Until Thursday.

During a visit to the company's New Zealand operations, Ren sat down with four local journalists at a Wellington hotel. The rules were strict: no international media, no photos.

But the meaning was clear. Huawei is taking steps toward trying to dispel its image as a secretive and opaque company, and to reassure the world of its good intentions.

The telecommunications equipment company has suffered business setbacks in the U.S. and Australia due to fears it could be a security risk. Last October, a U.S. congressional panel recommended telephone companies avoid doing business with it. Huawei issued a pledge not to cooperate with spying, and argues the U.S. is engaging in trade protectionism.

Huawei has grown rapidly in developing countries and is increasing its sales in Europe. Last year, it reported a $2.4 billion profit on sales of $35 billion.

Ren, 68, a former Chinese military engineer, declined through spokesman Scott Sykes to be interviewed by The Associated Press. Sykes said Ren felt more comfortable with a small group of journalists and chose New Zealand to break his silence because he has strong, positive feelings about the country "in his heart."

In his interview, Ren, speaking through an interpreter, told reporters his company's relationship with the Chinese government was no different from that between companies from other countries and their governments, according to a report by Fairfax Media.

Ren said he was confident no member of Huawei's staff would engage in spying, even if asked to by Chinese security agencies. He said he'd joined the Communist Party in 1978 when it was expected all "exceptional" people would do so.

"At that time my personal belief was to work hard, dedicate myself or even sacrifice myself for the benefit of the people," he said, according to Fairfax Media. "Joining the Communist Party was in line with that aspiration."

Sykes said the company is trying to tell its story and dispel misinformation. He said that's particularly important as Huawei moves from doing business only with other phone companies toward selling products such as smartphones directly to consumers.

New Zealand was the first developed country to sign a free trade agreement with China in 2008 and has developed close economic ties since then.

Huawei employs about 120 people in New Zealand. Last year it won a contract to work on the country's broadband infrastructure something it was denied in neighboring Australia and this year it won a contract to help build a mobile network.

Ren owns 1.4 percent of Huawei. Forbes magazine last year estimated his wealth at $475 million.

___

AP Business Writer Joe McDonald in Beijing contributed to this report.

Kuroda added, however, that it would be natural for long-term rates to rise over time if Japan meets its goal of pushing inflation up towards two percent.

He said a shift in funds from Japanese government bonds to stocks and into lending was already taking place but that the BOJ was increasing its balance of JGB holdings at an annual pace of 50 trillion yen.

"The BOJ dealt with short-term volatility in bond prices by adjusting its market operations," Kuroda told reporters after a two-day meeting of G7 finance officials.

"I do not expect a sudden spike in long-term bond yields. In the long-run, if the economy recovers and inflation heads towards two percent, we might see nominal interest rates rise but that's natural."

Finance Minister Taro Aso said the G7 had leveled no criticism at Japan's monetary policy which has weakened the yen sharply.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara. Writing by Mike Peacock)

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's annual consumer inflation rose by more than expected in April while factory prices fell for a 14th consecutive month, highlighting the dilemma facing the central bank as it balances support for the economy against the threat of rising prices.

With global growth sputtering, China's central bank has limited room to move, unlike counterparts in South Korea and Australia which both made surprise rate cuts this week.

Any easing could fuel property market risks, while tightening would hurt a nascent recovery after economic growth unexpectedly slowed to 7.7 percent in the first quarter from 7.9 percent in the previous three months. .

Instead the onus may be on the government to push structural reforms to help sustain long term growth in the world's second largest economy.

"We cannot rely too much on the central bank to support the economy," said Xu Hongcai, senior economist at China Centre for International Exchange (CCIEE), a top government think-tank in Beijing.

The government will instead rely on fiscal policy by boosting infrastructure investment and cutting taxes to underpin the economy, said Xu, a former central bank researcher.

Indeed, any investors betting on easing could be disappointed after the central bank's sale on Thursday of 10 billion yuan ($1.63 billion) of three-month bills, the first time since 2011 it has done this.

The move suggested the central bank will rely on other tools.

Tightening, meanwhile, is unlikely given a series of factory and services PMIs issued earlier this month that signaled tepid economic activity in April.

Chinese factories are saddled with excess capacity due to weak demand, putting downward pressure on producer prices that in turn erodes their profits.

"On policy, the priority now is industrial reform to tackle the problem of excess capacity. As such, the focus will be shifted away from macro policy to micro policy. We expect the monetary policy to remain intact this year," said Dongming Xie, China economist at OCBC Bank in China.

