In China, four men have been sentenced to death in connection with a wave of deadly violence in the troubled western region of Xinjiang. The four were convicted by courts on Wednesday in the cities of Kashgar and Hotan on a variety of charges, including involvement in terrorism, murder and arson. Two others were sentenced to 19 years in jail.The violence began in Hotan on July 18, when a group of ethnic Uighurs seized a police station and killed four people. That was followed by attacks on in Kashgar, when assailants slashed pedestrians on the street and set fire to a restaurant. More than 20 people were killed in the violence, including 14 attackers shot by police in Hotan.China blamed the violence on militant Islamists and said their leaders had been trained in Pakistan. A group calling itself the Turkestan Islamic Party released a video last week claiming responsibility for the attacks.