SPORT | Kevin Durant Gives Ridiculous Excuse to Defend Zaza Pachulia Falling on Russell Westbrook

© Image by Braulio Perez | 12Up

In the most recent clash between bitter rivals Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, one of Durant's teammates is the subject of controversy.

Rumors have been swirling on whether or not Warriors' center Zaza Pachulia ​intentionally tried to hurt Westbrook on this play.

While Westbrook said after the game that "obviously it was intentional" and that Pachulia "tried to hurt me," Durant has taken a different, almost comical view on the situation

Calling that play a result of Pachulia's clumsiness is a bit of stretch. 

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He was not pushed or bumped into at any point of the play. The 14-year veteran simply collapsed on top of Westbrook's knee to end the play.

This is ​not the first time the Georgian big man has caused an issue with Westbrook. It's not even the first time Pachulia has been accused of​ intentionally trying to injure a star.

Despite Durant's feeble attempts to defend his teammate, the league office might still take action against the center, potentially fining him.

NATIONAL | UP students stage walkout vs Duterte; Duterte warns UP students: I will give your slots to 'bright' Lumad

Photo by Adrian Ayalin - ABSCBNNews

MANILA - Students of the University of the Philippines (UP) on Friday staged a mass walkout to protest the policies of President Rodrigo Duterte such as the war on drugs, the proposed shift to federalism, martial law in Mindanao, the issue of press freedom, jeepney phaseout, the tax reform law.

The steps of Palma Hall were filled with student protesters, teachers, and even jeepney drivers and vendors during the event.

The protesters, including Fine Arts student Danielle Canales, said they were not threatened by Duterte's statement that slots for protesting students might as well be given to Lumad or indigenous peoples.

“Alam naman po natin na hindi po yun totoo kasi sa kanayunan pa lang pinapaalis na ang mga lumad para magbigay-daan sa mga mining industries,” Canales said.

Before the protest, a memorandum from UP Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan circulated via social media and in the UP community that encouraged students to participate in various activities, mainly in connection with the EDSA People Power anniversary, as part of their education.

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Mon Sy, an instructor at the Department of English and Comparative Literature, joined his students during the walkout. 

“What is the point of the university even. The point of the university is to develop critical thought, critical thinking,” Sy said.

Student groups and youth organizations such as Kabataan Partylist, STAND-UP and League of Filipinos Students also joined the protest. 

According to STAND-UP Chairperson Almira Abril, the protest is aimed at putting an end to various problems that directly affect the masses, not just the UP community.

“Tayo ay nagra-rally dahil harap-harapan nating nakikita ang pag-balewala sa ating karapatan, ang karapatan ng sambayanang Piilipino,” Abril said.

Aside from the UP Diliman walk-out, the students said similar protests were also held in various UP campuses around the country.

The UP students will also join other protesters from other universities such as UST, UE, PUP, in a bigger rally in Mendiola.

SPORT | NCAA volleyball: Coach's tough love results in Finals MVP plum for Arellano's Arocha

Arellano's Regine Arocha is the Finals MVP of NCAA Season 93. Josh Albelda, ABS-CBN Sports

MANILA, Philippines – There was no doubt that Regine Arocha was the best player on the court on Monday, when Arellano University secured a second consecutive women's volleyball title in the NCAA.

The Best Opposite Hitter in Season 93 was superb in Game 2, scoring 15 points on 14 attacks. She also registered 12 digs to help shore up the Lady Chiefs' floor defense against the San Beda University Lady Red Spikers.

Arocha was at her best in the closing stretch of the second set, when the Lady Chiefs saved a whopping four set points for a come-from-behind win. She sealed the win with back-to-back attack points that sent San Beda reeling.

Arellano went on to score a 25-13, 29-27, 25-15 victory in Game 2 to claim their second consecutive NCAA crown and third in four years. Fittingly, Arocha earned Finals MVP honors after averaging 14.5 points in the series.

"Hindi ko pa po talaga naa-absorb na ako 'yung Finals MVP. Sobrang, sobrang saya ko po," the third-year spiker told reporters after celebrating with her teammates at the FilOil court.

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• For Arellano coach Obet Javier, Arocha's massive improvement was gratifying to see, considering how hard the player worked.

