http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/08/world/asia/days-after-slur-obama-and-rodrigo-duterte-of-philippines-meet-briefly.html 2016-09-08 01:33:54 Days After Slur, Obama and Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines Meet Briefly The short exchange at a summit meeting in Laos came after Mr. Obama canceled a previous meeting because Mr. Duterte used a slur against him. === VIENTIANE, Laos — It was brief and it was only pleasantries, but The two men spoke while they were waiting with other world leaders to enter a gala dinner at a summit meeting of the For reporters covering the dinner, the prospect of a meeting or handshake between Mr. Obama and Mr. Duterte was the story of the evening. Publicly, at least, it fizzled: At a photo session with the leaders, Mr. Obama stood several spots to the left of Mr. Duterte. At dinner, they were seated far enough from each other to make a chance encounter unlikely. Mr. Duterte chatted with Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia during the photo session and later over dinner, where he lifted his wineglass to toast Mr. Medvedev. Mr. Obama, meanwhile, appeared to be having a sober exchange with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei. Mr. Obama canceled a formal meeting with Mr. Duterte after the Philippine leader called him a “son of a whore” and threatened to repeat it in person, if he raised the issue of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. Mr. Duterte later said he regretted the comments, which he described as an overreaction to news media reports he had read about Mr. Obama’s plans to press him on his tactics for combating drug trafficking.