Malaysia, China and Australia say the search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner MH370 will be doubled if no trace of the plane is soon found. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports the announcement followed a joint meeting of government ministers in Kuala Lumpur today.

MH370search

Myanmar’s government says authorities are escorting a boat carrying more than 700 migrants to what it calls a "safe" location where their identities can be determined. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from our Southeast Asia bureau in Bangkok.

Rohingya

A strong U.S. dollar and Iran's plans to pour oil on an already glutted market sent U.S. crude below $50 dollars a barrel on Tuesday. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman has details. 

The Philippines has granted approval for the sales of a new dengue vaccine, following Mexico as the first two countries to allow the treatment. As VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports the vaccine could stop the potentially deadly virus that is transmitted by mosquitoes and can cause crippling fevers and pain.

Dengue

A court in Thailand on Thursday convicted two migrant workers from Myanmar for killing a young British couple on a resort island. Zai Lin and Wai Phyo were sentenced to death. As VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from Bangkok, their lawyers say they will appeal the verdict.

KohTao

A decades-old tuna treaty between the United States and Pacific Island nations is in tatters after the American fleet backed out of a commitment to the number of days it wants to pay to fish. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports.

Tuna

A difficult to diagnose, little-known deadly bacterial disease is more widespread than previously thought, and likely present in 79 countries -- including 34 that have never reported it. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman, in our Southeast Asia bureau in Bangkok, has details. 

Melioidosis

A video analysis to be posted Tuesday (US time) on armscontrolwork.com  will demonstrate that a recent missile test (believed to have been conducted Dec. 21) shown on North Korean television on January 8 was actually an explosive dud, not the great success claimed by Pyongyang and witnessed by leader Kim Jong Un. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman exclusively spoke with the two California-based researchers who analyzed the video and reached the conclusion it was faked.

DPRKDud

The World Health Organization is convening a meeting to determine whether a global health emergency should be declared for the Zika virus. Suspected of causing a surge of birth defects in South Africa, the mosquito-borne Zika is “spreading explosively” in the Americas and may be more widespread in Southeast Asia than previously indicated. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from Bangkok.

Zika

Authorities are saying it is premature to conclude that an apparent piece of a jetliner that has washed up in Mozambique is from flight MH370, missing for two years. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports on this latest chapter in what has become one of aviation's greatest unsolved mysteries.

Mh370mozambique

Two years to the day after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing, a second interim statement has been issued by investigators about the aviation mystery. But it contains little solace for angry and frustrated relatives of those who were on board the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.  VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports.

MH370statement

The number of pirate attacks has significantly escalated in the Gulf of Guinea this year — in contrast to what is being termed a remarkable decline in maritime crime elsewhere in the world. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports.

Maritimepiracy

News reports from the Southeast Asia bureau of the Voice of America. 

VOA Southeast Asia

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