IBM PC sale hits a speed bump

In Washington, the Associated Press reported that three US House of Representatives committee chairmen have urged the US Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to investigate the national security implications of IBM's proposed $1.75bn sale of its PC unit to Lenovo. The panel, which meets in camera under the chairmanship of Treasury Secretary John Snow, makes recommendations to the president. President Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, acted on the committee's advice in 1990 and blocked the sale of a Seattle aircraft parts manufacturer to China.