The National Bureau of Statistics said that China's producer prices dropped 2.6 percent in April, the 14th consecutive month of year-on-year declines and sharper than a drop of 1.9 percent in March.

China's biggest listed steelmaker, Baoshan Iron & Steel, said on Thursday it would cut its main steel product prices for June bookings, its first reduction in nine months, underscoring demand worries amid a fragile economic recovery.

The firm, known as Baosteel, usually sets the tone for pricing by the rest of China's steel sector, which is currently gripped by a supply glut due to less than expected demand.

CONSUMER PRICES TICK UP

Consumer inflation quickened to 2.4 percent in April from March's 2.1 percent due to higher food costs, data from the National Bureau of Statistics, showed on Thursday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast April inflation to quicken to 2.3 percent and factory gate prices to fall 2.3 percent from a year earlier.

Food prices rose 4.0 percent in April from a earlier, quickening from the 2.7 percent rise in March.

"Rising vegetable prices were the main factor pushing up the CPI," Yu Qiumei, a senior statistician at the statistics bureau, said in a statement accompanying the data, noting bad weather and lower rainfall had reduced supplies.

Consumer inflation may quicken to around 3 percent in May, partly because of the base effect, said Zhou Hao, China economist at ANZ in Shanghai.

But he added that the central bank is widely expected to keep policy broadly neutral with some fine-tuning to support the economy amid the global uncertainties.

"Monetary policy is likely to stay relatively accommodative as China's economic recovery remains fragile."

(Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

The Pentagon this week said China appeared to be cyberspying against the U.S. government, the first time it has made such an assertion in its annual report on Chinese military power. A bill introduced in the Senate on Tuesday would require the president to block imports of products using stolen U.S. technology or made by companies implicated in computer theft.

Washington's sudden focus on Chinese hacking comes after rising complaints from U.S. businesses about theft of trade secrets. Amid growing evidence that the People's Liberation Army and other state-backed groups are behind the infiltrations, Beijing's statements that the cyberhacking allegations are groundless repeated anew Wednesday by the Chinese Defense Ministry are being broadly dismissed.

"Hacking has become a significant sore spot in the U.S.-China relationship," said Abe Denmark, senior director of the National Bureau of Asian Research, an independent U.S.-based think tank. "It encompasses security, trade and intellectual property rights, and has become an issue of strategic significance to Washington."

Thus far, President Barack Obama's administration has mostly sought to apply pressure and avoid a confrontation that could set off a Chinese backlash at a time when Washington wants to keep the economy afloat. The issue was raised on recent visits by U.S. officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, although Dempsey said that no specific measures to discourage such activity were discussed.

The sides also agreed to form a joint working group to address the matter, adding it to the other disputes that bedevil ties, including trade, North Korea, Iran, Chinese territorial claims and human rights.

There are scant signs of progress so far, with State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell saying only that "we look forward to engaging in that dialogue."

Chinese hacking and cyberspying are described by experts to be so widespread and persistent that it has caused billions of dollars in economic losses and become an issue of U.S. national security by possibly placing critical infrastructure at risk. Washington is trying to beef up defenses by working with Internet companies and security firms.

The Pentagon report released Monday said China is using its cyber capabilities to collect intelligence against U.S. diplomatic, economic and defense programs. And the report warned that the skills needed for such espionage are similar to those needed to conduct more aggressive cyberattacks.

Though the Pentagon did not pinpoint sources of the hacking, U.S.-based Internet security firm Mandiant said in a February report that it traced years of cyberattacks against 140 mostly American companies to a People's Liberation Army unit in Shanghai. Mandiant executives say attacks originating in China have continued since then, with the exception of those from Shanghai-based Unit 61398 that had been highlighted in its earlier report.

China has called the accusations groundless, saying it's impossible to tell the origin of cyber-intrusions, and complained that it too is a target of hacking, with many attacks coming from the U.S.

"As everyone knows, it's America that is the real 'hackers empire,' People's Daily, the Communist Party's flagship newspaper, wrote in a commentary.

Though China has provided scant specifics, the National Security Agency was tasked in 1997 with developing ways to attack foreign computer networks, according to recently declassified information released last month by the National Security Archive of George Washington University. One of the most successful acts of cyber-sabotage the insertion of the Stuxnet virus into computer systems for Iran's nuclear program in 2010 is believed to have been the work of the U.S. and Israel.

China's Defense Ministry dismissed the Pentagon report, calling it an attempt to "turn black into white and mislead international public opinion," in a statement that did not directly address the assertions about cyberspying and the overall rising capabilities of the PLA.

