US Secretary of State John Kerry said progress on human rights would lead to a closer relationship between the United States and Vietnam on Friday.

In a speech in Hanoi to mark the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Mr Kerry said, “progress on human rights and the rule of law will provide the foundation for a deeper and more sustainable strategy and strategic partnership between the United States and Vietnam.”

“Only you can decide the pace and the direction of this process of building this partnership, but I’m sure you’ve noticed that America’s closest partnerships in the world are with countries that share a commitment to certain values,” he added.

The Secretary of State, a former US officer who served in Vietnam, also said the two countries have now reconciled. Trade between the two countries now reaches $36 billion, from $451 million some two decades ago, reports the New York Times.

However, Mr Kerry said more had to be done. “The United States recognizes that only the Vietnamese people can determine their political system,” he said. “But there are basic principles we will always defend: No one should be punished for speaking their mind so long as they are peaceful; and if trading goods flow freely between us, so should information and ideas.”

The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously passed a resolution asking the UN Secretary General to set up an inquiry to identify those responsible for chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian conflict.

The resolution, passed by the 15 member Security Council, called on the Secretary General to coordinate with the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to submit recommendations for the establishment of an investigative body to “identify the greatest extent feasible individuals, entities, groups, or governments” involved in any chemical attacks in Syria.

The United Nations will hold a new round of Libya talks on Monday in Geneva to persuade warring parties to agree on a unity government, reports Reuters.

The UN mission for Libya in a statement said,

A man based in Sweden is being investigated over suspicions he committed war crimes in the conflict in Ukraine according to the head of International Public Prosecution Office in Stockholm, Tora Holst.

“I can confirm that a person based in Sweden is being investigated. It is in regards to suspicions of some kind of war crime that is said to have been committed in Ukraine in 2014,” Holst said on Thursday.

“An investigation can take a long while before the suspicions are put to the suspect in question. If the person is set to be questioned as a suspect and want a lawyer he will naturally be awarded one,” said Holst.

Sweden's security service, Säpo, believes a handful of Swedes have travelled to Ukraine to take part in fighting since the country's armed conflict with Russia began in 2014, Swedish website The Local reported.

The Australian government confirmed that it had turned back 20 boats carrying 633 asylum seekers in the past 18 months, according the country’s immigration minister.

Minister Peter Dutton said that the government would “celebrate” what he called a “significant achievement”, telling reporters,

“We have [more than] a year since we have had a successful people-smuggling operation and that is good news because we have had no reported deaths under Operation Sovereign Borders at sea and we have been able to stare down these evil people smugglers”.

"I think the important point to remember in all of this is had those 20 boats arrived, 200 boats or 2,000 boats would have followed them," he added.

The announcement comes as the Australian government confirmed it turned back a boat carrying 46 asylum seekers from Vietnam last month. The Vietnamese government was contacted, the boat they arrived on scuttled and the refugees sent back, confirmed the minister.

Kosovo’s parliament amended its constitution to allow the creation of a special court to investigate alleged war crimes committed by ethnic Albanian fighters during the 1990 conflict on Tuesday.

The tribunal will be part of Kosovo’s judicial system however the proceedings will be held abroad. Early reports suggest that they will be held in the Netherlands.

The constitutional change comes as the US and European Union have applied pressure on Kosovo to address longstanding accusations of war crimes committed by Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

The constitutional changes were backed by 82 seats in the 120 seat parliament reports the BBC. 

President Barack Obama told US Jewish leaders that rockets could fall on Israel should they decide to reject the Iran nuclear deal.

The National Jewish Democratic Council, quoting the US president Obama, said,

South Sudanese opposition leader Lam Akol was barred from boarding a plane to attend peace talks in Ethiopia reports Reuters.

Mr Akol, who belongs to the side-lined Shilluk ethnic group, said,