National Geographic's Brain Games aired a social experiment a while back which produced some footage which, while jarring, shouldn't surprise anyone who takes an interest in the way people tend to operate when in groups.

A waiting room was filled up with actors for the show, with one real patient waiting for an actual eye doctor's appointment. Every few minutes a bell was rung, at which time all the actors would stand up for no discernible reason and then sit back down. The real patient was confused by this behavior at first, but by the third bell she was standing and sitting in unison with the rest of the herd.

A Libya crude oil pipeline, belonging to the al-Waha oil company and running to Sidra port, was attacked and set on fire by an unknown "terrorist group," causing the loss of up to 100,000 barrels per day, state company NOC said.

The National Oil Corporation confirmed the incident, without specifying its cause. Local sources, meanwhile, said that the pipeline was attacked by a "terrorist group."

"An explosion and fire broke out as a result of a terrorist act in one of the valves on the 24-inch crude oil pipeline northwest of the town of Mrada, some 500km east of Tripoli," the petroleum installations guards said earlier, as cited by Xinhua.

A number of videos have emerged online, showing heavy gunfire in the vicinity of the royal palace in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh. The disturbance was caused by a small drone, which entered an off-limits zone, the police said.

The shooting incident occurred late on Saturday, triggering confusion on social media. While one of the initial reports suggested that the shooting erupted when the palace guards targeted a rogue drone which came too close to the king's residence, some feared a terrorist attack or even an unfolding "coup."

Footage purportedly taken at the scene shows military or emergency vehicles with their lights flashing. Multiple gunshots can be heard in the background. Saudi police later confirmed that the shooting was caused by a small commercial drone that entered an off-limits zone, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

An investigation into the identity of the drone's operator and motive has been launched.

An Israeli government minister has called for actress Natalie Portman to be stripped of her Israeli citizenship, after she refused to attend the Genesis Award ceremony, citing "extremely distressing" recent events.

"From the outset, the idea of granting the Genesis Prize to Natalie Portman was complete craziness," Member of Knesset (MK) Oren Hazan said, as cited by Arutz Sheva. "She's an actress, but she is unworthy of any honor in the State of Israel."

In a report on CNN today, US sources admit they proceeded with military action in Syria without having evidence that Sarin was used in a chemical attack on the Syrian people. Furthermore, they still have no proof this was done by the Assad regime.

According to the CNN report:

"The lack of complete information played a role in deciding not to strike a larger set of targets including airfields, aircraft and helicopters, one defense official said. Others factors, like Russian positioning, also played a role in the decisions."

The difficult part to accept is that prior to the US and coalition strike, it was fully possible to confirm whether the chemical attack in Syria indeed contained sarin.

What's difficult to accept, it was admitted that the sources used to confirm details of the attack were multiple media sources. Accord to Friday's White House statement,

"this conclusion is based on descriptions of the attack in multiple media sources, the reported symptoms experienced by victims, videos and images showing two assessed barrel bombs from the attack, and reliable information indicating coordination between Syrian military officials before the attack. A significant body of information points to the regime using chlorine in its bombardment of Duma, while some additional information points to the regime also using the nerve agent sarin."

On one hand, alternative news gets challenged for using the internet as sources for information, and yet here countries are using the internet to decide whether or not they should bomb countries without proper thought or intelligence. Something to reflect on here.

Following the strikes on Syria during Friday night, both the French and British governments released the apparent evidence they used to justify their actions on Syria. Their reports admitted to not having any actual intelligence and the "evidence" was based on "open source" information widely available on the internet.

As Americans rushed to pay their taxes on Tuesday before the official deadline, peace groups reminded the public of the uncomfortable fact that an "astronomical amount" of the money sent to the IRS each year goes not to funding education or a single-payer healthcare system the U.S. supposedly can't afford, but straight into the bloated coffers of the Pentagon.

"Congress appropriates more for U.S. military spending than the next eight countries combined, but year-after-year refuses to adequately invest in access to quality education and healthcare for millions of Americans, infrastructure spending, and alternative energy," Paul Kawika Martin, senior director for policy and political affairs at Peace Action, said in a statement late Monday.

