Dairy exports have ground to a halt during what traditionally is the industry's busiest time of the year, thanks to the tainted-milk food scandal.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman has dismissed the European Union's (EU) criticisms over the execution of a man found guilty of spying for Taiwan, and said he was sentenced after a "just and fair" trial.

WASHINGTON: Hillary Rodham Clinton will be the next US secretary of state, president-elect Barack Obama said yesterday.

BANGKOK: Anti-government protesters reinforced their siege of Bangkok's two airports yesterday as the country struggled to provide temporary accommodation to more than 300,000 stranded travelers and arrange to reach them to their destinations.

The government is going ahead with a nationwide reform of civil servants' pay that includes raising the salaries of officials in poorer regions, despite the ongoing financial crisis, a publicity official from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said yesterday.

President Hu Jintao yesterday visited a hospital treating AIDS patients, calling for more efforts to raise awareness on the prevention of the fatal disease and help those afflicted with it.