The United Nations says more land in Afghanistan is being used to grow poppies for opium, but that production of the crop has fallen this year because of plant diseases and bad weather.

A report Tuesday from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said opium output has dropped by 36 percent compared to 2011. That is despite an 18-percent increase in the amount of land covered by the poppy crop.

Tibetan sources tell VOA that two Tibetans have died after setting themselves on fire in the western Chinese province of Qinghai in the latest self-immolation protests against Chinese rule.

The sources with contacts in the region told VOA's Tibetan service that Kabum Gyal, 18,and Dangzin Dolma, 23, set themselves alight on Thursday in separate parts of Tongren county, known in Tibetan as Rebkong. They said the two died at the scene of their protests and do not appear to be related.

Activists dismissed the Burmese government's latest move to release hundreds of prisoners, saying it is a ploy to gain political support ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to the country.

State media said Thursday that President Thein Sein will pardon 452 prisoners in an effort to promote bilateral relations. Officials said political prisoners will be among those released, but activists and rights groups said they have not yet seen any dissidents freed.

Zimbabwean officials have dismissed a report by a non-profit group leading the campaign against conflict diamonds. The report says at least $2 billion worth of diamonds have been stolen from the country’s diamond fields and have ended up in the pockets of President Robert Mugabe's ruling circle.

In a report released Monday, Partnership Africa Canada said Zimbabwe's Marange fields have seen "the biggest plunder of diamonds since Cecil Rhodes," the colonial magnate who exploited South Africa's diamonds more than a century ago.

A spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki announced the suspension Saturday of a $4.2 billion arms deal between Baghdad and Moscow. A spokesman for Maliki, Ali Moussawi, told Iraqi state TV that the prime minister had decided to re-examine the arms deal with Russia, after discovering apparent graft and corruption.

A lack of transparency in the sale of diamonds remains a major problem in Zimbabwe and activists fear diamond revenues may be used to fund the campaign of President Robert Mugabe's party in an election due to take place early next year.

In 2009 an international ban was imposed on the sale of Zimbabwe’s diamonds. That came as a result of allegations that some mines were controlled by the military and that funds were diverted to Mugabe's ZANU-PF.

Russia says it expects the United States will show more flexibility in a dispute over U.S. missile defense plans following the re-election of President Barack Obama.

Speaking Thursday at an international conference in Moscow, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin expressed hope that the U.S. president will take into account the opinions of Russia and others regarding the configuration of NATO's missile defense.

The African Union has finished a week of training in Ethiopia for members of its new African Standby Force. The force is due to become active in 2015, though parts of it could be utilized earlier.

More than 100 police officers and civilians from regional African institutions participated in the African Union Police and Civilian Exercise, called Njiwa, for the past eight days in Addis Ababa. These police officers and civilians are expected to further train their colleagues in their home countries and institutions.

A young, single mother and three young monks are the latest Tibetans to set themselves on fire to protest Chinese policies in Tibet.

VOA Tibetan reports all four burned themselves Wednesday and the mother and one of the monks have died.

​​The mother, 23-year-old Tamding Tso, set herself ablaze in Rebkong in eastern Tibet. Witnesses say she called for the return of the Dalai Lama as she died.