The two firms should be barred from any US mergers and acquisitions, a House Intelligence Committee report will say. The panel says the firms failed to allay fears about their association with China’s government and military. The firms – among the world’s biggest makers of networking equipment – denied the accusations in front of the panel. On Monday ZTE issued a statement insisting its equipment met all US standards and posed no threat. ZTE has set an unprecedented standard for cooperation by any Chinese company with a congressional investigation,” China’s Xinhua news agency quoted the firm as saying. Read the full story at The BBC.