When Jadon Sancho's loan move to Chelsea from Manchester United was confirmed on 31 August, it seemed a perfect deal for all parties. United were keen to publicise that the loan included an 'obligation' for Chelsea to sign Sancho permanently - providing they finished at least 14th in the Premier League this season. The added facts that there was no loan fee paid and Chelsea were only covering half of Sancho's wages - something minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe revealed in his interview with BBC Sport on 10 March - underlined United's desire to sever ties with the England winger. Sancho was a £73m signing from Borussia Dortmund just over three years earlier, but his social media post "wishing everyone all the best in the future" did not suggest he was thinking of returning to Old Trafford. Chelsea was the club he supported as a boy. To Kennington-born Sancho, who joined Watford as a kid, moved to Manchester City at 14 and then onto Germany, where he became a senior player and an England international, Chelsea was the equivalent of returning "home". For Blues boss Enzo Maresca, he was another valuable attacking option in a reshaped squad being fine tuned to attack four competitions. As has happened before in Sancho's career, there were exciting early impressions. But now the talk is of a £5m compensation sum Chelsea would have to pay to send him back - and if they will choose to pay it. Once more, Sancho - who turns 25 on Tuesday - is heading into the summer facing an uncertain future. Why has it happened, again? Firstly, the word out of Chelsea is that it is still their intention to keep Sancho. That is also what United think. Yet, if that eventuality was so certain, why has the information about the £5m 'return clause' made it into the public domain? It is not that hard to work out why, at the very least, Chelsea must be tempted to trigger it. Sancho's initial performances were impressive. He created a late winner on his Premier League debut at Bournemouth on 14 September, then claimed assists in his next two games. Scoring in successive victories against Southampton and Tottenham in December, Sancho had five goal involvements in nine league games as Chelsea moved into second spot, four points behind leaders Liverpool. "In training recently I've been working on my shooting a bit more, on hitting the far corner," said Sancho in the aftermath of his strike at Tottenham, when he did exactly that to spark a victorious comeback. "The staff and players have been telling me to be a bit more selfish in front of goal. I know I have a lot of people to prove wrong and I'm working hard every day in training." Since then, in 18 games in all competitions, Sancho has not scored and managed just a single assist, setting up Cole Palmer in the 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace on 4 January. In those 18 games, he has had 13 shots, two of which were on target. The 24-year-old was reflective of his situation when asked about it after the victory over Leicester on 9 March. "I know I can do better especially in front of goal," he said. "It is kind of annoying not to score but it will come." Insiders stress Sancho's attitude behind the scenes has been good. They say he has done extra training sessions to become more robust and feels it is unfair to analyse his efforts purely on the basis of goals and assists because more work is now being done off the ball. But since that Tottenham game, Chelsea have accumulated just 18 points in 14 league games. The situation would look far worse were it not for home victories over struggling duo Southampton and Leicester in a 10-day period from 25 February. What appeared to be a title push is now a battle to claim a Champions League spot. Chelsea have also been eliminated from the FA Cup. Little wonder, therefore, that thoughts are turning to how Maresca's squad can be improved. BBC Sport has previously reported Chelsea wanted to sign a striker and winger, and looked at multiple right-footed left wingers in January, including Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho and Borussia Dortmund's Jamie Gittens. Both are younger and regarded as more direct and faster options. Chelsea have struggled since main striker Nicolas Jackson suffered a hamstring injury against West Ham on 3 February. Sancho has completed 90 minutes just once in eight games since then. If Chelsea eventually decide Sancho is not for them, it would give United a tricky problem to solve. In one sense, he would be starting with a clean slate. Sancho's issues at Old Trafford were with Erik ten Hag. He refused to buckle and offer the Dutchman the apology after accusing his boss of scapegoating him with damning criticism over his performances in training. The Dutchman cited it as the reason Sancho was not involved in the Premier League game at Arsenal on 3 September 2023. It was the second time Ten Hag had clashed with Sancho over his performances. In October 2022, he sent Sancho on a personal training programme for three months after detecting a dip in performance he felt was a legacy of the player being left out of an England squad the previous month. "If you're from the streets, no one wants to apologise," former United forwards' coach Benni McCarthy told a South African radio station last May. "By doing that, you admit you are not training well, you are lazy, everything you are accused