The Italian prime minister also stated the EU will not directly contribute to a $50bn loan to Ukraine agreed at the summit

Israel is falling into a trap laid by Hamas in its war in Gaza, Giorgia Meloni said at a press conference closing the G7 summit in Bari that affirmed her role as a leading figure in Europe. The Italian prime minister also stated that the EU will not directly contribute to a $50bn loan to Ukraine agreed by the G7 leaders.

And she underlined her status by declaring that she will start talks on Monday about the allocation of top jobs in the EU on the basis that Europe has to accept the verdict of the people reflected in the results of last week’s European parliament elections.

Seat of Labour’s Stella Creasy among those challenged by activists running as independents in the general election

Anti-abortion campaigners are running as independent candidates in the general election against prominent MPs seeking re-election who supported decriminalisation.

The seats of Labour’s Diana Johnson and Stella Creasy and Conservative Caroline Nokes are all being targeted by anti-abortion activists. The three proposed or supported recent amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill which would have stopped prosecutions for anyone ending a pregnancy in England and Wales.

The justices unanimously rejected the mifepristone case on technical grounds. Their ruling is not the victory it may seem

On Thursday, the US supreme court unanimously ruled that the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine – a sock-puppet group of fanatically anti-choice doctors and busybodies – lacked standing to sue in the group’s challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, the drug that is now used in more than 60% of American abortions. The court’s decision may seem like the end of this battle. It’s only the beginning.

The lawsuit in question had originally emerged from Amarillo, Texas, in a federal court that has become a destination for anti-choice litigants because Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee and the sole judge hearing federal civil cases in the district, is a militant anti-abortion activist. Kacsmaryk made news when he used to case as a pretext to issue a nationwide injunction revoking FDA approval of the drug. The fifth circuit court, a radically rightwing appeals panel which has jurisdiction over Texas and which has repeatedly sought to push the supreme court to new heights of anti-abortion extremism, upheld most of Kacsmaryk’s ruling, but limited the case to challenges that the FDA made in 2016 and 2021 to make mifepristone more easily available.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

Enlarge / Mifepristone (Mifeprex) and misoprostol, the two drugs used in a medication abortion, are seen at the Women's Reproductive Clinic, which provides legal medication abortion services, in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on June 17, 2022. (credit: Getty | Robyn Beck )

The US Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a case that threatened to remove or at least restrict access to mifepristone , a pill approved by the Food and Drug Administration for medication abortions and used in miscarriage care. The drug has been used for decades, racking up a remarkably good safety record in that time. It is currently used in the majority of abortions in the US.

The high court found that the anti-abortion medical groups that legally challenged the FDA's decision to approve the drug in 2000 and then ease usage restrictions in 2016 and 2021 simply lacked standing to challenge any of those decisions. That is, the groups failed to demonstrate that they were harmed by the FDA's decision and therefore had no grounds to legally challenge the government agency's actions. The ruling tracks closely with comments and questions the justices raised during oral arguments in March.

"Plaintiffs are pro-life, oppose elective abortion, and have sincere legal, moral, ideological, and policy objections to mifepristone being prescribed and used by others ," the Supreme Court noted in its opinion , which included the emphasis on "by others." The court summarized that the groups offered "complicated causation theories to connect FDA’s actions to the plaintiffs’ alleged injuries in fact," and the court found that "none of these theories suffices" to prove harm.

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FDA still has the power to give expanded access to mifepristone in major victory to abortion rights supporters

Two of five ‘sister senators’ who blocked legislation to ban abortion from conception lost to far-right challengers

The right to legal abortion in South Carolina is in a “dire” condition, said the state senator Penry Gustafson, who lost her seat Tuesday to a primary challenger prepared to vote to ban abortion at conception.

Gustafson is one of five female lawmakers dubbed the “sister senators” who blocked legislation to outlaw abortion from the point of conception in the state. The three Republicans among them – Gustafson, Sandy Senn and Katrina Shealy – each drew male primary challengers who competed for conservative primary voters seeking more restrictive abortion access.

Joe Biden’s campaign is seizing on the Florida court ruling to argue it is a sign of what would come of Donald Trump’s presidency

Good morning, US politics blog readers. Democrats have not had much luck in Florida lately, where its status as a swing state has been eroded by years of Republican victories. And the GOP once again got their way yesterday when a court allowed a six-week abortion ban signed by governor Ron DeSantis to take effect in 30 days. But voters in many states, even those otherwise hostile to Democrats, have signaled that they are not on board with efforts to tighten access to the procedure, and today, Joe Biden ’s campaign and its allies are seizing on the Florida ruling to argue it is a sign of what Donald Trump would do if returned to the White House and perhaps regain some momentum in Florida. At 10am ET, Hakeem Jeffries , the Democratic House minority leader, Xavier Becerra , the health and human services secretary, and other lawmakers will hold a hearing in Broward county on threats to productive freedom, while the Biden-Harris campaign is convening a call between reporters and North Carolina governor Roy Cooper to elaborate on the message.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump will hold two rallies today in swing states Michigan and Wisconsin, where he’s expected to hammer Biden over immigration policy – reliably fertile ground for Republicans. The former president has voiced support for banning abortion, but at 15 weeks of pregnancy , and we’ll see if he weighs in on the decision in Florida.

Israel has expressed “sincere sorrow” over the deaths of seven aid workers in Gaza, which killed nationals of the UK, US, Australia, Poland and Palestine. Follow our live blog for the latest on this story.

A slew of states are holding primaries today, including Wisconsin, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York, while Arkansas and Mississippi will hold primary run offs. Trump and Biden both already have the delegates they need to win their parties’ nominations.

The White House press briefing takes place at 1.30pm.

Three women share their stories of getting medication abortions, and their thoughts on that access being curtailed

Mercy’s periods had always been very regular, so when she missed one in 2016, she immediately took a pregnancy test. It was positive, and she managed to get an appointment at an abortion clinic the next day.

Despite being able to act quickly, she was in her seventh week of pregnancy by the time she could take abortion pills in Ohio – a state that was, at the time, debating banning abortion from the moment fetal cardiac activity is detected (usually around six weeks). Ohio has since enshrined abortion rights in its state constitution following a referendum.

Marilyn Lands elected to state legislature in deep red state by significant margin after centering reproductive rights in campaign

• Alabama surprise Democratic victory – live updates

An Alabama Democrat who campaigned against the state’s near-total abortion ban has won a special election to the state legislature, a stark signal that reproductive rights is a potent issue for Democratic candidates, even in the deep south.

Marilyn Lands won the state house seat on Tuesday, defeating Teddy Powell, a Republican, by 63% to 37%. Lands, a licensed professional counselor, previously ran for the seat in 2022 and lost by 7% to David Cole, a Republican who resigned last year after pleading guilty to voter fraud.