In brief: Malaysia finds graves in abandoned trafficking camps

WANG KELIAN, Malaysia – Malaysian authorities say they have discovered 139 suspected graves in a series of abandoned camps used by human traffickers on the border with Thailand where Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar have been held.

Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said that at least 28 camps were discovered along a 30-mile stretch of the Malaysian-Thai border.

He said forensics teams were exhuming the suspected graves to search for bodies.

The finding follows a similar discovery earlier this month by police in Thailand who unearthed dozens of bodies from shallow graves on the Thai side of the border. The grim discoveries are shedding new light on the hidden network of jungle camps run by traffickers, who for years held people captive while extorting ransoms from their families.

Nepalese return home after slide clears river

KATHMANDU, Nepal – Thousands of villagers in northwestern Nepal were able to return to their homes today after a mountain river swept away debris from a landslide that had blocked it, allowing waters to flow normally again.

The landslide before dawn Sunday dammed up the Kaligandaki River and created a lake 1.2 miles long. Thousands of villagers fled their homes, fearing flash floods. It happened in an area north of Beni Bazaar, about 125 miles northwest of the capital, Kathmandu.

Overnight, the river washed away rocks and other debris, and by this morning, the river was flowing at its normal level, said government administrator Tek Bahadur K.C.

The landslide was not caused by an aftershock to major earthquakes that struck Nepal on April 25 and May 12, which together killed nearly 8,700 people and injured 16,800 others.

Activists cross Koreas’ dividing zone by bus

DORASAN STATION, South Korea – Female activists including Gloria Steinem and two Nobel Peace laureates were denied an attempt to walk across the Demilitarized Zone dividing North and South Korea on Sunday, but were allowed to cross by bus and complete what one of them called a landmark event.

The group of 30 women from 15 countries made a final appeal to authorities on both sides to allow them to walk across the demarcation line, but were turned down. The North allowed a South Korean bus to cross the demarcation line to pick them up on the North side of the DMZ and transport them over the border to South Korea.

United Nations Command officials met the group inside the DMZ after they crossed the demarcation line, and allowed them to march again after the final checkpoint on the southern side.

“We were able to be citizen diplomats,” said Steinem, the 81-year-old feminism pioneer and author.

“We are feeling very, very positive. We have received an enormous amount of support,” she said after passing through South Korean immigration.

The group included Nobel Peace laureates Mairead Maguire, from Northern Ireland, and Leymah Gbowee, from Liberia.

U.K. premier sets who can vote in referendum

LONDON – Britain’s prime minister outlined who will be allowed to vote in a referendum on whether or not the country should remain in the European Union today, opting for rules that exclude most voters from the 28-nation bloc who live in the U.K.

Prime Minister David Cameron announced the parameters ahead of introducing legislation Thursday in Parliament to organize the ballot.

His plans also include a tour of European capitals to press his case that the EU needs to be reformed, hoping that the upcoming vote will focus minds that Britain is determined to enact change. Cameron plans to travel to Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Poland and Germany this week as part of his efforts to talk with all of the leaders of the EU member states before the June European Council late next month.

Under the referendum measure, the vote will be open to the same voters allowed to normally vote in British elections – rather than rules that are used for European Parliament elections. The rules would exclude, for example, a French citizen working in London but not qualifying Commonwealth citizens and Republic of Ireland citizens who are eligible to vote if registered. U.K. nationals resident abroad for less than 15 years will also be able to vote.