Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 3 January.

Top stories

Is Victoria experiencing a crimewave involving African gangs? Media coverage led by the News Corp tabloid the Herald Sun has dubbed Victoria “a state of fear” and reported that it could undermine the incumbent Labor government’s chances in the November state election. Then the prime minister weighed in, saying that “growing gang violence and lawlessness in Victoria” was “a failure of the Andrews government”. However, police say that crime from African “street gangs” is not a growing problem, and that calling these groups “gangs” might be overstating the issue. Calla Wahlquist delves into the facts behind the hysteria, and looks at why the recent slew of stories has prompted such fear.

Pakistan has summoned the US ambassador, David Hale, to explain Donald Trump’s inflammatory New Year’s Day tweet, when he threatened to cut aid over Islamabad’s “lies and deceit”. On Tuesday Pakistan’s prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, chaired a national security committee (NSC) meeting of civilian and military chiefs, focusing on Trump’s tweet and how his country would respond. In a statement the prime minister said: “Recent statements and articulation by the American leadership were completely incomprehensible as they contradicted facts manifestly, struck with great insensitivity at the trust between two nations built over generations, and negated the decades of sacrifices made by the Pakistani nation.” Relations between the US and Pakistan have been strained for years over Islamabad’s alleged support for Haqqani network militants, who are allied with the Afghan Taliban.

Leonie Sheedy was a vocal and visible presence outside the public hearings of the child abuse royal commission, confronting politicians and holding placards. For five years Sheedy travelled around Australia urging survivors of childhood sexual abuse in orphanages and foster care to tell their stories. And then, in the final weeks of the commission’s work, she told her own story of abuse to the commission’s chair, Justice Peter McClellan. “I said to Peter: ‘I’m not going to cry.’ And he said: ‘Well if you’re not going to cry I’m not going to cry either’.” In this exclusive interview with the Guardian, Sheedy reflects on her family’s experience of the care system and her next challenge as an advocate for people who grew up in state care. “I feel that there is so much work to be done,” she said.

Iran’s supreme leader has blamed the Islamic Republic’s enemies for nationwide unrest, as authorities cracked down with increasing intensity on protesters, leading to nine deaths overnight. “In the events of the past few days, the enemies of Iran are deploying every means at their disposal including money, arms and political and intelligence support to coordinate making troubles for the Islamic establishment,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in his first public remarks since protests began on Thursday. Videos posted on social networks suggested confrontations between riot police and protesters were escalating, with at least 450 arrested in Tehran alone since Saturday.

American YouTube star Logan Paul has caused outrage after posting images of a dead body he came across in Japan, thought to be that of a suicide victim. The 22-year-old American, who has 15 million subscribers on YouTube, was labelled “disrespectful” and “disgusting” after he joked with friends about discovering the body in Aokigahara forest, a notorious suicide spot at the base of Mount Fuji. The video, which Paul posted on Sunday, received millions of views before it was removed and Paul apologised. Aokigahara has gained worldwide notoriety as a suicide spot, with a record 105 bodies reportedly discovered there in 2003.

Sport

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Surfer Mark Mathews. Photograph: Surfing Life

Surfer Mark Mathews suffered horrific leg injuries in an excruciating wipeout on the New South Wales south coast in 2016, fracturing his right shin, snapping his anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments, and tearing an artery and nerve. Astonishingly, he his now back on his board and almost ready to ride the big waves again, as he tells Gareth Hutchens.

Andy Murray has reluctantly withdrawn from the Brisbane Open after being plagued by a hip injury, and is unlikely to compete in the Australian Open either. The Scot posted a picture of himself as a small boy on Instagram, with a heartfelt message saying he desperately missed competing and might need an operation to save his career. “I genuinely miss it [tennis] so much and I would give anything to be back out there.”

Thinking time

Steven Spielberg’s new movie, The Post, is disturbingly relevant, says Peter Greste in light of Donald Trump’s continued attacks on the press. The movie recalls the Nixon government’s attempt in 1971 to stop the Washington Post and the New York Times publishing a secret report about the Vietnam war that became known as the Pentagon Papers. The fundamental issue the film raises – the role of the media in a healthy, functioning democracy – is now more important than ever. “Amid the persistent attacks on media credibility today, growing government intrusions on media freedom, and the struggle for news organisations to survive in a digital world, it is easy to lose sight of that most fundamental principle,” Greste writes.

When Muslim women speak out against the patriarchal oppressions and violence they face, they are often subject to a backlash ranging from Islamophobia to the accusation that they promote anti-Muslim racism by speaking up, writes Maliha Aqueel. “The prevalent patriarchal order dictates which forms of violence against Muslims are more urgent and demand activism on our part. Under this order, anti-Muslim racism wins many times over before patriarchal oppressions are even discussed. The system that protects male privilege and gender hierarchies goes into overdrive when the reputation at stake is that of prominent Muslim men, such as clerics.”

Prowling panthers, paranormal spies and vengeful ice-skaters feature in the must-see movies of 2018. Veteran director Ridley Scott joined the #metoo movement when he fired Kevin Spacey in the upcoming All the Money in the World, replacing him with Christopher Plummer, who plays ageing oil tycoon J Paul Getty in this true story from the 70s. In Coco, Pixar shows a determination to move away from the white-bread world of middle America and move into other cultural contexts. And in The Final Year, documentary maker Greg Barker embedded himself with the White House for this behind-the-scenes study in the final year of the Obama administration – among many other gems in this exhaustive list.

What’s he done now?

Donald Trump has greeted the new publisher of the New York Times in a string of vitriolic tweets. “The Failing New York Times has a new publisher, A.G. Sulzberger. Congratulations!” Trump tweeted. “Get impartial journalists of a much higher standard, lose all of your phony and non-existent ‘sources,’ and treat the President of the United States FAIRLY, so that the next time I (and the people) win, you won’t have to write an apology to your readers for a job poorly done!”

Media roundup

Photograph: The Sydney Morning Herald

The Sydney Morning Herald splashes with the news that the city’s house prices are tipped to drop by 10% over the next 12 to 18 months. The median house price in the harbour city is now $1,058,306, with a median apartment value of $774,124. The Hobart Mercury has a slimy front page, reporting sales of eel are booming on the island and overseas, with more than a tonne of eel served at the Tasmania Taste festival. And the ABC reports on a grassroots initiative to provide free self-defence classes to hundreds of women who have experienced violence in or outside the home.

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