Russian troops have now entered a base in Niger that is housing U.S. troops as well, a senior U.S. official tells Reuters. While the Russian troops are in a hanger further down the airfield at Airbase 101, the official said the situation 'is not great.' W/Phil Stewart

Haines on protests: 'That doesn't mean that over time, we will not gather intelligence that indicates that, certainly, for example, I would expect other countries to take advantage of the opportunity and use it as part of influence operations, but we'll continue to monitor that.'

DNI Haines today on possible foreign influence driving U.S. campus protests: '[W]e've yet to see intelligence that Hamas...is actually influencing the Gaza-related protests occurring in the United States or directing it in any way...' 1/2

NEW: President Biden and leaders of 17 countries w/ citizens missing or held by Hamas set to publish statement to push for a hostage release/ cease-fire deal, per SAO.

Seems like the Australia Church stabbing was IS-related:

'Teen terror suspects had Islamic State beheading and bomb-making videos, court told' msn.com/en-au/news/aus…

'IS supporter Wassim Fayad drawn into probe of alleged Sydney teen terror network' abc.net.au/news/2024-04-2…

UPDATE: via Reuters: The Israeli military said that warning sirens which sounded early on Friday in northern Israel were a false alarm.

JUST IN: Israel Defense Forces Telegram channel saying warning sirens 'sounded in northern #Israel '