A suspected U.S. drone strike hit Yemen on Monday morning, the third such attack in as many days, killing people described as "militants" as part of "massive and unprecedented" operations targeting "al Qaeda" in the Arabian Peninsula. ● According to reporting by the Associated Press, the most recent strike "targeted the mountainous area of Mahfad between the provinces of Abyan and Shabwa," located in the southern part of the impoverished country. Neither the number of casualties nor who they are is clear at this point. An unnamed, "high-level Yemeni government official" told CNN that a "massive and unprecedented" scale of operations targeting AQAP was underway.

Serious Plotting in Ukraine: Biden Arrives.

Letting the fox into the hen house ● The Ukrainian acting prime minister says his country needs to be militarily and economically supported from the United States in its standoff with Russia. “We need a strong and solid state. We need financial and economic support. We need to modernize our security and military forces. We need the real support,” said Arseniy Yatsenyuk while appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. He made the remarks ahead of a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden to Ukraine this week. ● Accusing the Russian President of undermining global stability and nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Yatsenyuk claimed Moscow is now not only a threat to Ukraine and the EU and but the world. “How can you stop the nuclear-powered state, which is Russian Federation, that spent billions of dollars to modernize their military instead of Ukraine?” he asked. "And it's crystal clear that for today Russia... is the threat to the globe and the threat to the European Union and a real threat to Ukraine." ● The Ukrainian premier added that Kiev in addition to financial and economic support needs US help to renovate its military. “We need to be in very good shape in order to stop Russia. And for this shape, we need to have and to get the real support from our Western partners.” “We need financial, economic support. We need to modernize Ukrainian military and to overhaul all structures of Ukrainian defense system.”

PressTV: Biden arrives in Kiev amid tensions
PressTV: Biden to meet with Ukrainian putschist leaders
RT.com: ‘Kiev desperately pushing for greater conflict with Russia’
Alex Lantier: Western powers, Ukrainian regime call for military buildup against Russia

RT.com: Lavrov: US should face responsibility for powers it installed in Kiev ● "Before giving us ultimatums, demanding that we fulfill demands within two or three days with the threat of sanctions, we would urgently call on our American partners to fully accept responsibility for those who they brought to power,” said Lavrov during a press conference with his colleague from Mozambique, Oldemiro Baloi. All attempts to isolate Russia will lead to a dead end because Russia is "a big, independent power that knows what it wants," he added. Meanwhile, the Russian FM also criticized statements from Western countries and Kiev’s authorities, which “invent possible and impossible arguments against Russia,” claiming that a large amount of Russian arms in the conflict zones proves Russian interference in Ukrainian affairs. He called the statements absurd as Ukraine has traditionally used Russian-made arms. “This statement is ludicrous. Everyone has Russian arms in Ukraine,” Lavrov said.

US military-trained dolphins and sea lions will participate in upcoming NATO military exercises in the Black Sea, the Russian Izvestiya newspaper reported Monday. ● The paper, citing a spokesman for the US Navy’s marine mammals program, said some 20 dolphins and 10 sea lions will participate in exercises. The exercises will test new equipment designed to "disorient enemy sonars, while sea lions and dolphins are looking for mines and military divers," the newspaper wrote. The exercises will be held under the marine mammals’ training program, which trains animals to protect ships and harbors and detect mines. The animals are to be airlifted to Ukraine. This will be the first NATO drill to involve military dolphins. The US military now has more than 100 bottlenose dolphins, California sea lions and beluga whales.

The gun battle was evidence that Ukraine is not reining in
gun-wielding far right extremists, Russia claimed. (Getty)

This is very bad news. The OSCE had reported that Pravyi Sektor paramilitaries were moving to the eastern Donbass region. It looks like they have arrived. It seems the U.S. neocons found out that they can not have the Ukraine and are responding like they always do. "Can't have it? Will destroy it!" This is likely the beginning of an intense civil war in Ukraine. One that is sure to draw external powers into it. Let us not forget who started this. The EU made an "offer" to Yanukovich which could not accept without destroying the Ukrainian economy, especially the eastern industries. When he rejected the "offer" a "color revolution" was instigated in Kiev and the democratically elected Yanukovich was removed by force. The new coup government, a mixture of oligarchs and western Ukrainian fascists, wants to suppress the Russian affine eastern Ukraine. The east responded by calling for greater regional autonomy.

‘Easter truce’ broken: Five deaths reported in overnight checkpoint raid in E. Ukraine
Russia on Eastern Ukraine shooting: Kiev must fulfill Geneva de-escalation pledge

Missile strikes in Yemen, weapons to Syria ● The first American drone missile strike to target Yemen in 2014 killed at least 13 people on Saturday, according to the US-allied Yemeni government. The missile hit a vehicle traveling in the Sawmaa area of al-Bayda province, blasting the car and propelling it 20 meters, while destroying a passing car as well. ● Washington is waging a nonstop campaign of political and media vilification of Russia for its alleged intervention in Ukraine—where a handful of people have died—even as it intensifies its decades-long military intervention in the Middle East, where US wars and US-instigated civil wars have killed millions. The death tolls are well known: more than one million in Iraq (1990-1991, 2003-2011); approaching 200,000 in Syria (2011-2014); well over 100,000 in Afghanistan (2001-2014); over 50,000 in Libya (2011); thousands in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Niger, Mali and other countries hit by US drone missile strikes. These figures do not even take into account the thousands killed by US-backed Israeli violence in Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza during the same period.