Reuters

(Please not strong language in paragraph 7)

By Gabriella Borter, Joseph Ax and Andrew Hay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Weeks after attending a pro-Palestinian demonstration, Egyptian-American student Layla Sayed received a text message from a friend drawing her attention to a website dedicated to exposing people it says promote hatred of Jews and Israel.

"I think they found you from the protest," the friend wrote.

KYIV (Reuters) - Fierce fighting was raging on Saturday for control of several Ukrainian villages near the Russian border as the Russian military sought to press home its attacks in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Kharkiv's governor said.

"As of now the enemy keeps pressing in the north of our region. Our forces have repelled nine attacks," Oleh Syniehubov told a media briefing.

Russia's defence ministry said its forces had taken five... (continue reading...)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian militant group Hamas will release a video later on Saturday about the fate of Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell, according to reports from Hamas media outlets.

The group earlier on Saturday released a brief video of the 51-year-old captive, showing him with a bruise on his right eye. Popplewell confirmed his name in that video. It was not clear when it was taken.

(Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Mark Potter)

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Saturday that its forces had taken five border villages in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, where Russia launched an offensive on Friday, exploiting its increasing advantage on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine.

In its briefing on Saturday, the Defence Ministry said that Russian forces had taken the villages of Pletenivka, Ohirtseve, Borysivka, Pylna and Strilechna, all of which are directly on the Russian border.

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines said on Saturday it has deployed ships to a disputed area in the South China Sea, where it accused China of building "an artificial island" in an escalating maritime row.

The coast guard sent a ship "to monitor the supposed illegal activities of China, creating 'an artificial island'," the office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said in a statement, adding two other vessels were in rotational deployment in the area.