Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Secretary of State John Kerry was quickly dispatched to do some damage control on Wednesday after Afghanistan's president threatened to scuttle peace talks with the Taliban.

Earlier, Kabul also announced that it was breaking off discussions with the U.S. regarding long-term security once American forces withdraw from Afghanistan next year, accusing Washington of saying one thing and doing another.

The one-two punch from Afghan President Hamid Karzai came 24 hours after the Taliban said that it was open to holding talks with U.S. and Afghan officials at their new headquarters in Qatar in an effort to peacefully resolve the 12-year-long war.

However, Karzai became infuriated with the Taliban for flying their flag outside the new office in Doha and posting a sign that read "the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."

During Kerry's phone chat, Karzai was assured the flag was coming down and that the sign would be replaced with "Bureau of Peace Talks."

Karzai apparently told Kerry that if these good faith efforts were accomplished, he would "be ready to keep the wheels rolling" on the process.

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ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images(ANKARA, Turkey) -- Turkey's government, considered the most tolerant among Muslim countries when it comes to human rights, is now targeting social media.

After nearly three weeks of civil unrest over accusations that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's regime is turning increasingly toward authoritarianism, the government is working to limit the use of Twitter and other websites that its feels are stirring up trouble.

Erdogan has already accused Twitter of being a "troublemaker in societies" by allegedly allowing people to spread lies about Turkey.

As a result, the Turkish justice ministry is crafting legislation that would criminalize certain activities on the Internet that include social media usage.

Social media was an integral part in uniting people opposed to the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt during the so-called Arab Spring in early 2011.  Erdogan is apparently worried that it is fueling the same kind of anti-government sentiment in Turkey.

While he frets about the Internet, riot police continue to clear demonstrators off the streets of Istanbul and Ankara.  Activists have reported four deaths since the trouble began on May 31 and more than 7,500 injuries, largely due to tear gas and water cannons used by authorities.

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MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images(KABUL, Afghanistan) -- There's been a big setback to establishing peace in war-torn Afghanistan.

A day after the Taliban opened a new office in Qatar, supposedly to help kickstart the peace process, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has abruptly called off all negotiations with the United States -- and with the Taliban -- on any long term peace deals.

In a statement Wednesday, Karzai’s office said, "In view of the contradiction between acts and the statements made by the United States of America in regard to the Peace Process, the Afghan government suspended the negotiations, currently underway in Kabul between Afghan and US delegations on the Bilateral Security Agreement."

Karzai's spokesperson wouldn't comment on why the negotiations have been suspended, but there's widespread speculation that it has to do with the Taliban's new office.

A recent online video shows the Taliban raising their national flag inside their office, something many of Karzai's supporters consider an insult, saying they should be raising the Afghan national flag instead.

Karzai is demanding the Taliban renounce all violence and negotiate directly with his hand-picked High Peace Council, but the militants are set to negotiate -- for the first time since the war began in 2001 -- directly with the United States.

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LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images(LONDON) -- Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said Wednesday that his group has been in touch with lawyers for Edward Snowden, the man who says he’s behind the National Security Agency leaks.

“We are in touch with Mr. Snowden’s legal team and have been, are involved, in the process of brokering his asylum in Iceland,” Assange said on a conference call with reporters marking his one year since entering the Ecuadoran embassy in London seeking asylum.

Assange said he feels a, “great deal of personal sympathy” with Snowden, but would not comment if he has spoken to Snowden directly or if they were in contact before Snowden leaked news to The Guardian and The Washington Post that detailed secret, far-reaching NSA Internet and phone surveillance programs that have been expanded and defended by the Obama administration.

“As a matter of policy, we do not discuss issues which may relate to sourcing,” Assange told reporters.

Snowden is believed to be in Hong Kong but has said he wants to go to Iceland as a place of refuge. Assange was asked if he thought Snowden could travel to Iceland without being stopped by the U.S. government or the United States’ allies and Assange answered, “All those issues are being looked at by the people involved.”

He also called on President Obama to “do the right thing” and, “immediately drop the immoral investigation against Wikileaks.”

He noted that it could be the reporter who broke the NSA story, Glenn Greenwald, or filmmaker Laura Poitras who may be seeking asylum one year from now.

“The revelations of Edward Snowden this week lead us to ask the question … is the United States the type of country from which journalists must seek asylum for in relation to their work?” Assange asked.

Assange was joined on the call with prominent whistleblowers Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times in 1971, and Thomas Drake, a former NSA official who faced felony charges over leaks to the Baltimore Sun that revealed alleged mismanaged programs at the NSA.

Ellsberg said the “idea” that information garnered from NSA surveillance “will not be abused” and not used for anything besides “catching terrorists is childish.”

