US President Barack Obama canceled his first meeting with Philippines counterpart Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday after the blunt-spoken Duterte described him as a “son of a bitch,” casting a shadow over a gathering of Asian leaders in Laos.

Duterte, who has been roundly criticized abroad for a “war on drugs” that has killed about 2,400 people since he took office two months ago, said hours later that he regretted his comments “came across as a personal attack” on the US president.

“President Duterte explained that the press reports that President Obama would ‘lecture’ him on extrajudicial killings led to his strong comments, which in turn elicited concern,” the Philippines government said.(nypost.com)…[+]