"In recent years, the United States vigorously developed advanced weapons and equipment and formed an offensive cyberwarfare unit. This is obvious to the international community. The United States has no right to make irresponsible remarks on China's legitimate building of its defense and military," the ministry said.

James Mulvenon, a specialist on the Chinese military and cyberwarfare at Washington, D.C.-based consultancy Defense Group Inc. scoffed at the dismissal. He tweeted: "'Groundless accusations,' eh? Wasted 100s of hours fighting in my networks."

With Beijing so far not forthcoming, often partisan forces in Washington are coalescing around the need for tougher action.

The Senate bill was introduced by a bipartisan group of senators, including Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan and Republican John McCain of Arizona. While it doesn't mention China as a specific target of sanctions, a news release on the legislation notes that "recent reports indicate that China is by far the largest source of theft attempts against U.S. companies."

"We need to call out those who are responsible for cyber theft and empower the president to hit the thieves where it hurts most in their wallets, by blocking imports of products from companies that benefit from this theft," Levin was quoted as saying in the release.

The Senate's bipartisan approach, rising attention from the administration and public expressions of concern from the normally pro-Beijing business community illustrate how the issue has already reached critical mass, said Yu Maochun, a China scholar at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

"The Chinese hacking is so staggering and so significantly un-American that it has actually united major bickering and partisan sections of American society, the same way Pearl Harbor or Sept. 11 did," Yu said.

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Matthew Pennington contributed to this report from Washington.

Lt. Col. Souleymane Maiga refused to give a timeline for the attack on Kidal, saying only that preparations for the deployment are "in an advanced stage" and that Mali can no longer accept having two armies on its soil.

Kidal, the capital of one of the three northern provinces which fell into rebel hands last year, is currently controlled by Tuareg separatists who want to secure a homeland for the Tuareg people, which they call "Azawad" in the local language. The rebel National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, or NMLA, swept into northern Mali a year ago. Their victory was short-lived and within weeks they were pushed out by Islamic extremists linked to al-Qaida, who seized control of a territory the size of Afghanistan, imposing Shariah rule and opening jihadist training camps.

In January France sent in warplanes, combat helicopters and 2,000 soldiers to take back the north.Though the French purged the main towns of the al-Qaida groups, they stood by while the NMLA returned to Kidal. Soon, the Tuareg rebels were manning roadblocks in and around the city. They have since started collecting taxes and appointed their own governor, thumbing their nose at the Malian state, even as French soldiers continue to occupy the Kidal airport.

"The army is preparing to take back Kidal. Not just Kidal, but also Tessalit, Abeibara and Aguelhok," said the military spokesman, naming the localities north of Kidal, which are also believed to be mostly controlled by the NMLA. "The highest authority in the land has made clear that we cannot accept that there be two armies in Mali, so (the Malian army) is going to go to Kidal to protect the population and the territorial integrity of our country."

He added that the army needed to secure Kidal in order to allow Mali's administration to return. And in order to prepare for national elections due to be held in July. The presidential elections are seen as a key step in returning Mali to constitutional rule. The various rebel groups were able to seize the north last year in the aftermath of a March 2012 coup in the capital, led by a junior officer. The coup destroyed the military's command-and-control structure, causing disarray and leading to the collapse of the country's defenses in the face of the rebel onslaught.

Soldiers were seen ripping off their uniforms, piling into trucks and abandoning the frontline. Retaking Kidal would be a major symbolic victory for the military.

Because of their humiliating defeat last year at the hands of the NMLA, however, many fear that the military could seek revenge. Already in Timbuktu, in Gao and in Sevare, the Malian army is accused of carrying out reprisal killings of Tuareg civilians accused of complicity with the rebels. Detainees have been subjected to horrific torture by Malian forces, including water-boarding and being injected with acid-like substances that corrode the skin, according to an investigation by the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

On Tuesday, the rights group issued a statement warning all warring parties to respect the rules of engagement in the event of an operation in Kidal.

"Civilians have been through enough in the past 16 months. All sides simply must do all they can to minimize any further suffering," said Corinne Dufka, the group's senior researcher who has led several missions to Mali.

Among the measures that HRW is encouraging is the deployment of the paramilitary police, known as gendarmes, alongside the soldiers. In the Malian security force, it is the gendarmes who are mandated to question detainees during military operations and investigate disciplinary lapses by soldiers.

The military appears to have taken this suggestion to heart, and on Wednesday, an officer in the gendarmerie in Gao confirmed by telephone that a unit is accompanying the military contingent.

