Wednesday briefing: The grim toll of a “national emergency” in attacks on women

In today’s newsletter: The number of cases in which a man has been charged for killing a woman has reached 50 in the UK this year. Alexandra Topping explains why the Guardian is focusing on their stories

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Good morning. The first was Keotshepile Naso Isaacs, a 33-year-old mother of three said by friends to be a “beautiful soul”, who was found dead at a property in North Berwick, Scotland on New Year’s Day. Since then, in a project called Killed Women Count, the Guardian has been tracking cases this year in which a woman has been killed and a man charged with her murder.

The most recent is Courtney Mitchell, a 26-year-old with three children who was described as “courageous and full of spirit”, found with stab wounds to her chest at an address in Ipswich. Her death brings the count this year to 50. In recent years, a woman has been killed by a man in the UK every three days.

Inflation | Britain’s poorest households saw the bill for their weekly shop rise by far more than that of the rich during the height of the cost of living crisis as the sharpest price increases fell on cheaper brands, research reveals.

Ukraine | Russian authorities are scrambling to bring the situation in Kursk under control, a week after Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack taking a swathe of Russian territory. Russia used missiles, drones and airstrikes on Tuesday, with one senior commander claiming Kyiv’s advance was over, even as the evacuation of residents from border areas continued.

US politics | Tim Walz on Tuesday held his first solo campaign event since being selected as Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential nominee, rallying union members in Los Angeles and denouncing Donald Trump’s record on labour rights.

Japan | Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has said he will not run for the presidency of his ruling Liberal Democratic party [LDP] next month – a decision that will see the appointment of a new leader of the world’s fourth-biggest economy. Kishida has been battling low approval ratings and a damaging funding scandal.

Travel | A popular street cleaner who was unable to go on a crowdfunded holiday due to his employer’s rules on accepting gifts will get to go on the trip after all thanks to a loophole. After Veolia said that Elvis fan Paul Spiers, 63, could not accept the gift, travel company On The Beach ran a “competition” for a holiday with conditions including loving Elvis, being between the ages of 62 and 64, and having the surname Spiers.

There are things that happen with such regularity and predictability that journalists have simply ceased to recognise their news value … there is value in asking “Why do dogs keep biting people?”, and “Why do the same people keep getting bitten?”