathinaikos and AEK soccer clubs at the Olympic Stadium last October. Officers examined photographs and video footage of the riot, including coverage recorded by cameras inside the stadium. Police say three of the eight men have faced similar charges in the past.