"The military started advancing (toward Kidal) two days ago. There is a large contingent of soldiers who are being accompanied by a unit from the gendarmerie in order to try to avoid any abuses. Anyone that is caught with an arm in their hands will not be spared, but those who are found unarmed will be treated humanely," said the gendarme, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

A spokesman for the NMLA in Europe warned that there will be blood spilled if the Malian military tries to take Kidal.

"Unfortunately there will be a clash, and the NMLA will be in a position of legitimate defense," said Moussa Ag Assarid, who spoke by telephone from Paris. "We are there to protect the population from the Malian army."

__

Callimachi contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal.

___

Rukmini Callimachi can be reached at www.twitter.com/rcallimachi

Baba Ahmed can be reached at www.twitter.com/babahmed1

The two new landmarks are the Wade Tract Preserve in southern Georgia, one of the last old-growth stands of longleaf pine left in the world, and the Zumwalt Prairie in Oregon, an example of bunchgrass prairie that was once more widespread.

"By designating these remarkable sites as national natural landmarks, we recognize two extraordinary examples ofthat were commonplace at one time, but are now rarely seen intact," said National Park Service director Jonathan B. Jarvis in a statement.

Scientists think that the Wade Tract Preserve is an example of what that region of the country would have looked like at the time Europeans colonized the area, according to the statement. Some trees in the preserve are more than 300 years old.

At the other end of the country, the Zumwalt Prairie is home to large populations of mammals, birds and prey. In addition to bunchgrass , it features aspen groves, grasslands, sagebrush shrublands and other wooded areas. The landmark falls within a preserve owned by The Nature Conservancy.

The landmark status is intended to help preserve important natural areas and to allow scientists to better study them, though it doesn't impose and land use restrictions that weren't already in place.

In addition to the two new landmarks, the boundaries of Garden Park Fossil Area National Natural Landmark, located in Fremont County, Colo., have been expanded. They now include five quarries that have yielded important discoveries, including three of the most complete Stegosaurus skeletons ever found, the NPS statement said.

Follow Andrea Thompson , and . Follow OurAmazingPlanet, and . Original article at .

The three-member National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel unanimously upheld all penalties levied against the organization, including defending champion Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, over confiscated parts in the rear suspensions of the drivers' Fords. NASCAR chief appellate officer John Middlebrook will hear Penske's final appeal next Tuesday.

"Obviously a disappointing outcome with the panel," Penske said. "We have a good case and we are allowed under the NASCAR rules in the rule book to appeal this to the next level. We've notified NASCAR that we will appeal this ruling today to the next level."

Penske declined to discuss much of the case because the team will argue again Tuesday before Middlebrook. But he has previously said the team was working in a gray area of the rule book when NASCAR confiscated the parts. NASCAR docked both drivers 25 points, fined the two crew chiefs $100,000 each and suspended seven Penske team members.

"It's clear we have a process, and I am better off to wait to see that conclude and at that point I can make any other personal comments I want to make about this," Penske said. "All I can say about the process is that I think it's fair and equitable and we had the opportunity to explain the case and situation in detail and obviously the information we were able to demonstrate to the panel, they determined they would uphold the appeal."

The decision was not surprising. Since NASCAR began keeping records in 1999, the panel has upheld 106 of 150 appeals.

Keselowski seemed to hint he'd already accepted his fate when he tweeted earlier Wednesday from a tire test at Indianapolis: "Inner peace is easily achievable once you realize that sometimes all you can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. (hashtag)Appeal."

Middlebrook, a former General Motors executive, heard two cases last year. He reduced similar penalties against Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Chad Knaus after the initial appeals board upheld his punishment. Middlebrook lifted the suspension and reinstated Jimmie Johnson's points, but left intact the $100,000 fine NASCAR levied against Knaus for altering sheet metal on the car before inspection at the season-opening Daytona 500.

Middlebrook upheld penalties on Richard Childress Racing for modifications made to Paul Menard's frame rails when they appealed to him last year.

Penske said Wednesday's appeal lasted between four and five hours. It was heard by Paul Brooks, former NASCAR senior vice president and president of NASCAR Media Group; Brandon Igdalsky, president of Pocono Raceway; and Dale Pinilis, operator of Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem.

"We take our inspection process very seriously, we believe we do a strong and credible job with it and the level playing field in the garage is the best it's ever been," NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said. "As the sanctioning body, we've got to uphold the rules and regulations. That's part of our job. The inspection process we believe in very, very strongly."

The three panel members have administrative and operations backgrounds, but were not among the former crew chiefs or car owners on the list of 49 potential people who could have heard the appeal and might have had a better understanding of the inspection process. Tharp said panel members are often picked based on availability.

