The New Mexico National Guard continued search and rescue operations Sunday in Roswell after record rainfall produced severe flooding in and around the city and Chaves County and left at least two people dead.

Guard officials said 309 people had been rescued since Saturday, with 38 of those taken to hospitals for treatment of undisclosed injuries.

New Mexico State Police said two people died as a result of the flash flood, but information on the victims or the circumstances of their deaths wasn’t immediately released.

Roswell city officials said water levels had receded in many parts of the city but remained high in the downtown area. All roads leading to and from the city were closed Sunday, authorities said.

The National Weather Service in Albuquerque said 5.78 inches of rain fell on Roswell on Saturday, breaking the previous daily record of 5.65 inches set on Nov. 1, 1901, for the southeastern New Mexico city.

Meteorologists said more rain and flash floods were possible.

2 Navy aviators declared dead

Two crew members who were missing following the crash of a fighter jet in mountainous terrain in Washington state during a routine training flight have been declared dead, the U.S. Navy said Sunday.

The EA-18G Growler jet from the Electronic Attack Squadron crashed east of Mount Rainier on Tuesday afternoon, according to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. Search teams, including a U.S. Navy MH-60S helicopter, launched from the air station to try to find the crew and crash site.

Army Special Forces soldiers trained in mountaineering, high-angle rescue and technical communications were brought in to reach the wreckage, which was located Wednesday by an aerial crew resting at about 6,000 feet in a remote, steep and heavily wooded area east of Mount Rainier, officials said.

The aviators’ names won’t be released until a day after their next of kin have been notified, the Navy said in a statement Sunday, adding that search and rescue efforts have shifted into a long-term salvage and recovery operation as the cause of the crash is still being investigated.

Group of migrants departs for U.S.

A group of about 2,000 migrants left Mexico’s southern border Sunday hoping to reach the country’s north and ultimately the United States. The development comes weeks before the U.S. presidential election, in which immigration has been a key issue.

Some migrants, like Venezuelan Joel Zambrano, believe a new administration in the U.S. could put an end to asylum appointments through an online system called CBP One.

“That is what makes us fearful. They say this could change because they could both close the CBP One appointment and all the services that are helping migrants,” he said.

Both the lack of jobs in Mexico’s south due to a new wave of incoming foreigners and a delay in asylum appointments in the U.S. have motivated more groups of migrants to leave the region in the past month.

The group leaving Sunday was the third and the largest since the beginning of the administration of new Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who so far has made no changes in immigration policies established by her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

One of Little Rock Nine students dies

Thelma Mothershed Wair, one of the nine Black students who integrated a high school in Arkansas’ capital city of Little Rock in 1957 while a mob of white segregationists yelled threats and insults, has died at age 83.

Mothershed Wair died Saturday at a hospital in Little Rock after having complications from multiple sclerosis, her sister, Grace Davis, confirmed Sunday.

The students who integrated Central High School were known as the Little Rock Nine.

For three weeks in September 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus used the National Guard to block the Black students from enrolling in Central High, three years after the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregated classrooms were unconstitutional. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent members of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division to escort the students into school on Sept. 25, 1957.

Faubus closed all of the schools in Little Rock in 1958 to try to avoid further integration. Mothershed went out of state to finish her remaining high school classes. The academic credits transferred back to Little Rock, and she ultimately earned her diploma from Central High School.

“She was always a fighter,” Davis said of her sister.

Calmer weather helps contain California fire

Firefighting crews took advantage of calmer weather Sunday to increase containment of a small wildfire in Oakland, California, that burned two homes and forced more than 500 people to evacuate.

Most residents were allowed to return home Saturday but a handful of evacuation orders remained in effect for a hillside neighborhood where firefighters were still dousing hotspots.

“We don’t want to assume that it’s out and come back and it’s sparked again,” Oakland Fire Chief Damon Covington said during a Saturday evening briefing.

The blaze was 70% contained Sunday morning.