It also proved to Javier that his "tough love" approach to Arocha during training paid off.

"Siyempre tuwang-tuwa ako kasi lahat ng pagod niya, lahat ng sigaw ko sa kanya, lahat ng talagang galit ko sa kanya, nagbunga na," the coach said.

"So naintindihan niya na siguro kung bakit kailangan ko siyang sigawan, pagalitan - para makuha niya kung anong dapat kong makita sa kanya. At tuwang-tuwa ako sa kanya dahil napakalaki talaga ng improvement ng bata," he added.

Arocha's rise in the past two seasons have been remarkable. She was a bench player for most of Season 92, before establishing herself as a star during the Lady Chiefs' finals series against San Sebastian College. In Season 93, she showed that she was ready to shoulder a bigger load for Arellano.

Her responsibility should only grow come Season 94, as the Lady Chiefs are set to bid goodbye to three of their key players – middle blockers Anne Esguerra and Andrea Marzan, and another ace spiker in Jovie Prado.

Javier is confident that Arocha can handle it. "May dalawang (seasons) pa siya," he said of his player. "Sasagarin niya 'yun."

WORLD | Trump backs improved background checks on gun buys – White House

DONALD TRUMP. US President Donald Trump speaks at the Major Cities Chiefs Association and Major County Sheriff's Association Winter Meeting in Washington, DC, on February 8, 2017. File photo by Saul Loeb/AFP

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – US President Donald Trump signaled support on Monday, February 19, for a bipartisan effort to improve a national system of background checks for gun purchases in the wake of the Florida school shooting.

"While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the president is supportive of efforts to improve the Federal background check system," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

Trump has come under intensifying pressure to act after a teenage gunman went on a rampage at a high school in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday, killing 17 people.

Angry students who survived the attack have called for a march on Washington to demand changes in US gun laws, calling out Trump and the powerful National Rifle Association at rallies.

Sanders said Trump had spoken to Senators Chris Murphy, a Democrat, and John Cornyn, a Republican, who have jointly sponsored a bill to fix a national database by requiring states and federal agencies to report more often on offenses that would bar an individual from buying a gun.

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The legislation amounts to a narrow, technical fix, leaving unaddressed the broader, divisive issue of permissive gun laws under a constitutional amendment that protects the right to bear arms.

Normally on opposite sides of the gun debate, the lawmakers teamed up in November after a gunman stormed a church in Texas, killing 26 people in one of the nation's deadliest mass shootings.

That gunman, Devin Kelly, was able to buy guns while serving in the air force despite a domestic violence conviction that should, by law, have prohibited him from purchasing or possessing firearms.

The conviction was never reported by the air force, however, exposing a major weakness in the background check system. – Rappler

WORLD | S. Korea urges 'stern' response to new US tariffs

MORE TARRIFS. This file photo taken on January 6, 2016 shows an exhibitor demonstrating an Inverter Direct Drive washing machine at the LG exhibit during the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. David McNew/AFP

SEOUL - South Korean President Moon Jae-in called Monday for a "stern" response to new US tariffs on the South's exports as concern grew over looming trade restrictions by Washington.

US President Donald Trump last week threatened retaliatory action against China and South Korea and vowed to revise or scrap a 2012 free trade deal with the South which he described as a "disaster".

Trump also put his "America First" doctrine into action last month by imposing duties of 20 to 50 percent on large washing machines made in nations including the South, as well as tariffs on solar panels imported from China and elsewhere.

Seoul has said it would take the issue to the World Trade Organization while Beijing expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with the move, adopted to protect US manufacturers.

The trade frictions have strained ties at a time when Seoul and Washington are seeking to present a united front against North Korea's nuclear threat. 

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Moon, at a meeting with aides, expressed concern over "intensifying protectionism" that may take a toll on the South's export-reliant economy -- also the world's 11th largest. 

"I am concerned that widening restrictions by the US on our exports, including steel, electronics, solar panels and washing machines, may take a toll on the exports despite their global competitiveness," he said. 

"I'd like (officials) to respond to unreasonable protectionist measures in a confident and stern manner by... reviewing whether the measures violate the current Korea-US free trade pact," he said. 

Moon also urged officials to "actively argue the unfairness" of the tariffs when renegotiating the bilateral free trade deal. 

