Among his many duties, Foreign Minister Murray McCully gets to rub shoulders with some fairly noxious individuals. Few come with as much bloodsoaked baggage as Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines president who made an unheralded stopover in Auckland after the Apec summit in Peru. Duterte only left the confines of his hotel to smile for selfies with the Filipino community, who made him feel at home. But he did squeeze in a meeting with McCully, who came away mightily impressed with the strongman. The president, McCully remarked, was "warm, courteous, and actually quite charming."

Source: New Zealand Herald November 25, 2016 16:12 UTC