Flames erupted Friday afternoon and were fed by a major “ diablo wind ” — notorious in autumn for its hot, dry gusts — that spiked the risk of wildfire across Northern California. Red flag warnings for increased fire danger expired Saturday and conditions eased further throughout the weekend.

Indian leader denies involvement in murder

India’s high commissioner to Canada has denied any involvement in the murder of a Canadian Sikh leader who was killed in British Columbia last year even though the Canadian government has named him as a person of interest in the assassination.

Sanjay Kumar Verma, who was expelled last Monday along with five other Indian diplomats, said in an interview on CTV’s Question Period Sunday that the allegations are politically motivated.

“Nothing at all,” Verma said when asked if he had any role in in the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was killed outside a cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023. “No evidence presented. Politically motivated.”

Four Indian nationals living in Canada were charged with Nijjar’s murder and are awaiting trial.

Moldova looks to reject EU path

Moldova’s pro-Western president early Monday looked set to win the first round of a presidential race but accused “criminal groups” of undermining a referendum asking voters to decide whether to secure a path toward European Union membership, which risked being narrowly rejected.

Nearly 95% of votes were counted in the EU referendum that asks voters to choose whether to enshrine in the country’s constitution a path toward the EU. About 52% of a total 1.2 million ballots voted “no,” while 47% voted “Yes.”

However, ballots cast among the country’s large diaspora were still being tallied and tended to favor the EU path.

“Criminal groups, working together with foreign forces hostile to our national interests, have attacked our country with tens of millions of euros, lies and propaganda, using the most disgraceful means to keep our citizens and our nation trapped in uncertainty and instability,” said President Maia Sandu after about 90% of the votes had been counted.

“We have clear evidence that these criminal groups aimed to buy 300,000 votes — a fraud of unprecedented scale,” Sandu added. “Their objective was to undermine a democratic process.”

The two pivotal ballots were held amid ongoing claims by Moldovan authorities that Moscow has intensified an alleged “hybrid war” campaign to destabilize the country and derail its EU path. The allegations include funding pro-Moscow opposition groups, spreading disinformation, meddling in local elections and backing a major vote-buying scheme.

Serbia vows never to sanction Russia

European Union candidate Serbia will continue to refuse to impose sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine despite Western pressure, Serbia’s leader said after his telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.

Populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Instagram that he believes the call, what he said was his first in more than two years with the Russian president, will help “further development of relations and trust between Russia and Serbia.”

Vucic quoted Putin as saying “what is good for Serbia is also good for Russia, what is good for the Serbs is also good for the Russians.”

Although formally seeking EU membership, traditional Russian Slavic ally Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine though it has reluctantly condemned Moscow’s aggression. Vucic has said that imposing the sanctions wasn’t in Serbia’s national interest.

2 arrested after minks freed from farm

Two people are facing charges following the release of about 200 minks from cages at a central Pennsylvania fur farm.

Most of the animals were recovered, according to an official, unlike a similar incident just over a year ago in which thousands of mink were released into the surrounding area.

State police in Northumberland County say troopers were called shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday after a report that two people had been caught on camera releasing the minks at the Richard H. Stahl Sons Inc. farm in Rockefeller Township outside of Sunbury.

Two Massachusetts residents were arrested on charges of agricultural vandalism, criminal mischief involving property damage, theft, burglary, trespass and animal cruelty.

Frozen waffles recalled for listeria

Hundreds of frozen waffle products sold in leading retailers including Walmart and Target are being recalled because of possible contamination by the listeria bacteria, according to the manufacturer.

TreeHouse Foods said Friday that it issued a voluntary recall after discovering possible contamination during routing testing at its plant. It said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Canadian food regulators are aware of the recall.

The recalled waffles are sold under a variety of names including Walmart’s Great Value, Target’s Good & Gather and private label brands sold by Food Lion, Kroger and Schnucks. TreeHouse published a complete list.

— From news services