The Spanish government said Wednesday it has approved the extradition to Kazakhstan of the former chief of security of a Kazakh banker-turned-dissident despite warnings from rights groups that he will face torture.

Aleksandr Pavlov was arrested in Spain in December 2012 after his name was placed on Interpol's wanted list at the request of Kazakh authorities who accuse him of embezzlement and plotting terrorist attacks. He denies the allegations against him.

Kazakh police on Saturday detained protesters at an unsanctioned rally in Almaty against the devaluation of the national currency, the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency reported.

Around 50 protesters gathered on the main Republic Square in Almaty for a rally against the energy-rich Central Asian country's decision to devalue its currency, the tenge, against the dollar.

A Spanish court approved Friday the extradition to Kazakhstan of the former chief of security of exiled oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov despite warning from rights groups that he will face torture.

Aleksandr Pavlov was arrested in Spain in December 2012 after his name was placed on Interpol's wanted list at the request of Kazakh authorities who accuse him of embezzlement and plotting terrorist attacks. He denies the allegations against him.

Three friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be arraigned on Friday on charges of lying to investigators and conspiring to obstruct justice.

Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, both 19-year-olds from Kazakhstan, had previously pleaded not guilty to charges of impeding the investigation into the April 15 attack that left three dead and scores injured.

An unmanned Russian Proton-M carrier rocket exploded Tuesday on takeoff at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, in images broadcast live on national television.

Spectacular footage showed the rocket veering off its trajectory just seconds after its 6.38 am (0238 GMT) launch, before erupting into a ball of flames and releasing highly toxic rocket fuel into the air.

British Prime Minister David Cameron unveiled a massive oil and gas processing plant on the shores of the Caspian Sea on Monday during his first visit to ex-Soviet Kazakhstan.

The British leader landed in the oil capital of Atyrau on the Caspian Sea on Sunday where he was met by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The United States reacted with concern Wednesday after Iran unveiled a new uranium production facility and two extraction mines, but said it had not been "blindsided" by the news.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed the advances on Tuesday and boasted of mastery over "the entire chain of nuclear energy" only days after talks with world powers on its disputed nuclear program ended in deadlock.

Iran and world powers met in Kazakhstan Friday for new talks seeking an elusive breakthrough on the Iranian nuclear crisis, with Tehran defiantly insisting its rights must be recognized.

The decade-old nuclear dispute has left the Islamic republic's economy badly hurt by U.N. sanctions and Tehran risking military action from its arch foe Israel.

Iran said on Friday it is hopeful "forward movement" continues during talks with major world powers over its controversial nuclear drive, the state broadcaster and ISNA news agency reported.

"Almaty I meeting bore positive results, and we also hope that in Almaty II this forward movement continues," IRIB's website reported Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as saying in Dushanbe, where he is attending a ministerial meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue.

World powers gave no ground to Iran at negotiations in Almaty last month and only recognized some of Tehran's rights, the Islamic republic's supreme leader said on Thursday.

"At the (February 26-27) meeting, the Westerners did nothing of importance that could be termed a gesture," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in speech reported on his website.