of. Jadon wasn't going to have that. The manager has a strong character and just said all he wants is an apology. Jadon thought he had done nothing wrong. "He didn't see why he had to apologise. Sometimes you have to apologise, because a player will never win against a manager. I spoke to Jadon as a coach, as a mentor, as a friend, and as someone who grew up on the streets and knows the code. But Jadon just wasn't seeing it." Sancho has never had a training session under Ten Hag's replacement Ruben Amorim. Yet even without Sancho, Amorim inherited a squad with too many wide attacking players. The former Sporting boss was neutral when he made his only public utterances on the player last month. "I'm just focused on my players and my problems," he said. "Sancho is not my problem. We need to win games and then we will see next season." Amorim had been asked about him because Sancho had responded to Marcus Rashford's loan move to Aston Villa by commenting "freedom" on one of the striker's Instagram posts, in relation to his former team-mate's own issues at Old Trafford. It was not a response likely to trigger a sympathetic reaction from club insiders. The really important people at United do not seem to view Sancho in a positive light anyway given, in addition to his comments on salary, Ratcliffe also told BBC Sport "we are paying £17m to buy him in the summer", which relates to the fee still outstanding to Borussia Dortmund from the initial transfer in 2021. Given his contract expires at the end of next season, United know a Sancho return either needs an immediate summer sale or they must make a huge decision over whether to trigger the additional year on a contract that currently runs to 2026, when he could leave for nothing as a free agent. "Overpaid and not good enough," was Ratcliffe's sweeping generalisation of a number of United players earlier this month. Few would dispute that. The difficulty is getting rid of them without incurring even more financial pain. United thought Sancho's move to Chelsea had done that. They may have been mistaken.

As tensions soar between India and Pakistan, Kashmiris are caught between fear and uncertainty. Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir — India and Pakistan are on edge, amid speculation that New Delhi might launch a military operation against its western neighbour days after the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. On the afternoon of April 22, suspected rebels emerged from the forests into a picturesque meadow in Pahalgam accessible only by foot or horseback, and opened fire on male tourists. They killed 25 tourists and a local Kashmiri pony rider. The worst such attack in Kashmir in a quarter-century set off a spiral of tit-for-tat steps by India and Pakistan that have brought the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of military conflict. Yet while India blames Pakistan for the attack, and Islamabad accuses New Delhi of not sharing any evidence to back its claims, Kashmir is facing the brunt of their tensions. India has responded to the Pahalgam attack with a spree of detentions of people suspected of supporting secessionist groups; and raids and demolitions of the homes of rebels, in the part of Kashmir it administers. It has also temporarily shut down tourism in parts of the Kashmir valley. It is also expelling Pakistanis living in India and Indian-administered Kashmir – including the families of former rebels New Delhi had previously invited as a part of a rehabilitation programme. Meanwhile, dozens of Kashmiris in cities across India have reported facing harassment, physical assault and threats to leave. Al Jazeera spoke to people living in the region about how their lives have been affected by the Pahalgam attack. I was in Pahalgam when the attack took place. It was shocking for all of us. As an architect and tourism planner focused on developing adventure tourism in Kashmir, I experienced the immediate fallout of the incident. The government’s decision to suspend all trekking activities and close 48 tourist destinations following the attack has directly impacted my work. The months of planning, coordination with local partners and scheduled expeditions were brought to an abrupt halt. The attack led to mass cancellations, financial losses, and the dismissal of local guides, porters, and service staff – many of whom rely entirely on seasonal tourism for income. The impact extended beyond businesses; it shook the confidence of tourists and disrupted the livelihoods of hundreds of people across the tourism value chain. My years of work to brand Kashmir as a safe, adventure-friendly destination have been lost abruptly. My work has taken a significant hit, but I hope that things will improve, tourists will come back and the sector will revive. I am very stressed about my livelihood right now but there is no option but to hope. What happened in Pahalgam should never have happened. Incidents like that don’t just create panic, they destroy our only source of livelihood. Since that day, the number of tourists has dropped so badly that I have spent these days without a single ride. I sit idle, waiting near taxi stands or at home, hoping someone might call me but the phone just does not ring any more. Since March, this year had started with some hope. Bookings were picking up, and it felt like we might finally see a good season after years