DAMASCUS, Syria — Iran’s defense minister said Sunday his country will continue its support of the Syrian government to ensure improved security in the region, adding that the nature of the two countries’ cooperation won’t be decided by a “third party.”

Israel has expressed concern over Iran’s growing influence in Syria, accusing Iran of seeking to establish a foothold near the frontier with the Jewish state. The United States has been pressing for Iran to withdraw its fighters from Syria. In recent meetings between U.S. and Russian officials, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton said he and Russian officials are discussing the issue, without providing details, calling it a U.S priority.

Iran says its presence in Syria is at the invitation of the Syrian government. “No third party can affect the presence of Iranian advisers in Syria,” Iran’s Defense Minister Amir Hatami told reporters in Damascus.

His comments came at the start of a two-day visit to Syria, where he met with the Syrian President Bashar Assad and other senior officials. The high-level military delegation headed by Hatami is expected to boost cooperation between the two countries, and Iranian media reported that the two are expected to sign new military and defense agreements.

Iran has provided key support to Assad in the seven-year civil war, sending thousands of military advisers and allied militiamen to bolster his forces.

Hatami said he hopes Iran can play a “productive role” in Syria’s reconstruction, according to Iran’s Press TV.

Police kill woman pointing?gun with targeting system at officer

BLACKSBURG, S.C. — A coroner says police officers fatally shot a South Carolina woman after she pointed a gun with a laser targeting system at one of the officers.

Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler says 41-year-old Stephanie Owens called 911 from her Blacksburg home early Sunday morning asking for help.

Fowler says that when Cherokee County sheriff’s deputies arrived, Owens had a gun and threatened to shoot them.

The coroner said in a statement that deputies tried several times to get Owens to drop the gun. But he says that about 55 minutes after she called 911, Owens pointed the laser target at a deputy, and four of the five officers at the scene fired on her.

Fowler says Owens died two hours later.

The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating.

Catholic Bishops offer to care for refugees held on rescue ship

ROME — Italy’s Catholic bishops offered to care for a majority of 140 migrants the country’s government had prevented from leaving an Italian coast guard ship docked for days in a Sicilian harbor because politics shouldn’t be practiced at the expense of the poor, prominent churchmen said Sunday.

Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, told Italian state TV the bishops worked with Italy’s Interior Ministry “in a spirit of collaboration” to help end the stalemate over where the asylum-seekers the coast guard ship rescued would go.

Parishes will care for some 100 migrants, while Albania and Ireland each will accept about 20 under an arrangement announced late Saturday night by Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte.

Israeli defense minister says Gaza Strip crossing will reopen

JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister has announced he will reopen the country’s main personnel crossing with the Gaza Strip following a week of relative calm along the border.

Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday that after consultation with the country’s security agencies, he ordered the opening of the Erez border crossing on Monday.

The decision to reopen the crossing comes amid efforts by Egypt to mediate a possible ceasefire between Gaza’s Hamas rulers and Israel following weeks of intense violence at the border.

The sides have come close to serious conflict in recent weeks.

Hamas seeks an easing of the decade-long, crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade on the Palestinian territory in exchange for a lasting truce.

Bishop rejects calls to quit over handling of abuse

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Roman Catholic bishop of Buffalo is rejecting calls to resign over his handling of sexual abuse allegations against priests.

A Buffalo television station reported last week that Bishop Richard Malone allowed one accused priest to remain in his parish and gave multiple chances to another who’d been suspended by the previous bishop.

U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins on Friday called for Malone’s resignation and asked prosecutors to investigate. The Democrat says there’s “overwhelming evidence” Malone “exhibited poor leadership and knew about children and others put in harm’s way.”

Malone said Sunday that the “shepherd does not desert the flock” in difficult times. He says he’s appointing a task force of clergy and lay people to review how sexual abuse claims from adults are handled.

Student advocates march on gun-maker

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Student gun control advocates and one of the survivors of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting completed a 50-mile, four-day march Sunday in Massachusetts to the headquarters of gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson, where they protested gun violence and weapons manufacturing.

More than 100 protesters rallied outside company headquarters in Springfield.

They held American flags and signs that read “We Can End Gun Violence” and “Books not Bullets.”

The marchers condemned Smith & Wesson for making the rifle used in the February mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

The group wants the company to donate $5 million to gun violence research.

Climbers: Two American climbers, alpinist Jeff Lowe and Yosemite legend Tom Frost, have died. Lowe’s longtime partner, Connie Self, says he died Friday at a care facility in Fort Collins, Colo. at age 67. Frost’s biographer, Steve Grossman, says the rock climber died of cancer Friday at age 82, in Oakdale, Calif.

Journalist: A German journalist who is on trial in Turkey on terror-related charges returned to Germany on Sunday after a Turkish court ruled that she could leave. Mesale Tolu flew to Stuttgart days after the court decision became public, a ruling that Germany called “a step toward improving our relations.”