World News Roundup: China takes aim again at BBC as dispute with Britain intensifies; In Saddam strongholds that fought America, Iraqis fear a U.S. departure and more

Ibrahim said the presence of U.S. troops in recent years helped suppress remaining Islamic State militants and rein in the Iran-backed militias - mutual foes accused by Iraqi officials of attacking locals.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

China takes aim again at BBC as dispute with Britain intensifies

The BBC came under fire from Chinese officials and social media on Friday in an escalating diplomatic dispute, a day after Britain's media regulator revoked the TV licence of Chinese state media outlet CGTN. Britain and China have been exchanging barbs for months over China's crackdown on dissent in the former British colony of Hong Kong, concern over the security of Huawei technology and the treatment of ethnic Uighur Muslims in China's Xinjiang region.

In Saddam strongholds that fought America, Iraqis fear a U.S. departure

Abu Arkan Ibrahim picked up a rifle and joined the Iraqi insurgency against U.S. troops when they occupied his hometown of Fallujah in 2003. He was badly burned in the fighting. Now, he fears the departure of the Americans he once battled. Over the past 17 years, the municipal employee has watched his city fall to the United States, al Qaeda, Islamic State and, most recently, Iraqi forces fighting alongside Iran-backed paramilitaries. Ibrahim said the presence of U.S. troops in recent years helped suppress remaining Islamic State militants and rein in the Iran-backed militias - mutual foes accused by Iraqi officials of attacking locals. The U.S. troop drawdown is creating a security vacuum, Ibrahim said, making Fallujah more dangerous.

U.S. warship sails near Chinese-controlled S.China Sea islands

A U.S. warship sailed near the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea on Friday in a freedom of navigation operation, the U.S. Navy said, the first such mission under President Joe Biden's new administration. China's military condemned the move, saying it had dispatched naval and air units to follow and warn away the ship.

Countdown to 'catastrophe:' Inside Europe's fight for COVID shots

In a meeting last week in the Europa building in Brussels, home of the European Union's political leadership, diplomats for the 27 member states were desperate. The EU had paid billions of euros toward shots to curb a pandemic that was killing thousands of Europeans every day. Now vaccine-makers had cut back deliveries, and the EU was trapped in a public fight.

Myanmar police step up arrests as anti-coup protests grow

Myanmar police arrested another key aide of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and media said at least 30 people had been detained over pot-banging protests against a military coup as shows of anger gathered pace on Friday. International pressure on the junta was also growing with the U.N. Security Council calling for the release of Suu Kyi and other leaders and U.S. President Joe Biden considering sanctions on the ruling generals.

EU diplomat tells Russia ties are at a low over case of Kremlin critic Navalny

The European Union's top diplomat told Russian authorities on Friday that their treatment of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny represented a low point in ties as Navalny appeared in court again over a slander case. Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic, was jailed this week for almost three years for parole violations he called trumped up, a case that the West has condemned and which has spurred talk of sanctions.

"We don't want this military coup": Myanmar teachers join protests

Teachers in Myanmar on Friday became the latest group to join a civil disobedience campaign with some lecturers refusing to work or cooperate with authorities in protest against the military's seizure of power.The civil disobedience campaign started among medical workers soon after Monday's coup but has since spread to include students, youth groups and some workers in both the state and private sectors. Wearing red ribbons and holding up protest signs, scores of lecturers and teachers gathered in front of campus buildings at the Yangon University of Education.

Indian protests against agriculture reforms attract new supporters

Thousands of farmers in a politically important Indian state on Friday rallied in opposition to new agricultural laws, signalling growing support for a months-long campaign to have the government reforms scrapped. Angry at what they see as legislation that benefits private buyers at the expense of growers, tens of thousands of farmers have been camped on the outskirts of the capital, New Delhi, for more than two months, calling for the withdrawal of laws introduced in September. Hong Kong to teach children as young as six about subversion, foreign interference

Hong Kong has unveiled controversial guidelines for schools in the Chinese-ruled city that include teaching students as young as six about colluding with foreign forces and subversion as part of a new national security curriculum. Beijing imposed a security law on Hong Kong in June 2020 in response to months of often violent anti-government and anti-China protests in 2019 that put the global financial hub more firmly on an authoritarian path. China's latest weapon against Taiwan: the sand dredger

Taiwanese coast guard commander Lin Chie-ming is on the frontline of a new type of warfare that China is waging against Taiwan. China's weapon? Sand. On a chilly morning in late January, Lin, clad in an orange uniform, stood on the rolling deck of his boat as it patrolled in choppy waters off the Taiwan-run Matsu Islands. A few kilometers away, the Chinese coast was faintly visible from Lin's boat. He was on the lookout for Chinese sand-dredging ships encroaching on waters controlled by Taiwan.