of struggle. But now everything has come crashing down. I fear that if this continues, people like me, who have no government job, no land, no business, will be left penniless. We survive on tourism and this incident has been a big setback as I am left with no other option. I don’t have savings to fall back on. I have a family to support, children to educate and loans to repay. When tourists don’t come, it’s not just a bad day at work, it’s a question of how we will eat tomorrow. I was staying in a rented room in Srinagar [Indian-administered Kashmir’s main city] when the Pahalgam incident took place. Following reports of youth being picked up across Kashmir, I was urgently called back home [in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district]. A few months earlier, I was summoned to the local police station over a social media post which they did not like. I was let off with a warning and sent home. Since returning from my rented accommodation, I have been confined to my house. My parents don’t allow me to step outside. Every time I get a call, I feel a wave of anxiety, fearing it might be the police. My mother was scheduled to travel to Delhi in a few days for open-heart surgery, but now she is too afraid to go. One of my friends who is a student recently returned and warned us that it is extremely dangerous to travel under the current circumstances. He was studying in Punjab and had to rush home after attacks on Kashmiri students. Our lives have become so uncertain that we do not know whether we should worry about two meals, our job, our education, our homes being demolished or the political uncertainty that is shaping up. Kashmir might be a wonderland, a mini-Switzerland or a paradise for others, but for us, it is an open prison. Everyone lives in fear. What future do we have? My sister has been living in Kashmir with her husband and children for over a decade. A few years ago, she brought me here as well. She had never once complained about facing any harm. In fact, she would always speak highly of the locals and their warmth. That is what encouraged me to come and try building a life here, too. I sell pani puri [a popular street snack in South Asia] on a cart and earn my livelihood. The weather is also good here. When the attack on tourists happened, it did create fear on the first day. We were very scared not knowing what would happen. But things are returning to normal slowly and people are gradually returning to their daily routine. I continue to run my stall and even close it late in the evening without much worry. We are feeling safe so far. The atmosphere here, at least for now, doesn’t feel threatening to outsiders. I am originally from Karachi [in Pakistan]. I came to Kashmir in 2014 under the rehabilitation policy announced by the [Indian] government for the families of the former rebels who had gone to Pakistan but gave up guns and settled there. After marrying my husband, who is from Baramulla in north Kashmir, I came to Kashmir. For the past decade, I have been living here with him and our two daughters. This is our home now. When I hear today that Pakistani residents are being sent back, I get anxious.  My heart breaks. I don’t want to go back. How can I leave my husband and children behind and return alone? I would rather die than be separated from my family. I beg the government, with folded hands, please don’t send us away. My daughters are studying here. We have built a life in Kashmir, brick by brick, year after year. We are not a threat to anyone. All we want is to live in peace, together as a family. If I am sent back, it is like cutting an arm or leg from the body, who on Earth would do that? *The names of Amir and Safiya have been changed at their request for their safety. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

Nursing students of Crescent University, Abeokuta, have achieved three professional certifications namely Registered Nurse, Registered Midwife and Public Health Nursing in the space of their five-year Bachelor of Nursing programme. The students in the 400 and 500 levels presented for the 2025 RM examination also scored one hundred per cent. Head of Department of Nursing, Ademola Shafiu made this known while presenting the students to the vice chancellor, Prof Ibraheem Gbajabiamila and his management team. Receiving the team of faculty members from the Nursing Department, the Vice Chancellor praised the staff and successful students for their sterling performance. Calling out the names of the 27 candidates, the VC expressed joy that the first set of nurses, who would be graduating in October 2025, would have all the acronyms RN RM PHN and BNSc alongside their names. In his address, the pioneer Dean of College of Health Sciences, Crescent University, Prof. Adedeji Ajayi remarked, “I have not heard of any nursing school or university that has achieved this feat within five year of BNSc with three professional certificates.” He urged the university management to sustain the current team of scholars and professionals in the department, which he described as a winning team. In his goodwill message, the Registrar, Zakariya Ajibola described the successful students as “an inspiration to other students and the next generation of students. Faculty members present included Dr Mariam Oladipo, Dr Oluwatosin Olu-Abiodun, Dr Rabiu Popoola, Mrs Oluremi Olumade, Mr David Oluwole.

