First Thing: Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago dinner with oil bosses

Trump is under investigation by House Democrats for hosting dinner where he reportedly asked oil and gas company executives for $1bn campaign contribution in exchange for scrapping environmental regulations. Plus: Antony Blinken picks up a guitar

Good morning.

House Democrats and the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew) have launched investigations into Donald Trump and the dinner he hosted at his Mar-a-Lago home and club last month with more than 20 oil and gas company executives. The Washington Post has previously reported that Trump promised at the meeting to undo Joe Biden’s restrictions on natural gas export permits, oil drilling and car pollution, if the executives gave him $1bn for his White House re-election campaign.

Virginia Canter, Crew’s chief ethics counsel, said: “We are taking a very serious look at whether Trump’s fundraising pitch to the oil executives for $1bn would merit some further action.”

Could these investigations lead to further fallout for the gas and oil industry? Sheldon Whitehouse, the senator from Rhode Island who chairs the Senate budget committee, which has subpoena powers, is also considering an investigation. “Trump’s offer of a blatant quid pro quo to oil executives is practically an invitation to ask questions about Big Oil’s political corruption and manipulation,” he said in an emailed statement.

Has the fossil fuel industry already donated to the Trump campaign? Yes, firms and lobby groups have given $7.3m this election cycle so far to Trump’s campaign and to groups backing his candidacy.

How have executives responded to the investigations? One spokesperson for American Petroleum Institute (API), the fossil fuel industry’s top lobbying arm in the US, said the organization “meets with policymakers and candidates from across the political spectrum on topics important to our industry”.

US advances $1bn Israel weapons package

Last week Joe Biden said he had delayed a shipment of bombs to Israel over concerns they might be used for a big invasion of Rafah, the town in southern Gaza housing 1.3 million Palestinians, many of whom fled there during the conflict. But on Tuesday two US officials told Reuters that the state department has moved a $1bn package of weapons aid into the congressional review process – a package that includes tank rounds, mortars and armored tactical vehicles.

The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had told reporters the US would continue to provide military assistance to Israel, but the White House paused the bombs because “we do not believe they should be dropped in densely populated cities”.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military has confirmed it has intensified its operations in Jabaliya refugee camp in addition to “targeted operations in specific areas of eastern Rafah”.

What is the situation now in Rafah? Following Israeli warnings to evacuate eastern and central neighborhoods, it is believed that between 360,000 and 500,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah in the past week.

Is there anywhere for the refugees to shelter? Hundreds of tent city shelters have been set up near Khan Younis. But here, there is “no water, no food, no health care, not even a toilet”, according to one refugee.

Michael Cohen testifies about setting up phoney invoices to cover up hush payments

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer and hatchet man, took the stand in Manhattan court again on Tuesday and testified that he submitted fake invoices for legal services to cover up what were, in fact, reimbursements for a $130,000 hush-money payment to the pornographic actor Stormy Daniels. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Cohen to recount each of the 11 false invoices he submitted in 2017, and the checks he subsequently received as a result of doing so.

“At whose direction, and on whose behalf, did you commit that crime?” Hoffinger asked him. “On behalf of Mr Trump,” Cohen said.

In other news …

The Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has postponed all foreign appearances as Russian forces advance on Kharkiv.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, ended a long day in Kyiv by picking up a guitar and performing a rendition of Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free Worldwith a Ukrainian rock band in a bar.

Workers at the first Apple store in the US to have unionized have voted to authorize a strike as progress in bargaining for a first contract has stagnated, in what could be the first ever strike of Apple retail store workers.

Stat of the day: Surgical teams with more women have better post-operative outcomes

A new study has found that hospital surgical teams that include more female doctors lower the risk of serious complications and could in turn reduce healthcare costs. Researchers examined more than 700,000 operations spanning a decade and discovered that hospitals with teams comprising more than 35% female surgeons and anesthesiologists had better post-operative outcomes.

Dr Julie Hallet, the lead author of the study at the University of Toronto, said: “These results are the start of an important shift in understanding the way in which diversity contributes to quality in perioperative care.”

Don’t miss this: China-linked EV battery mega-factory divides US township

A company called Gotion is moving forward with a huge $2.4bn, 2m sq ft (186,000 sq meter) plant in Green Township in rural Michigan. The factory would produce lithium batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), providing an environmentally friendly boost to the local economy. But some residents are balking at the fact the US-based firm’s parent company is in China.

While supporters dismiss fears of communist influence as far-fetched and believe opposition to the plans was fomented by Donald Trump-aligned, political forces, anti-China sentiment is threatening to disrupt the transition to EVs across the US.

… or this: One woman’s quest to reclaim her breasts

For much of her life, Sarah Thornton never really gave her breasts much thought. But in 2018, Thornton underwent a preventive double mastectomy. “It put me on a quest to understand these things that I’d never thought too much about. These things I’d kind of dismissed as dumb boobs,” Thornton told the Guardian.

Thornton’s book, Tits Up: What Our Beliefs About Breasts Reveal About Life, Love, Sex and Society, explores society’s fixation with breasts, with her research taking her from strip clubs to cosmetic surgeons’ clinics to donor milk banks. One burlesque dancer named Dirty Martini told Thornton she believed that “breasts are a gateway to body positivity”. “I actually think that’s true for a lot of women,” Thornton said. “They’re front and center, part of us.”

Climate check: Heat exposure of older people across world to double by 2050

Up to 250 million extra people aged 69 or above will be exposed to dangerous levels of heat on all continents by 2050, according to a new study. While Asia will experience levels of older adult heat exposure at nearly four times higher than other regions due to its large population and hot climate, every region will see enormous increases. In South America and Europe, exposure will rise threefold compared with today, while it will nearly double in Oceania, North America and Africa.

Last Thing: She traded her front lawn for a microfarm

For the last 35 years, Beverly Lofton has lived in a neighborhood in south Los Angeles that has been described as a food desert, with grocery stores and other stores continuing to close while more and more apartment-style housing goes up. During the pandemic, she connected with Crop Swap LA to help remedy this by converting her front lawn into a microfarm. Since the grand opening of the conversion in 2022, her garden has grown dark leafy greens, bok choy, collard greens and string beans. The wider Crop Swap LA network grows carrots, beets, radishes and potatoes, as well as concord grapes. “Knowing food grown in my front yard is feeding people in our neighborhood feels amazing,” Lofton said.

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