Syria, DR Congo, Thailand

Today's three stories you should know.

Syria

Six Syrian soldiers have been killed in an Israeli drone attack south of the capital Damascus, according to state-run television. The drones targeted Syrian military positions near the city of al-Kiswah, El Ekhbariya TV said, in strikes that come a day after Syria condemned what it called a new Israeli military incursion close to Damascus. Israel has launched hundreds of drone strikes on Syria since the fall of former leader Bashar al-Assad last December and expanded its illegal occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights. In July, Israel bombed Syrian troops and targets in the capital as sectarian clashes between the Druze minority and government-aligned forces killed 1,400 people in the southern city of Suwayda, most of them Druze. Israel said it was acting to protect the Druze community.

More from Al Jazeera here.

DR Congo

The latest round of peace talks between the government of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has started in the Qatari capital Doha. Negotiators are seeking agreement on a Qatari-brokered truce deal they signed last month. Fierce fighting has continued in the east of the country despite the agreement and civilians have been killed in fresh atrocities. Qatar’s foreign ministry said any truce would include a mechanism for monitoring adherence to the ceasefire. The fighting has forced about seven million people from their homes. Eastern DRC, rich in natural resources, has been the center of fighting between myriad armed groups for decades.

More from Africa News here.

Thailand

A woman who was sentenced to 43 years in prison for criticizing Thailand’s monarchy has been released early after a pardon. Sixty-nine-year-old Anchan Preelert was among a group of prisoners freed to mark King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s birthday, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said. Preelert had initially been jailed 87 years, at the time the most severe sentence for the crime of royal defamation, but her term was later reduced to 43 years and six months because she pleaded guilty. Breaching Thailand’s law on royal defamation is punishable by three to 15 years in prison per count. Once a taboo, anti-government protesters have increasingly pushed against the law, which is considered a tool used to quash dissent. More than 50 political prisoners remain in prison with 32 charged with insulting or defaming the monarchy.

More from AP here.