Donald Trump has revived US relations with two of Asia’s most authoritarian heads of state – the leader of Thailand’s junta and the president of the Philippines – by inviting them to the White House. In separate phonecalls over the weekend, Trump spoke with Thailand’s prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former general who took power in a 2014 coup, and the Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, who is accused of mass murder. The calls aimed to rally regional allies as Washington takes an increasingly hard line towards North Korea’s nuclear programme. The country ran another failed missile test on Friday.(guardian)…[+]