UN UN Secretary General Kofi Annan ordered disciplinary action against the UN official who headed the former oil-for-food programme in Iraq after a damning investigation found he obtained allocations of Iraqi oil and a series of unusual cash payments. Britain US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair for talks on Iraq and the Middle East at the start of her week-long tour of Europe, Israel and the West Bank. Vatican Pope John Paul II spent a third night in a Rome hospital amid indications that he is slowly on the mend and may even make a sickbed address via video-link to pilgrims in St Peter's Square on Sunday. Mideast Israel is ready to take risks in its negotiations with the new Palestinian leadership, Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said. Afghanistan An Afghan passenger jet with 104 people including a number of foreigners on board was feared to have crashed after failing to arrive in Kabul amid heavy winter snow storms, officials said. Japan A man who spent time in Britain was confirmed to be the first Japanese person to die from mad cow disease, but health authorities said there was no risk from meat in Japan. Asia The number of people presumed dead in December's earthquake and tsunamis rose to more than 292,000, with Indonesian authorities announcing a further increase in the number of dead. Nepal Nepal's army chief said security forces battling Maoist rebels would be told to uphold human rights but warned guerrillas at the same time of tough new action if they refused King Gyanendra's call for peace talks. Colombia A fence-mending meeting between Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was postponed, after Uribe was taken to hospital suffering from an acute ear infection.