Ellsberg also criticized the Obama administration, noting that the Bush administration may have started the NSA surveillance efforts, but Obama continued the surveillance and, instead of dismantling it, solidified the effort.

“When [NSA surveillance] was finally exposed after four years of totally criminal unconstitutional behavior under George W. Bush, Obama’s effort … was to legalize that process, not to end it or rein it in,” Ellsberg said.

Ellsberg, Drake and Assange said the prosecution of Bradley Manning and the “attack” on the press has put a chill on national security reporting, but Ellsberg said Snowden’s leaks could inspire other leakers to “take the chance.”

“This is our last chance, I think, to keep our press and thus our democracy from becoming like China’s or the Soviet Union,” Ellsberg said.

Drake, who eventually pleaded guilty to a a single misdemeanor in 2011, was equally critical, saying, “We’re all foreigners now.”

“What we’ve seen over the last 12 years is going over to the dark side of secret rules, secret law, secret courts and secret evidence,” Drake said.

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Stocktrek Images/Thinkstock(KABUL, Afghanistan) -- Four U.S. soldiers were killed overnight in what a U.S. official called an “indirect fire” attack at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement that insurgents fired two mortars into Bagram. It was not immediately clear how many people were injured.

The attack came just hours after Taliban officials said they were prepared to sit down for direct peace talks with Afghan and U.S. officials over the future of Afghanistan, and Afghan security forces officially took the security lead from the U.S.-led NATO coalition.

“We can confirm four International Security Assistance Force service members died following an indirect fire attack in eastern Afghanistan today,” NATO confirmed in a short statement.

“It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities,” the release said.

Just hours after the Taliban opened a new office in Qatar, supposedly to help kickstart the peace process, Afghan President Hamid Karzai abruptly called off all negotiations with the United States -- and with the Taliban -- on any long term peace deals.

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ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images(MOSCOW) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested Tuesday that there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel in the West's standoff with Iran over its rogue nuclear program.

According to the Russian official, if the United Nations eases its sanctions against Tehran, the Iranian government would be willing to stop uranium enrichment to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, a step that would presumably slow its alleged development of nuclear weapons.

In a statement, Lavrov said, "The international community should react to Iran's constructive steps by similar measures [such as the] gradual halt of sanctions and scrapping them, including the curbs of unilateral basis or those approved by the Security Council."

The foreign minister also encouraged the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, otherwise known as the P5 1, to resume negotiations with Iran about it nuclear ambitions.

Lavrov's announcement comes just days after Hassan Rouhani was elected Iran's new president.  While indicating that his government would be more transparent about its nuclear program, Rouhani was adamant about not suspending uranium enrichment.

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Matt Cardy/Getty Images(LONDON) -- Prince William and Kate Middleton are expecting their first child in July and a report by the Centre for Retail Research in Nottingham, England, predicts that the national economy could gain as much as $380 million because of the birth.

Joshua Bamfield, the center's director, says, "This is a good news story and there really is no downside.  With the birth coming in July, people will have time to get involved, and that means additional spending."

Breaking it down by the numbers, Bamfield says the various festivities surrounding the arrival of William and Kate's baby, which include alcohol sales, could fetch $136 million alone.  Souvenirs and toys could bring in another $125 million, while Brits and visitors are also expected to spend another $119 million on books, DVDs and media.

One item that's expected to fly off shelves: a pair of Union Jack leather booties for about $35 at the estate of future grandpa Prince Charles in Gloucestershire.

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Scott Olson/Getty Images(JERUSALEM) -- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is celebrating two important birthdays this week.

Last Friday, the mayor and his youngest daughter, Leah, embarked on a week-long commemorative trip to Israel to celebrate her bat mitzvah.

Going on a trip with each of his children is "a family tradition,"  Sarah Hamilton, a spokeswoman for the mayor, told ABC News.

Unlike Emanuel’s past commemorative trips with son Zach and daughter Ilana, this year the family tradition coincides with another celebration – the Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem.

This week, Emanuel will join a bevy of political heavyweights to discuss global leadership and to celebrate the 90th birthday of Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Other attendees include former President Clinton, former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Obama adviser David Axelrod. President Obama is also scheduled to make an appearance via video stream.

According to Hamilton, on Wednesday Emanuel joins Blair, Gorbachev and Peres in a panel discussion about executive leadership. The conference agenda describes the event as a look into each leader’s experience navigating a “demanding arena that is full of dangers [and] political difficulties.”

The conference kicks off Tuesday night with an invitation-only reception in honor of Peres’ birthday, and will include appearances by Barbra Streisand, Sharon Stone and Robert De Niro.

Hamilton couldn’t say whether Leah Emanuel would be attending the reception with her father.

“He doesn’t talk about his kids publicly,” she said. “The trip is for them to learn more about their family’s history.”

The mayor is set to return to Chicago on June 23.

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