A team of Russian historians and archaeologists have used a Nazi bomber pilot’s photograph to help them pinpoint the location of mass graves in Moscow containing the remains of thousands shot by Stalin’s secret police.

The existence of a mass grave in the Kommunarka district in southwestern Moscow first came to light in the dying days of the Soviet Union when the KGB opened up its archives.

It was one of three killing fields in the city used by Stalin’s NKVD secret police in the 1930s.

Historians believe at least 6,609 people were shot and thrown into mass graves in Kommunarka between 1937 and 1941.

The gated forested area was once used by NKVD chief Genrikh Yagoda, who had a holiday cottage there. But he fell foul of the regime and was removed from his post in 1936 and shot in 1938 – with his body most likely also disposed of in Kommunarka.

Until recently, the mass graves were believed to be located in one area of the forest, where victims’ relatives put up a memorial.

But historians now believe the graves’ location was misidentified.

No serious archaeological work has been done before in Kommunarka, said Roman Romanov, director of Moscow’s Gulag History Museum, who co-led the investigation.

The area remains much less investigated than a larger Stalin-era killing field in Moscow’s Butovo district, Romanov said.

But with a planned opening of a new memorial at Kommunarka, he said historians wanted to check exactly where the bodies were.

Romanov said they used ground-penetrating radar and historic photos to examine the area.

"We had volunteers working to clear the area and a geo-radar following us looking for anomalies in the ground," he said.

An aerial shot of Kommunarka taken by a Nazi pilot flying over Moscow in 1942 – when the graves were "fresh" – was key to the investigation.

Crucially, it showed the height of the trees in the area at the time.

Historians came to the conclusion that some of the trees had been planted over fresh graves – a tactic often used by the NKVD to cover up its executions.

Yan Rachinsky, a senior member of rights group Memorial that documents Stalinist crimes, estimates that around 30,000 people were shot in Moscow alone during Stalin’s Great Terror between 1937 and 1938. High-ranking officials and scientists were among those shot and hastily buried in Kommunarka.

Rachinsky said that over a thousand of those believed to be buried in Kommunarka remain unidentified after the Russian security services closed access to Soviet-era files.

"The state is responsible for what happened here and it struggles to define its position," said historian Sergei Bondarenko, whose great-grandfather was shot in Kommunarka.

He predicted that only a "middle-ranking" government official would attend the opening of a new memorial this month.

"In my view it should be the president, because this was one of the biggest killing fields in Moscow," he said.

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At least 11 people including a nun have died, one person is missing and five have been seriously injured in flash foods in southwestern France in an area popular with British tourists and expatriates.

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The Aude department, home to the medieval fort city of Carcassonne, sustained seven months of its average rainfall in one night in the worst floods in the area since 1891.

A nun was swept to her death by rising waters in the village of Villardonnel, where her convent was partially destroyed, and at least four died overnight in Villegailhenc, local authorities said.

A sixth person also died in Trèbes.  Local authorities raised the death toll to 13 by early afternoon but revised it back down to 11 later on Monday, with one missing and eight injured.

“This is a temporary toll and as reconnaissance continues during rescue efforts, it is possible it could get worse,” warned Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, who visited the flooded area.

President Emmanuel Macron is expected to travel to the Aude region in the coming days.

The threat of further flooding has not yet abated, according to Vigicrues, the French agency responsible for monitoring water levels. A thousand people were evacuated from the town of Pezens due to fears of a dam bursting.

Six helicopters were dispatched to help rescue people from roofs, but continuing poor weather was hampering operations, the prefect of Aude, Alain Thirion, told BFM TV.

"We have people stranded on rooftops. We’re going to have to use aircraft to evacuate them because we cannot reach them by boat given the force of the water. It’s too dangerous," he said.

Among the worst hit areas were the villages of Conques-sur-Orbiel and Villardonnel, where waters rose as high as the first-floor windows of some houses. 

One person was also injured when a house collapsed in Cuxac, while in the space of five hours “between 160 and 180mm ((6 to 7 inches) of water fell on Carcassonne”, said Mr Thirion.

The water level of the river at Trèbes, meanwhile, reached seven metres, the highest in 127 years, while in Conques, there was up to two metres (6ft) of water in the streets.

