Senators plead for end to solar trade probe - May 2, 2022

The Ohio Senate’s GOP primary set for Tuesday is widely anticipated to be an early test of this year’s midterm elections, especially for candidates backed by former President Donald Trump. In addition to Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, Trump’s influence will be tested in Nebraska, Pennsylvania and North Carolina primary elections this month. Some of those candidates are refusing to engage in debates, casting themselves in the same mold as Trump as they criticize political and media environments that they say are elitist. New Zealand is welcoming back tourists for the first time in more than two years as the country sheds most of its remaining pandemic border restrictions, some of which were the most stringent in the world. Ahead of Europe’s peak summer tourism season, Italy and Greece similarly relaxed some COVID-19 travel restrictions. New York City officials are hoping that an expansion of the city’s outdoor dining program will help still-struggling businesses and revive neighborhoods that have yet to fully reopen since the pandemic began. U.S. senators are pleading with the Biden administration to end a probe into solar trade in China, saying that the investigation has effectively frozen the business. More than 300 solar projects in the United States have been canceled or delayed in recent weeks because of the investigation over whether Chinese companies are circumventing U.S. tariffs on their solar panels. The U.S. solar industry has warned of a more general slowdown due to other global supply chain disruptions, potentially threatening the competition of the Biden administration's climate goals. Apple is facing a hefty fine and new requirements for its mobile payment system if European Union regulators find that the company is restricting rivals' access to its technology used for mobile wallets. This is the second antitrust charge from the EU, which has been more diligently addressing what regulators see as abusive business practices by big tech companies in recent years. Europe’s tough approa