Myanmar’s military rulers say at least 1,644 people killed following earthquake that also left at least 10 dead in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok. The death toll from a huge earthquake that hit Myanmar and Thailand has surpassed 1,600, Myanmar’s military government has said on state television, as rescuers dig through the rubble of collapsed buildings in a desperate search for survivors. The statement from the military government confirmed 1,644 dead and more than 3,400 injured, with at least 139 people still missing after the magnitude 7.7 earthquake. Mandalay was hit heavily; it is Myanmar’s second-largest city and close to the epicentre of the quake. “It was a pretty uncomfortable night for lots of people. They chose to sleep outside. We saw them in parks putting mattresses outside their homes,” Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng reported from the capital, Naypyidaw. “There were still aftershocks, several we felt this morning. They were not significantly large ones, but enough to make people feel uncomfortable returning into built-up structures,” he added. Humanitarian operations in Myanmar have been badly hindered by damaged roads and infrastructure, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Saturday. The earthquake severely damaged critical infrastructure, including major bridges and roads, making it difficult for humanitarian operations to access areas in need, OCHA said. “Damage to the Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw-Mandalay expressway led to service disruptions, with cracks and surface distortions forcing highway buses to halt operations”, the UN agency said in a statement. “Infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and buildings were affected, leading to casualties and injuries among civilians. Search and rescue operations are currently being carried out in the affected areas,” Myanmar’s military also noted. To facilitate earthquake relief efforts, the country’s shadow National Unity Government, which coordinates the popular struggle against the ruling military, announced a two-week unilateral partial ceasefire starting Sunday in earthquake-affected areas. An announcement issued Saturday night said its armed wing, the People’s Defence Force (PDF), would “collaborate with the U.N. and non-governmental organizations to ensure security, transportation, and the establishment of temporary rescue and medical camps,” in the areas it controls. In the Thai capital, Bangkok – located 1,000km (620 miles) from the epicentre in Myanmar, about 10 more deaths have been confirmed. The shallow magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar in the early afternoon on Friday, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. The quake destroyed buildings, downed bridges, and buckled roads across swaths of Myanmar, and due to patchy communications in remote areas, many believe the true scale of the disaster has yet to emerge. Harry Roberts, a volunteer with the international disaster relief charity Shelterbox, said the situation in Myanmar was likely to be “very complex” and “really serious” considering the government’s rare appeal for international help. “That request must trickle down to immigration and customs, so nongovernmental organisations like ourselves can get the immediate aid in there,” Roberts said. “At this stage, it’s largely about gathering information and assessing the accessibility into the country.” Rescuers in Bangkok laboured through the night on Friday, searching for workers trapped when a 30-storey skyscraper under construction collapsed, reduced in seconds to a pile of rubble and twisted metal by the force of the shaking. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said about 10 people had been confirmed killed across the city, most in the skyscraper collapse. But up to 100 workers were still unaccounted for at the building site, close to the Chatuchak weekend market that is a magnet for tourists. “We are doing our best with the resources we have because every life matters,” Chadchart told reporters at the scene. “Our priority is acting as quickly as possible to save them all,” the governor said. Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, reporting from the site of the skyscraper collapse, said people in Bangkok were not used to having earthquakes. “There have been more than 70 aftershocks in the last 24 hours,” he said. “While they haven’t really been felt here in Bangkok, each report gets people very, very nervous. People are incredibly nervous that this might happen again.” Bangkok city authorities said they would deploy more than 100 engineers to inspect buildings for safety across the city after receiving more than 2,000 reports of damage. Follow Al Jazeera English:...