False explosive device found in McDonalds in Moscow.

MOSCOW, August 16 (Itar-Tass) -- A false explosive device was found in
a McDonalds restaurant in southeastern Moscow, a duty officer at the city
police information department told Itar-Tass.
Sappers of the Moscow interior affairs department who arrived at the
site carefully examined the box found in the restaurant and saw that it
was an object made to look like an explosive device. There were a battery
and metal pieces in the object, which represented no danger, the officer,
Arkady Bashirov, said.
The information that a suspicious box was found in the McDonalds was
reported to police at 20:00 Moscow time on Saturday. All the visitors and
the personnel were evacuated.
The McDonalds works as normal at present.
An investigation into the incident is under way, the police officer
said.
.


.US military instructors arrive in Georgia.
.

TBILISI, August 16 (Itar-Tass) -- The first group of American military
instructors arrived in Georgia on Saturday to begin on September 1 to
train a Georgian infantry battalion for participation in the peacekeeping
operation in Afghanistan.
According to local television channels' reports, in the group are five
people. Several more groups of Americans are expected to arrive in Georgia
in the next two weeks.
The U.S. embassy said on Friday that American military specialists
would begin from September 1 to train Georgian peacekeepers and before
September 1 they would make preparations to carry out the training
programme.
Defence Minister David Sikharulidze told reporters on Saturday that
American instructors would work with Georgian peacekeepers according to a
full programme for additional training of an infantry battalion. Georgia
cooperated with the United States before to train Georgian servicemen to
participate in international peacekeeping operations (in 2002-2003 and
2004-2007). The cooperation continues, the minister said.
After the additional training, the Georgian battalion will leave for
Afghanistan in the spring of 2010 to serve under the command of the U.S.
contingent, Sikharulidze said.
The Georgian battalion in Afghanistan will rotate once in six months,
and so American instructors will train other battalions in Georgia next
year for service in Afghanistan.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in Washington on August 14 that
the number of marine instructors to train Georgian peacekeepers during six
months would vary and total 60-70 people.
On August 6, the Georgian Defence Ministry stated that 100 more
Georgian servicemen would leave for Afghanistan late next autumn to serve
under the command of the French contingent.
Georgia participated in the operation in Afghanistan before -- 50
Georgians served there in the autumn of 2004.
.

.Dolphinarium personnel hope to return director to save unique centre.
.

MOSCOW, August 15 (Itar-Tass) -- The Utrish dolphinarium personnel
fighting against new managers' "seizure" of the centre hope to achieve
justice in court and save the animals, which are in a critical situation
at present, personnel representative and former press secretary Yelena
Vasilyeva told Itar-Tass on Saturday.
"We will continue to fight within the legal field and are sure that
the law is on our side," she said, commenting on the decision taken by the
Moscow court of arbitration on Friday to declare the election of the new
director unlawful.
The fate of the Utrish dolpinarium has been in the focus of public
attention since February this year, when a meeting of co-owners changed
the charter and elected a new director.
In the course of the "seizure", world-known scientist Lev Mukhametov
was replaced by an absolutely incompetent man who had no connection to
work with animals. As a result, nature protection projects and research
were suspended. More than 200 unique animals became hostages of the
situation, and one of them died, Vasilyeva said.
As soon as the legitimate director is reinstated, the personnel will
immediately begin to do everything to return life conditions for the
animals to normal. If the animals are healthy, the personnel will begin to
restore creative programmes and will allow visitors to see the dolphins.
The dolphinarium founded by biologists of the Academy of Sciences in
1984 near the village of Maly Utrish not far from Novorossiisk is Russia's
major centre for work with sea mammals. The Utrish maritime academic
station still works in the village. It is a branch of the Severtsov
Institute, Russia's only scientific research centre for sea animals
research. The centre and the Utrish dolphinarium form a united complex.
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