Firemen responded to more than 250 calls overnight while in villages north of Carcassonne, all roads were cut, schools closed, and people were asked to stay at home.

Around 15 towns were in a “difficult situation” while six were in a “worrying state”.

In Saint-Etienne d’Albagnan, in the neighbouring Hérault, a helicopter rescue operation was underway to help people who had sought refuged in trees to escape floodwaters.

Some 600 firemen were helping in the effort, including seven aquatic rescue teams.

Six other departments were also hit by the storms from the eastern Pyrenees to Aveyron further north.

Torrential rain at this time of year is not uncommon in France but meteorologists have warned that exceptionally warm sea water along the Mediterranean coast may be fuelling this year’s floods.

This has been France’s hottest since 1900, according to the state meteorological service.

The deaths came just days after intense rain sparked flash floods in the Spanish holiday island of Majorca, killing 12 people, including two Britons. On Sunday, near-hurricane winds hit Portugal, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power before carrying heavy rain on into Spain.

Twenty-seven people suffered minor injuries.

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Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has announced that he will pay off crippling debts for 850 farmers in his home state, throwing his support behind agrarian workers who have been demanding more government support.

Mr Bachchan, 76, said he also previously helped more than 350 farmers in the western state Maharashtra, whose capital is Mumbai, by paying off their loans.

"It has been a most satisfying experience to give some to them our countrymen that sacrificed their lives for us”, he wrote on his personal blog.

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“More needs to be done from other parts of the country too. It shall be done.”

Indian farmers have faced a turbulent year with soaring fuel costs, monsoon-damaged crops and empty promises of government minimum-price support causing tens of thousands of them to take out exorbitant loans from moneylenders or microfinance banks to make up shortfalls.

Mr Bachchan said: "Over 350 farmers loans that were difficult to pay off , and to prevent them from committing suicide, was paid off some days back too.

“Now a list of over 850 farmers from Uttar Pradesh have been identified and their loans amounting to over Rs 550m (611,000) shall be taken care of.”

The agricultural crisis has seen tens of thousands of farmers fatally despairing, accounting for 11 per cent of suicides in India. The latest available data for 2016 showed 11,370 took their lives that year.

Estimates suggest 300,000 have killed themselves in the past 10 years, though there is no consensus on the exact reason.

There have been several demonstrations this year by farmers – thousands marched on Delhi two weeks ago, only to be met with police using teargas and water cannon.

An arts centre in Hong Kong hosting the city’s annual international literary festival has cancelled appearances by Ma Jian, the exiled Chinese writer said on Thursday, in the latest example of China tightening its control on freedom of expression.

Ma, who now lives in London and whose books are banned in China, was due to promote his latest novel at the festival this weekend.

China Dream is a dark satire inspired by the propaganda catchphrase of Xi Jinping, the president of China.

The writer posted on Twitter that both his festival speaking engagements scheduled for Saturday had been called off by the Tai Kwun Arts Centre, not festival organisers who are trying to find an alternative venue.

"Just been told that my two events at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival this week can no longer be held at Tai Kwun, where all the other events are taking place,” Mr Ma wrote in his tweet. “An alternative venue will have to be found. No reason has been given to me yet.”

Just been told that my two events at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival this week can no longer be held at Tai Kwun, where all the other events are taking place. An alternative venue will have to be found. No reason has been given to me yet. https://t.co/wqJHs79JkW

— 马建 Ma Jian (@majian53) November 7, 2018

The Hong Kong International Literary Festival on Thursday confirmed it had been "asked to change the venue for two events by Tai Kwun,” according to a statement. “We aren’t speculating on the reasons for the move and instead focus on our mission of ensuring our authors are all heard.”

The festival launched last Friday and is scheduled to run through this Sunday.

A spate of recent events have stoked concerns that liberties in Hong Kong are under serious threat from an increasingly aggressive China. The former British colony has long enjoyed freedoms that were negotiated when the city was returned to Beijing by Britain in 1997, but concerns are growing that rights are being eroded by Chinese authorities.

Last week, an art show by dissident Chinese-Australian political cartoonist Badiucao was cancelled by Hong Kong organisers over safety issues after “threats made by Chinese authorities relating to the artist.”