"A lot of times it's based on being able to get here in the time frame we are looking at," he said. "The people on the panel come from a wide variety of backgrounds and that is a positive for them because they are hearing from experts on both sides, from Penske and NASCAR. They do their best to make an equitable and fair decision."

Presenting the case for NASCAR was Sprint Cup Series director John Darby.

Penske had six people on hand for its presentation, which was headed by the team owner. Also present was senior executive Walt Czarnecki, who is listed as the car owner for Logano, team President Tim Cindric, competition director Travis Geisler and crew chiefs Paul Wolfe and Todd Gordon.

Geisler, Wolfe and Gordon are among the seven suspended for the infraction, along with car chiefs Jerry Kelley and Raymond Fox and engineers Brian Wilson and Samuel Stanley. All are suspended six races but were allowed to work at the track while waiting for the appeal to be heard.

Middlebrook will allow them to work this weekend at Talladega while waiting for the next phase of the appeals process.

NASCAR has already scheduled Joe Gibbs Racing's appeal to the three-member board for next Wednesday. JGR is appealing the severity of the penalties levied against Matt Kenseth, crew chief Jason Ratcliff and team owner Joe Gibbs for an illegal part being found inside Kenseth's race-winning engine from Kansas.

“We’re extremely honored to receive this special award from NASC and its nearly 600 members,” said Dave Beachnau, DSC executive director.“Our mission is to enhance the local economy by hosting sporting events and this honor is a reflection of the hard work our team puts in to make sure Detroit remains in the conversation as a popular destination.”

The DSC submitted its successful mascot campaign it promoted nearly a year ago. The campaign, which involved the creation and unveiling of the DSC’s mascot Champ, helped garner media attention and brand awareness.

Judging was based on the cohesiveness of marketing pieces, production quality of marketing collateral and creativity of the campaign.

In 2009, the DSC received the Outstanding Locally Create Event/Program award for the Detroit Sports Commission Prep Kickoff Classic, formerly known as the Big Day Prep Showdown.

“We first established the awards program in 2002 to recognize the good work that our members conduct in their communities. They are all making large contributions through the economic impact of their events and the leadership and expertise they provide,” said Don Schumacher, NASC executive director.

Learn more about the DSC at detroitsports.org.

Marty DobekDetroit Metro Convention and Visitors(313) 202-1977

Klum will be the fourth judge on the talent show created by British entertainment mogul Simon Cowell. She joins comedian Howie Mandel, radio "shock jock" Howard Stern and former Spice Girl Mel B on the show hosted by Nick Cannon.

"Excited 2 join @HowardStern @howiemandel @OfficialMelB & @NickCannon on @nbcagt as new judge! Will be so fun," Klum tweeted.

Broadcaster NBC said Klum, 39, adds a discerning taste to the jury panel.

"As we look to develop an act that will get the world's attention, we and the contestants will benefit from Heidi's international sensibility and understanding of what works in today's global entertainment industry," NBC president of alternative programming, Paul Telegdy, said in a statement.

NBC said last month that Mel B would replace Sharon Osbourne, who quit the show after her son Jack was dropped from another reality show by the network.

German-born Klum was due to join the other judges for the nationwide auditions set to start on Monday in New Orleans. The show is open to singers, dancer, magicians and other performers with a top prize of $1 million.

NBC is betting that Klum and Mel B will boost falling audiences for the summer show, which experienced record low numbers during the finale in September with less than 11 million viewers.

Klum is also the host on Bravo's fashion-design competition "Project Runway" as well as model competition "Germany's Next Top Model" in her native country.

Bravo is a division of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast Corp.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Eric Kelsey and Mohammad Zargham)

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At the White House Correspondents Dinner, President Obama joked: "Some folks still don't think I spend enough time with Congress. 'Why don't you get a drink with Mitch McConnell?' they ask… Really? Why don't you get a drink with Mitch McConnell?" McConnell has a snappy comeback. The Senate Minority Leaderthe president with the photo above. Get it? Get it? That is an empty chair, just like Clint Eastwood's empty chair at the Republican National Convention! And while McConnell has ordered a manly beer, invisible Obama is drinking wine, just like an effete liberal would.

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In all honesty, McConnell's visual retort kinda proves Obama's joke: would you want a drink with this man? Imagine him at a bar -- "Hello. Can I buy you a drink? Oh look, I already have one poured right here," he points. "Please join me." Would you say yes? Would you sit down? Would you trust that wine? Or would you go sit with those guys at the other end of the bar and stare blankly at the TVs. This man looks like a lonely man.