EU agrees 'best possible' Brexit deal and other news

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

With little aid, Syria's Raqqa struggles to revive schools

In the Syrian city of Raqqa, children wear hats, scarves and coats to guard against the winter cold as they struggle to catch up on years of lost learning in a classroom with no doors or glazed windows. More than a year since the United States and its allies defeated Islamic State at Raqqa, many of the city's schools still look like battlefields with buildings left lying in rubble and playgrounds dotted with wrecked cars.

Russia says planning for new U.S. nuclear missiles in Europe

Russia said on Monday it was planning for a U.S. deployment of new nuclear missiles in Europe following Washington's planned withdrawal from a landmark Cold war-era arms control treaty despite the United States denying it has such plans. Russia is keen to dissuade U.S. President Donald Trump from carrying out a threat for Washington to quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty which eliminated both countries' land-based short- and intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe.

EU agrees 'best possible' Brexit deal, urges Britons to back May

European Union leaders finally sealed a Brexit deal on Sunday, saying the package agreed with Prime Minister Theresa May was the best Britain will get in a warning to the British parliament not to reject it. "Those who think that, by rejecting the deal, they would get a better deal, will be disappointed," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters after the 27 other EU leaders formally endorsed a treaty setting terms for British withdrawal in March and an outline of a future EU-UK trade pact.

South Africa's Gordhan files defamation complaint against left-wing party leaders

South Africa's Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan on Monday filed a defamation complaint against radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leaders who have accused him and his daughter of corruption. In a speech last week, EFF leader Julius Malema said Gordhan's daughter Anisha was awarded government contracts as a result of her father's position in government. Gordhan denies any wrongdoing, and also says his daughter is not corrupt.

Bangladesh faces refugee anger over term 'Rohingya', data collection

Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in camps in Bangladesh began a protest on Monday, demanding that Bangladesh recognize their ethnicity as Rohingya and that officials and aid agencies stop sharing their family information with Myanmar. Markets were shut at several of the refugee camps in southeast Bangladesh because of the protest. Rohingya working with non-government groups and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees also boycotted their jobs as part of the strike.

China heaps pressure on Taiwan president after election defeat

Chinese state media heaped pressure on Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday after her ruling pro-independence party suffered heavy defeats at local elections at the weekend, saying Beijing would seek cooperation with newly elected officials. Tsai resigned on Saturday as chairwoman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) after losing key battleground cities in mayoral polls to the China-friendly Kuomintang. The DPP now only controls six cities and counties to the Kuomintang's 15.

Indian police consult anthropologists on prospect of recovering dead American

Indian police are working with anthropologists and psychologists to see if a plan can be forged to recover the body of an American missionary suspected to have been killed by an isolated tribe on a remote island, an officer said on Monday. John Allen Chau, 26, is believed to have been killed last week after traveling to North Sentinel - part of the Indian archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar in the Bay of Bengal - to try to convert the tribe to Christianity.

Qatar expects to receive six F-15 fighter jets from U.S. by March 2021

Qatar expects six F-15 war planes will be delivered to its air force by March 2021, a military official said on Monday, the first batch of 36 it agreed to buy from the United States last year in a deal worth $12 billion. Brigadier General Issa al-Mahannadi told reporters at the Al Udeid air base in Qatar a further six are expected to be delivered three months after the initial batch is received and four more are expected every three months thereafter.

Russia resists Western calls to free captured Ukrainian ships

Russia resisted international calls on Monday to release three Ukrainian naval ships that its border patrols had fired on and seized near Crimea at the weekend, triggering the most dangerous crisis in years between Moscow and Kiev. With relations still raw after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its backing for a pro-Moscow insurgency in eastern Ukraine, the incident risks pushing the two countries towards a wider conflict and is likely to renew Western calls for more sanctions on Moscow.

UAE frees Briton sentenced to life as spy after pardon

The United Arab Emirates on Monday pardoned and released a British academic jailed for life on spying charges, granting a request for clemency after showing a video of him purportedly confessing to membership of the UK's MI6 intelligence service. The case has strained ties between the long-time allies, leading London to issue a forceful diplomatic response after last week's verdict was handed down, with a warning that it could hurt relations.