In October, Hong Kong authorities also denied a visa without explanation to a Financial Times journalist who hosted a speech by the leader of a Hong Kong separatist political party at the city’s foreign press club. That group, the Hong Kong National Party, was deemed an illegal organisation in September.

And the city’s publishers have been under intense pressure ever since five booksellers known for printing scurrilous titles about China’s leaders disappeared in 2015 only to turn up a year later  in custody on the mainland.

Mr Ma’s newest book “charts the psychological disintegration of a Chinese provincial leader who is haunted by nightmares of his violent past,” wrote its publishers, Penguin. It is “a biting satire of totalitarianism that reveals what happens to a nation when it is blinded by materialism and governed by violence and lies.”

Mr Ma has said he couldn’t find a Hong Kong publisher willing to put out a Chinese translation of China Dream given the book’s political content. The English version of the book was released in Britain last week.

Pen Hong Kong, one chapter of the international writers’ society founded in London, said it was "deeply concerned" that the cancellation was linked to political pressures.

“Pen Hong Kong calls on Tai Kwun to clarify why it cancelled this award-winning author’s events, and to affirm its commitment to freedom of expression in Hong Kong,” said Jason Ng, president of Pen Hong Kong.

“The cancellation appears to be at the very least an act of self-censorship, which would add to a growing list of incidents of suppression of free expression in Hong Kong. It is all the more jarring that the decision was made by a publicly funded venue that claims to celebrate and support the arts and creativity.” 

A receptionist who answered the phone at Tai Kwun Arts Centre said Mr Ma’s events would be relocated without providing further details.

With assistance by Paula Jin

Red Lake County Central 42 East Grand Forks/Sacred Heart 30
106 – Double Forfeit
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120 – Tyler Sandahl (RLCC) fall over Jaden Fjestad (EGF) 3:05
126 – Double Forfeit
132 – Ben Kolling (RLCC) fall over Evan Bridgeford (EGF) :26
138 – Dylan Gustafson (RLCC) fall over Will Rohrich (EGF) 1:33
145 – Zach Ziegler (EGF) won by forfeit
152 – Matt Vanyo (EGF) won by forfeit
160 – Tristyn Ferguson (RLCC) won by forfeit
170 – Cameron Bridgeford (EGF) fall over Kyle Gagner (RLCC) :39
182 – Pierrie Piche (EGF) won by forfeit
195 – George Duden (RLCC) won by forfeit
220 – Isaac Flores (EGF) fall over Nick Pahlen (RLCC) 1:12
Hwt – Tristan Larson (RLCC) fall over Grant Sullivan (EGF) :43