"As a result, arms industry executives make out like bandits while programs that provide essential services for most Americans remain drastically underfunded, as do development and diplomacy programs that help end wars and prevent them in the first place," Martin added.

Highlighting America's uniquely exorbitant military spending in a blog post on Tuesday, Lindsay Koshgarian of National Priorities noted that it is particularly important to keep in mind who funds U.S.-led endless wars overseas following President Donald Trump's illegal attack on Syria - an attack that "added nearly $5 billion to missile-makers' stock value."

"It's devastating to know who paid for it: we did," Koshgarian observed.

An Israeli minister has threatened Hamas leadership with "targeted elimination," after the Islamist militant group released a video of top IDF officers in a sniper rifle crosshairs, ahead of the weekly 'March of Return' protests.

Ahead of the Friday 'March of Return' protest this week, Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a video threatening to shoot the "top commanders" of Israel Defence Forces for their alleged involvement in the "cold blooded" killing of Palestinians. Scenes from the 73 second-long video show Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the Defense Ministry's chief liaison with the Palestinians, as well as Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir in the crosshairs of sniper fire.

The threat emanating from the Gaza Strip, as always, has been pinned on the Hamas leadership of the enclave, which this time, Israel says, crossed a red line.

Titanium supplies to the United States won't be restricted as part of any response by Moscow to the sanctions imposed by the White House, according to Trade Minister Denis Manturov.

The minister compared the pointlessness of such a ban with restrictions imposed by the Ukrainian authorities on exports of gas turbines used by Russian shipbuilders as part of sanctions against Moscow.

"We assume that we will not follow because that would first of all affect shipments of (titanium components producer) VSMPO-Avisma and of its Russian-American joint-venture," Manturov said in an interview with a local TV channel. "Why take decisions that have an adverse impact on our enterprises, on our producers?"

Last week, Russian Senator Sergey Ryabukhin said that the Federation Council considered adopting the ban on titanium exports to the US as part of a counter-sanction plan. The proposed measure was reportedly in retaliation to the penalties Washington imposed on Russia earlier this month.

Ankara has decided to bring back all its gold stored in the US Federal Reserve, according to Turkish media. In recent years, Turkey repatriated 220 tons of gold from abroad, and 28.7 tons was brought back from the US last year.

Turkey's gold reserves are estimated at 564 tons and are worth about $20 billion, Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak reported. This makes Ankara the 11th largest gold holder, behind the Netherlands and ahead of India. The reports come at a time when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken a tough stance against the US currency.

This week he criticized dollar loans and said that international loans should be given in gold instead. "Why do we make all loans in dollars? Let's use another currency. I suggest that the loans should be made based on gold," Erdoğan said during a speech at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Istanbul on April 16, according to Hurriyet.

"With the dollar the world is always under exchange rate pressure. We should save states and nations from this exchange rate pressure. Gold has never been a tool of oppression throughout history," he added.

On April 11, the Turkish lira hit a record low against the dollar. Turkey is among several countries which have been moving gold from the US. The wave began in 2012, when Venezuela announced it was repatriating 160 tons of gold, valued at around $9 billion. Germany's Bundesbank then demanded 300 tons be returned, with the Fed saying it would take seven years to do so. The Netherlands has also repatriated 122.5 tons of gold.

The Matrix movie series was one of the most revolutionary works of art to ever come out of Hollywood. Its pro-humanity, anti-authoritarian message instantly made it a classic and it has since become the subject of internet memes and (red pill) movements alike. At the center of this silver-screen revolution is Keanu Reeves whose real-life heroism makes his role as Neo that much more incredible.

Reeves has managed to distance himself from the dark side of Hollywood and it's been easy for him, simply because he has a huge heart. Reeves has been spotted all over the place-not in photo opportunity pr stunts-but in real-life scenarios being a genuinely good person.

One scenario in particular is getting some attention after a woman posted her amazing story about Reeves on Facebook and backed it up with photos.

This story begins as Chris Johnston was visiting California to watch her boyfriend Ned play in a softball tournament. However, because Johnston was such a huge Keanu Reeves fan, she decided to blow off the tournament and instead go see the home of Reeves.