Moon's comments also came days after the US Commerce Department recommended hefty new tariffs on steel imports from countries including the South. 

The US trade deficit -- which Trump has vowed repeatedly to fix -- widened even further during his first year in office, up 12 percent to $566 billion. 

The Trump administration last July initiated talks to renegotiate the free trade pact with Seoul, arguing it was lopsided because America's bilateral trade deficit had ballooned under it. 

Two previous rounds of talks made little progress and Seoul's chief trade negotiator Kim Hyun-chong said at the time there was "a long way to go". 

The next round of negotiations is scheduled in Washington next month. via AFP/Rappler

NATION | 12-year-old who received 2 Dengvaxia doses exhumed for autopsy

© Provided by GMA News Online

MANILA - The remains of a 12-year-old boy who received two doses of the Dengvaxia vaccine were exhumed Thursday in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija to undergo an autopsy by the Public Attorney's Office (PAO).

On a "24 Oras" report by Ivan Mayrina, the mother of Melvin Karl Elipane explained that her son displayed severe symptoms at home, immediately after he received his second dose of Dengvaxia at school.

"'Yung dalawang shot po kasi niya, pag-uwi ng bahay, kasi sa school nangyari...totally hilo na po kasi talaga siya eh. Kaya po nung ano, namamanhid na po 'yung katawan, hirap huminga kaya kinabukasan po, diretso na ospital," Janet Elipane said.

Prior to Melvin Karl, the PAO has performed autopsies on 20 children who died of severe symptoms after receiving the world's first dengue vaccine through the government's nationwide vaccination program launched in April 2016.

The program was only discontinued last December after the drug's manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur warned against administering it to those with no prior dengue infection.

By that time, more than 800,000 schoolchildren under the program had already received Dengvaxia doses.

PAO said its forensic experts found a common denominator of inflammation and bleeding from the brain, lungs and various internal organs among the exhumed children.

Last week a group of doctors, scientists and other health experts earlier called on PAO to stop its autopsies, saying that none of the 14 autopsies it had done at the time shows that the deaths were related to the Dengvaxia vaccine.

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In the 24 Oras report, officials of the Department of Health (DOH) also disagreed that the PAO's findings showed a link between the deaths and the vaccine, saying they only found three cases where the vaccinated child died of severe dengue.

"Alam natin talaga na dengue nang ikinamatay nila, I'm sure sa autopsy makikita natin na dengue ang ikinamatay. Kaya lang, kung ano 'yung naging mechanism, kung ano 'yung association sa  vaccine atsaka sa death, kailangan pa nating malaman," Health Undersecretary Rolando Enrique Domingo said in the report.

"Ang gusto talaga ng panel [of experts] is to do a more thorough study. Pag-send ng sample usually ng mga organs, ng tissues para makita kung may ma-isolate tayo diyan na mga dengue virus," he added.

The DOH had asked the PAO for samples taken from their earlier autopsies, but the attorney's office refused, saying the cases they plan to file may possibly include officials from the health department.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III slammed the PAO's decision, saying: "We are supposed to be one government  here. We are supposed to be helping each other. We're supposed to be complementing each other." The PAO has yet to comment on this as of the report.

Meanwhile, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) raised that Duque could be held liable for obstruction of justice in his refusal to provide them with documents related to the Dengvaxia-related cases they plan to file.

"He is not a lawyer. That's why he doesn't know the legal intricacies of the case. Pag mayroon pong namatay, merong legality involved diyan, di po ba? Kasi there may be criminal liability," said VACC lawyer Manuel Luna.

In response, Duque maintained he has already provided documents to all bodies "authorized" to conduct an investigation on the Dengvaxia mess.

"I have already sent all the documents upon the subpoena by the Senate. So nasa Senado lahat 'yan. 'Yung NBI, may nag-subpoena sa amin, binigay na rin namin ang dokumento sa NBI [National Bureau of Investigation]," said the Health Secretary.

"So these are the authorized investigating bodies. Ang mga dokumentong hiningi nila, nasa DOJ [Department of Justice], NBI, at Senado na silang authorized na agencies na mag-imbesitiga," he added. — Margaret Claire Layug/BM