Briefly

Man who killed doctor sentenced to death

Sun Wenbin, who fatally stabbed a doctor at a hospital in Beijing last month, was sentenced to death by the Beijing No 3 Intermediate People's Court on Thursday. Doctor Yang Wen was working in the emergency department at Civil Aviation General Hospital on Dec 24 when Sun stabbed her in the neck with a knife. The doctor died the following day. Sun, 55, is the son of a patient at the hospital who has been bedridden for years after a stroke. The court said that although Sun confessed after giving himself up to police, the nature of his brutal crime caused serious consequences and great social harm. It is not known whether Sun plans to appeal.

Military recruitment to take place twice a year

China will change its military conscription from once a year to twice a year, starting from 2020, according to a statement from a teleconference on the recruitment work on Thursday. Recruitment will run from February to March, and again from August to September. Retirement for military personnel, therefore, will also change to twice a year, according to the statement. It said the total number of recruits will remain stable compared with previous years.