Kazakhstan detains nearly 1,700 more after violent unrest

MOSCOW (AP) — Kazakh authorities say they detained 1,678 more people in the past 24 hours over their alleged participation in the unrest that rocked the former Soviet nation last week. It was the worst violence since Kazakhstan gained independence three decades ago. The additional detentions announced Wednesday brought the total number of arrests to about 12,000. Protests over soaring fuel prices erupted in Kazakhstan on Jan. 2. They quickly spread across the country and turned violent. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has blamed the unrest on foreign-backed “terrorists.” The unrest was largely quelled by last weekend.