On historic trip to Laos, Obama aims to heal war wounds

In part, he made the journey to attend the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Yasay said the two leaders met in a holding room just before a gala dinner at the summit.

After cursing at the president, Duterte expressed a degree of regret, stating that he did not intend his comments as a “personal attack on the USA president”. Another 1,894 killings are classified as “deaths under investigation”, a term human rights activists in the Philippines say is a euphemism for extrajudicial killings carried out by the security forces and hired assassins.

Yasay’s spokesman, Charles Jose, also confirmed this on Wednesday evening, quoting Duterte peace adviser Jesus Dureza. “Son of a whore, I will curse you in the forum”, Duterte said, defending his right to wage a drug war which has ended thousands of lives.

And it’s very odd for Duterte to “regret” calling Obama a “son of a bitch”, since he has used the same word to insult the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines (and, for that matter, Pope Francis).

The Philippines voiced regret for Duterte’s comments after Obama canceled a formal bilateral meeting.

He said he doesn’t think the White House believes the project will be complete in three years, but rather that the next three years will lay the groundwork for further action – mapping the extent of the unexploded bombs so that stakeholders can use the information to deduce the magnitude of the problem and from there see what is needed to address it fully.

The presidents of the two longtime allies were due to hold talks on Tuesday but the White House canceled the meeting after Duterte’s insult.

President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Laos this week has put a spotlight on the United States’ role in the use of cluster bombs, a particularly devastating weapon known for its indiscriminate harm, and comes at a time when there have been increased calls for the U.S.to join an worldwide ban on the weapon. Nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the crackdown since he took office on June 30. “Do not just throw questions”.

“He regrets that his remarks to the press have caused much controversy”, it added in a statement released at the summit in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

He pointed to the killing of Muslim Moros more than a century ago during a USA pacification campaign in the southern Philippines, blaming the wounds of the past as “the reason why (the south) continues to boil” with separatist insurgencies.

As part of a secret, CIA-run operation during the Vietnam War, aimed primarily at disrupting supply lines between North Vietnam and the Viet Cong, the US dropped more bombs on Laos than it did on Germany and Japan during World War II, making the small southeast Asian nation, per capita, the most heavily bombed country on earth.

The landlocked country of 6.8 million people may be the final Asian stop during Obama’s presidency, USA Today reported. Any future relationship with the Philippines must be founded on principles of respect.

The importance placed on the TPP by Japan and the USA has been interpreted as an effort to counter the regional influence of China, which is not party to the pact.

If the Chinese government confirms the photos, the Philippines will lodge an official protest, said Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.