Benson 47 Ortonville 29
Blackduck/Cass Lake-Bena 42 Walker-Hackensack-Akeley/Nevis 15
Centennial 50 Blaine 27
Cretin-Derham Hall 54 St. Paul Como Park 18
Dover-Eyota 48 Lake City 18
Kasson-Mantorville 67, Triton 12
Litchfield 37 Delano 34
Maple Grove 41 Osseo 20
Pine Island 39 New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva 35
Rogers 37 Zimmerman 36
St. Cloud Tech 57 Fergus Falls 12
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove 37 Canby 25
Big Lake Invite
1. Sartell-St. Stephen 157.5
2. Henry Sibley 156.0
3. Aitkin 150.5
4. Monticello 126.0
5. Royalton/Upsala 123.0
6. Big Lake 113.0
7. Rush City/Braham 95.0
8. Albany 82.5
9. New London-Spicer 66.5
10. Saint Cloud Apollo 62.0
11. Pine City/Hinckley-Finlayson 54.0
12. North Branch 31.0
BOLD Quad
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 71 BOLD 3
Willmar 56 BOLD 18
Willmar 61 Mankato East 12
Brainerd Paul Bunyan Invitational
after day 1
1. Foley 85.5
2. Frazee 71.0
3. Pierz 67.5
4. Brainerd 59.5
5. Moorhead 55.0
6. Mound-Westonka 43.5
6. Sauk Rapids-Rice 43.5
8. Little Falls 35.0
9. Grand Rapids 30.0
10. Cloquet-Esko 29.0
11. Edina 10.0
Champlin Park Quad
Faribault 18 Eastview 48
Faribault 46 Andover 22
Faribault 54 Champlin Park 18
Eastview 57 Champlin Park 18
Eastview 53 Andover 21
Council Bluffs Wrestling Classic
after day 1
1. Apple Valley 254.0
2. Fort Dodge 196.0
3. Kearney 177.0
4. Olathe North 157.5
5. Papillion-La Vista 151.0
6. Plattsmouth 148.5
7. Waukee 141.0
8. Glenwood 140.5
9. Spirit Lake 138.5
10. St. James Academy 130.5
11. Nebraska City 124.5
11. Totino-Grace 124.5
13. Missouri Valley 119.5
14. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 117.5
15. Thomas Jefferson 109.0
16. Atlantic  107.0
17. Grand Island 97.5
18. Lewis Central 97.0
19. Omaha North 95.0
20. Basehor-Linwood 90.5
21. Ames 88.0
22. Millard North 83.5
23. Creighton Prep 80.0
23. Underwood 80.0
25. South Sioux City 79.5
26. Norris 69.0
27. Maysville 59.0
28. Lincoln East 51.0
29. Newton 47.0
30. Perry 41.0
31. Woodbury Central 36.0
32. Olathe South 34.0
33. LeMars 31.0
34. Abraham Lincoln 20.0
35. St. Albert 6.0
Grand Forks Sertoma Duals
day 1 results
Round 1
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 47, Wahpeton 27
Turtle Mountain 53, Fertile-Beltrami 24
Valley City 39, Central Cass 24
Perham 70, Grand Forks Red River 0
Bismarck Century 67 Fosston-Bagley 6
Thief River Falls 56, Jamestown 20
Stewartville 48 Grand Forks Central 24
Round 2
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 43, Turtle Mountain 30
Perham 46, Valley City 25
Bismarck Century 43, West Fargo 33
Wahpeton 54, Fertile-Beltrami 30
Central Cass 56, Grand Forks Red River 18
Grand Forks Central 48, Jamestown 15
Norwood-Young America Tri
Norwood Young America 36 Glencoe-Silver Lake/Lester Prairie 32
Glencoe-Silver Lake/Lester Prairie 47 St. James 23
Prairie Valley Quad
Sauk Centre/Melrose 39 Osakis 33

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Most WWE fans are looking forward to the Survivor Series pay-per-view this Sunday night, but on the night before competitors from Raw and SmackDown go head to head, NXT Takeover will be taking place. This Saturday’s Takeover show will feature the return of the WarGames match, and the very best talents from the NXT brand will be featured on the card. However, the Takeover event could very well mark the final NXT appearances for some members of the current roster. It appears that there may be a few main roster call-ups in the works at the moment, and some of these NXT wrestlers could be appearing on the main WWE brands not too long after Survivor Series comes to an end this weekend.
According to a report from Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE is expected to bring in a few new additions to the main roster after Survivor Series occurs this Sunday. Which NXT Superstars being considered for the promotions were not revealed, but the debuts could be taking place as soon as Raw next Monday night and on SmackDown the following evening. The events from NXT Takeover: WarGames will likely determine who may be on the way out of WWE’s developing third brand. NXT is loaded with incredible talent such as Ricochet, The Velveteen Dream, The Undisputed Era, and Aleister Black just to list a few names, so WWE’s two top brands could definitely benefit from receiving some fantastic new competitors from NXT very soon.
During Triple H’s recent media call to promote NXT Takeover: WarGames, “The Game” was asked about the possibility of WWE bringing back the Breaking Ground reality series, which was a behind the scenes WWE Network series about NXT stars training in the Performance Center. Although Triple H did not appear confident that the show would return, WWE has instead chosen to launch a brand new YouTube channel completely dedicated to the PC and the aspiring wrestlers training inside of the Orlando facility. Three videos have been uploaded to the channel already: a behind the scenes video showing the process of creating action figures with Mattel, an “Ask the PC” video, and the first episode of the mini-documentary, Arrival. The first episode of arrival focuses on the signing and debut of Matt Riddle.

Announcing the @WWEPC YouTube Channel! Catch real-life stories from aspiring @WWE Superstars such as @SuperKingofBros, and stay tuned for much more! https://t.co/dEKKEyR29d pic.twitter.com/PfuRwqmBIf
— Performance Center (@WWEPC) November 14, 2018