Four persons including a Budhist monk died and 32 others were injured when two SLTB buses collided  head  on at Weerawila at arond 12 noon today (18).

Three of the deceased were women. 22 of the injured were admitted to the Hambanthota  Hospital while 10 others have been admitted to the Debarawewa hospital.

Families have gathered outside a drug treatment centre in the Afghan capital, Kabul, looking for their loved ones after it was hit in a Pakistan air strike, which Taliban authorities said killed 408 people.

The attack on Kabul’s Omar Addiction Treatment Hospital took place at about 9pm local time (16:30 GMT) on Monday.

[Aljazeera]

African football’s governing body has stripped Senegal of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title they won in a  chaotic final two months ago and declared Morocco the champions.

In a stunning decision, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said on Tuesday that its appeals board ruled that Senegal is “declared to have forfeited” the match, a 1-0 victory. The result, it said, was now “being officially recorded as 3-0” ‌in favour of host nation Morocco.

At the January 18 final in Rabat, Senegal’s players walked off the pitch, led by coach Pape Thiaw, in protest against a penalty awarded late in regulation time to Morocco.

When play resumed after a delay of about 15 minutes, Morocco forward Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved. In extra time, Pape Gueye scored the decisive goal that saw Senegal become champions of Africa for the second time.

The heated final also saw supporters trying to storm the field, players scuffling on the sidelines, reporters from the two countries fighting in media areas, and a bizarre sequence in which Moroccan ball boys tried to seize a towel being used by Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy – in an apparent bid to distract him and help their team win the continental title.

At a disciplinary hearing in January, CAF imposed fines of more than $1m as well as bans for Senegal and Morocco players and officials, but it had left the result untouched.

The case could go to a further appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

[Aljazeera]