Mr. Funk was the managing editor of Pleroma Media, and worked as a breaking news reporter at The Messenger after spending 25 years at Fox Television as a producer, executive producer, and digital content director.

The Syrian Islamist-led government announced a ceasefire in Sweida following deadly factional violence. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa praised international mediation while criticizing Israeli airstrikes.

An eruption of violence in Syria this week that entangled government forces, Bedouin tribes, the Druze religious minority and neighboring Israel highlighted just how combustible the country remains seven months after its longtime authoritarian leader was toppled.

Violence between government forces and armed factions of a religious minority in southern Syria this week has deepened divisions in a country still recuperating from a civil war. The clashes,

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday pledged protection for minorities in the country shortly after his administration announced a "comprehensive and immediate" ceasefire in the embattled province of Sweida following days of deadly sectarian violence there.

Sectarian violence erupted again in southern Syria as local Sunni Bedouin tribes fought armed factions for the Druze religious community. The Syrian government dispatched troops to restore order, and Israel launched airstrikes to protect the Druze.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said the clashes started after members of a Bedouin tribe in Sweida province set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a Druze man, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings between the tribes and Druze armed groups.

Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday.