A successful catalyst design for advanced zinc-iodine batteries

Science China Press

 

image: 

Molybdenum carbide (MoC) nanoclusters embedded in porous nitrogen-doped carbon fibers with atomic Zn-N4 sites exhibit a physicochemical confinement effect on iodine species and enhance electron/ion transfer efficiency, facilitating the reversible redox conversion without polyiodide shuttle effects.

view more 

Credit: ©Science China Press

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have attracted extensive attention due to their high safety, abundant reserves, and environmental friendliness. Iodine with high abundance in seawater (55 μg L−1) is highly promising to fabricate zinc-iodine batteries due to high theoretical capacity (211 mAh g−1) and appropriate redox potential (0.54 V). However, the low electrical conductivity of iodine hinders the redox conversion for the efficient energy storage process with zinc. Additionally, the formed soluble polyiodides are prone to migirate to Zn anode, leading to capacity degration and Zn corrosion.

To address the existed issues in Zn-I2 batteries, the research team presents the coprecipitation method to encapsulate molybdate ions into zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), followed by electrospinning and calcination to create free-standing porous carbon fibers with Zn single atom sites and molybdenum carbide clusters (Zn-SA-MoC/NCFs). With the hierarchical porous carbon framework for favorable mass transfer, the integration of molybdenum carbides with single-atom catalysts are expected to amplify the adsorption capability to iodine species and modulate the catalytic activity with an optimal charge redistribution. Thus, the assembled Zn-I2 batteries demonstrate a large specific capacity of 230.6 mAh g−1 at a current density of 0.5 C (1 C= 0.211 mA cm−2) and the good capacity retention of 90% after 20,000 cycles. With the fundamental understanding of enhanced electrocatalysis by incorporating of Zn-SA with MoC clusters, the concept study on electronic structure modulation between hosts and iodine species demonstrate the basic principles for high-performing Zn-I2 batteries and beyond.

This study is the first to demonstrate the manipulation of the electrocatalytic activity of MoC clusters via the incorporation of Zn-N4 sites for iodine redox reaction. The electronic structure regulation strategy provides robust guidance for constructing advanced iodine catalysts and optimizing their battery performance.

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Journal

Science Bulletin

DOI

10.1016/j.scib.2024.11.042 

 

Study reveals oldest-known evolutionary “arms race”

Hundreds of punctured shells from the Cambrian illuminate unique predator-prey interactions in the ocean 517 million years ago

American Museum of Natural History

 

image: 

Examples of Lapworthella fasciculata shells (under scanning electron microscope) from the Mernmerna Formation, Flinders Ranges, South Australia, showing holes made by a perforating predator. Scale bars represent 200 micrometers.

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Credit: R. Bicknell, et al (2025) Current Biology

A new study led by researchers at the American Museum of Natural History presents the oldest known example in the fossil record of an evolutionary arms race. These 517-million-year-old predator-prey interactions occurred in the ocean covering what is now South Australia between a small, shelled animal distantly related to brachiopods and an unknown marine animal capable of piercing its shell. Described today in the journal Current Biology, the study provides the first demonstrable record of an evolutionary arms race in the Cambrian.

“Predator-prey interactions are often touted as a major driver of the Cambrian explosion, especially with regard to the rapid increase in diversity and abundance of biomineralizing organisms at this time. Yet, there has been a paucity of empirical evidence showing that prey directly responded to predation, and vice versa,” said Russell Bicknell, a postdoctoral researcher in the Museum’s Division of Paleontology and lead author of the study. 

An evolutionary arms race is a process where predators and prey continuously adapt and evolve in response to each other. This dynamic is often described as an arms race because one species’ improved abilities lead to the other species improving its abilities in response.

Bicknell and colleagues from the University of New England and Macquarie University—both in Australia—studied a large sample of fossilized shells of an early Cambrian tommotiid species, Lapworthella fasciculata, from South Australia. More than 200 of these extremely small specimens, ranging in size from slightly larger than a grain of sand to just smaller than an apple seed, have holes that were likely made by a hole-punching predator—most likely a kind of soft-bodied mollusk or worm. The researchers analyzed these specimens in relation to their geologic ages, finding an increase in shell wall thickness that coincides with an increase in the number of perforated shells in a short amount of time. This suggests that a microevolutionary arms race was in place, with L. fasciculata finding a way to fortify its shell against predation and the predator, in turn, investing in the ability to puncture its prey despite its ever-bulkier armor. 

“This critically important evolutionary record demonstrates, for the first time, that predation played a pivotal role in the proliferation of early animal ecosystems and shows the rapid speed at which such phenotypic modifications arose during the Cambrian Explosion event,” Bicknell says.

This research was funded in part by the University of New England, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Australian Research Council (grant #s DP200102005 and DE190101423).

Study DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.12.007

 

ABOUT THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (AMNH)

The American Museum of Natural History, founded in 1869 with a dual mission of scientific research and science education, is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. The Museum encompasses more than 40 permanent exhibition halls, galleries for temporary exhibitions, the Rose Center for Earth and Space including the Hayden Planetarium, and the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation. The Museum’s scientists draw on a world-class permanent collection of more than 30 million specimens and artifacts, some of which are billions of years old, and on one of the largest natural history libraries in the world. Through its Richard Gilder Graduate School, the Museum offers two of the only free-standing, degree-granting programs of their kind at any museum in the U.S.: the Ph.D. program in Comparative Biology and the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Earth Science residency program. Visit amnh.org for more information.

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Journal

Current Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2024.12.007 

Article Title

Adaptive responses in Cambrian predator and prey highlight the arms race during the rise of animals

Article Publication Date

3-Jan-2025

 

AMS Science Preview: Tall hurricanes, snow and wildfire

Early online research from journals of the American Meteorological Society

American Meteorological Society

The American Meteorological Society continuously publishes research on climate, weather, and water in its 12 journals. Many of these articles are available for early online access–they are peer-reviewed, but not yet in their final published form.

Below is a selection of articles published early online recently. Some articles are open-access; to view others, members of the media can contact kpflaumer@ametsoc.org for press login credentials.

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JOURNAL ARTICLES

The Impact of Snowoff Timing and Associated Atmospheric Drivers on the Alaska Wildfire Season
Earth Interactions

Earlier snowmelt makes for bad fire seasons in Alaska. Snow-free days are happening earlier in the year in Alaskan forests, and often precede fiery summers. The authors of this study found that many of the worst fire seasons from 1959 to 2020 saw very early snowmelt and higher spring temperatures, which then persisted into the summer as “fire weather” due to larger-scale climate patterns such as El Niño.

Are Rapidly Intensifying Tropical Cyclones Associated with Unique Vortex and Convective Characteristics?
Monthly Weather Review

“Taller and narrower” tropical cyclones more likely to intensify rapidly. Forecasting when and if a tropical cyclone will undergo “rapid intensification” (RI), a dramatic increase in wind speed, remains a major challenge for predicting hurricane damage. The authors of this study examined a database of radar data and determined that RI storms had a “significantly taller and narrower” primary circulation compared with similar storms that did not undergo RI. They also had “anomalously deep overturning circulations”characterized by strong, concentrated inflow near the surface, vigorous ascent in mid and upper levels, and stronger outflow aloft.

Assessing the Water Budget of the Arabian Peninsula and Its Internal Recycling Potential
Journal of Hydrometeorology

Irrigation won’t significantly increase rain on the Arabian Peninsula. Agricultural irrigation can sometimes lead to more rain, as more moisture evaporates into the air. Irrigation and other human water use is increasing on the Arabian Peninsula, yet much of that water is lost as evaporation. This study examines whether that water loss could be recouped in the form of increased rainfall; however, the authors’ model suggests that irrigation-induced rainfall increases will be negligible.

Arctic Sea Ice Melting Has Triggered Distinct Interdecadal Transitions since 2000
Journal of Climate

Low ice sets up temperature switches across the Arctic and Eurasia. The persistently low levels of Arctic sea ice, and its decline over the decades, have led to changes in winter atmospheric conditions over both the Arctic and Eurasia, the authors find. Specifically, low sea-ice levels have set up an alternating decadal pattern of a warm Arctic and cold Eurasia, then a cold Arctic and warm Eurasia.

Emergency Manager Preferences for Rapidly Updating Severe Weather Warnings
Weather and Forecasting

Tornado warning! Wait … no. Wait, yes. “Threats in motion” (TIM) is a forecasting innovation still being tested by the National Weather Service, in which areas facing severe weather threats are automatically added to or removed from a tornado warning as the weather system moves. This study found that emergency managers are optimistic about TIM, but concerned about how to deal with certain areas moving into and out of a warning multiple times as weather develops.

You can view all research published in AMS Journals at journals.ametsoc.org.

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About the American Meteorological Society

The American Meteorological Society advances the atmospheric and related sciences, technologies, applications, and services for the benefit of society. Founded in 1919, AMS has a membership of around 12,000 professionals, students, and weather enthusiasts. AMS publishes 12 atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic science journals; hosts more than 12 conferences annually; and offers numerous programs and services. Visit us at www.ametsoc.org/.

About AMS Journals

The American Meteorological Society continuously publishes research on climate, weather, and water in its 12 journals. Some AMS journals are open access. Media login credentials are available for subscription journals. Journals include the Bulletin of the American Meteorolocial Society, Weather, Climate, and Society, the Journal of Climate, and Monthly Weather Review.

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Journal

Earth Interactions

 

Multilingualism improves crucial cognitive functions in autistic children

Researchers say improvements extend to non-autistic children in multilingual households

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences

A new study from UCLA Health adds to the growing body of evidence on the cognitive benefits of speaking multiple languages, finding that multilingualism not only enhances general cognitive abilities but also may help reduce certain symptoms and bolster control of daily thoughts and actions in children with and without autism. 

The study, published in the journal Autism Research, found parents of autistic and non-autistic children in multilingual households reported their children had stronger overall executive function, including the ability to focus, understand other people’s perspectives, communication and reduced levels of repetitive behaviors, compared to children in mono-lingual households.  

“It turns out that speaking multiple languages, whether or not you have a diagnosis of autism, is associated with better inhibition, better shifting or flexibility, and also better perspective taking ability,” said study lead author Dr. Lucina Uddin, a UCLA Health Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Professor and Director of the UCLA Brain Connectivity and Cognition Laboratory. 

Conducted initially at the University of Miami, the study recruited more than 100 autistic and non-autistic children ages 7 to 12 from both monolingual and multilingual households. Most of the multilingual households spoke Spanish and English at home. Parents were asked to score their child’s executive function skills, which are often affected by autism spectrum disorder. Skills assessed included: 

• Inhibition: the ability to suppress doing something irrelevant or get distracted. 

• Working memory: the ability to keep something in mind, such as remembering a phone number. 

• Shifting: the ability to switch between two or more different tasks, such as playing with toys and cleaning up after. 

Parents were also asked to score some of the core abilities affected by autism such as the ability to understand different perspectives, social communication and repetitive behaviors.  

Results from the survey found multilingualism is associated with better inhibition, shifting and perspective taking skills in children both with and without autism.  

“If you have to juggle two languages, you have to suppress one in order to use the other. That's the idea, that inhibition might be bolstered by knowing two languages,” Uddin said. 

Speaking multiple languages also positively affected some of the core symptoms of autism, resulting in improved communication, reduced repetitive behaviors and improved perspective taking skills, Uddin said.  

Uddin said there can be a concern among parents of autistic children that speaking multiple languages could contribute to delays in their child’s development relating to language learning. However, she said the evidence so far has suggested no negative impacts and possible long-term benefits.  

“The big takeaway is we don’t see any negative effects of speaking multiple languages in the home,” Uddin said. “It's actually beneficial to celebrate all the languages associated with your culture.” 

From these findings, Uddin is expanding the study and addressing limitations. The new study will recruit about 150 children with autism and will include more executive function and language tests as well as brain imaging. 

For information about the study and to participate, visit https://www.semel.ucla.edu/bccl 

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Journal

Autism Research

DOI

10.1002/aur.3260 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Multilingualism impacts children's executive function and core autism symptoms

Study finds 25% of youth experienced homelessness in Denver in 2021, significantly higher than known counts

Combining datasets and working across agencies provides insight into true scope of problem, underscoring lack of resources based on undercounting

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

AURORA, Colo. (Jan. 3, 2025) – A first of its kind study, published today in Pediatrics, has provided full-picture assessment of youth homelessness in Denver, Colorado. The findings reveal that nearly 25% of youth in Denver experienced homelessness or housing insecurity in 2021, with rates increasing almost every year since 2017.

Researchers across Colorado, led by Josh Barocas, MD and resident Matthew Westfall, MD of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, combined multiple data sources for youth aged 14 to 17 in the City of Denver, to estimate the total number of youth experiencing homelessness, accounting for those not reached by services. This estimation found the prevalence of youth homelessness in Denver to be significantly greater than previously estimated. 

“Homelessness for youth is defined broadly and varies by different federal and state agencies,” says Barocas, associate professor with the University of Colorado School of Medicine and study senior author. “Our number may seem shockingly high, but is likely an accurate representation. The definition of homelessness encompasses more than being on the streets or in shelters.”

Importantly, researchers collaborated with state agencies and other research groups across the state to apply a well-established methodology for the first time in this space. They found that the number of youth experiencing the spectrum of homelessness in Denver who were not receiving services that would have otherwise identified them ranged from approximately 3000 in 2017 to 7000 in 2021. “This study demonstrates that working with community partners, government agencies, and across data systems has the potential elucidate information necessary for transformational change,” says Barocas.

Additionally, researchers broke down their findings by demographics of youth experiencing homelessness and found that between 2017 and 2021, Black/African American or Hispanic youth accounted for 23-37% and 46-56% of the total estimated population of youth experiencing homelessness, respectively. “We can’t ignore the disparities,” Barocas says. “Our study shows that current approaches are undercounting people at the population level and they are also dramatically undercounting by race and ethnicity.”  

Researchers hope that this multiple systems approach can be replicated by other cities and states.

“This is the first study in a major metro area that has attempted to quantify the scope of the problem of youth homelessness in this way, including those who aren’t reached by services,” says Westfall, also with the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “This is important because it means that we are resourcing homelessness initiatives in city, state, and country based on underestimates. We are not providing nearly enough resources to reach every kid who is experiencing homelessness. We hope our findings can help shed light on this and our methods can be integrated as another tool in the toolbox moving forward.”

 

About the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is a world-class medical destination at the forefront of transformative science, medicine, education and patient care. The campus encompasses the University of Colorado health professional schools, more than 60 centers and institutes and two nationally ranked independent hospitals - UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital Colorado – which see more than two million adult and pediatric patient visits yearly. Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, the CU Anschutz Medical Campus delivers life-changing treatments, patient care and professional training and conducts world-renowned research fueled by $910 million in annual research funding, including $757 million in sponsored awards and $153 million in philanthropic gifts. 

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Journal

PEDIATRICS

U.S. suffers from low social mobility. Is sprawl partly to blame?

Using Census data, researchers untangle interplay between urban development patterns and socioeconomic outcomes.

University of Utah

Urban sprawl is not just unsightly. It could also be impeding intergenerational mobility for low-income residents and reinforcing racial inequality, according to a series of recent studies led by a University of Utah geographer.

One analysis of tract-level Census data co-authored with a former economics graduate student in the U’s College of Social & Behavioral Science found that people who grew up in high-sprawl neighborhoods have less earning potential than those who grew in denser neighborhoods.

“For adults, jobs are harder to access in more sprawling neighborhoods,” said Kelsey Carlston, now an assistant professor of economics at Gonzaga University. “If we can understand how kids' interactions with their neighborhoods are related to their economic opportunity, we can come up with some targeted policies for how to help poor kids get out of poverty and improve their situation.”

Published in Economic Development Quarterly, this study and two related ones were led by Yehua Dennis Wei, a professor in the School of Environment, Society & Sustainability. The other two were co-authored with graduate student Ning Xiong.

Wei’s three new studies build on prior work led by Utah city and metropolitan planning professor Reid Ewing, whose research scrutinizes the adverse impacts of sprawl and identifies features of urban resilience.

Ewing and colleagues, including Wei, demonstrated how sprawl at the city level could lock families into cycles of poverty across generations.

The new research gets more granular, extending into the neighborhood level by analyzing demographic information on the 71,443 tracts covered by the U.S. Census.  Such tracts have 8,000 or fewer residents, and census tract data enables social scientists to survey local differences in poverty rates, income levels, ethnic characteristics, education levels and other characteristics for sub-county geographic areas.

The U studies characterize sprawl as urban environments that have low accessibility, high levels of car travel and sharply separated residential, commercial and business areas. In other words, places with poor pedestrian street access and long distances between places of work, schools, recreation, shopping and home.

“One finding is that typical livable-city indicators, like walkability, mixed-use development and job-housing balance, improve intergenerational mobility,” Wei said.

However, this might not always be the case, depending on the socioeconomic factors at play, he cautioned.

“We find that those kinds of dense mixed-use walkable neighborhoods sometimes have lower intergenerational mobility because of high concentrations of low-income families and single-parent families, and sometimes also minority populations,” Wei said. “The general finding is true, but it also depends on who is living there and the social relations in those neighborhoods.”

At the city level, sprawl has been linked to lower social cohesion and increased racial and income segregation, in addition to having negative effects on public health and the environment.

At the neighborhood level, explored in the new studies, sprawl is associated with reduced social interaction and social capital.

Wei and his co-authors relied on observational data compiled in a dataset called Opportunity Atlas, which enabled them to match IRS tax records of adults born between 1978 and 1983 to their parents’ tax records.

“The Opportunity Atlas has average outcomes at the tract level and city level for kids from different economic backgrounds,” Carlston said. “We can see how kids do compare to their parents and the relative income distribution and see if kids had the opportunity to improve their position. Then we control for variables like income, school quality, demographics and social capital.”

The dataset gives several measures of intergenerational mobility at the tract, county and commuting-zone levels. Its measures include the likelihood of going to prison, teenage birth rate and income rank.

The scholars compared intergenerational mobility in sprawling and non-sprawling neighborhoods and cities.

“If someone grew up at a tract in a 10th percentile sprawl, so very low sprawl, rather than a 90th percentile sprawl, which is very high sprawl, their expected annual income was $2,864 higher, which was almost 10% or a few percentage points in the income ranking,” Carlston said. “However, the same didn't hold for kids from higher-income families. In high-income families, kids in sprawling neighborhoods did slightly better.”

Even within dense cities, they found that sprawling neighborhoods had a strong correlation with low mobility for low-income families.

Carlston cautioned the new research does not establish a causal link between sprawl and poor social mobility.

“However, the relationship likely implicates a number of problems associated with sprawl,” she said.  “For instance, sprawling areas are often broken into smaller municipalities, which means that the number of resources like community centers and parks that you have is more dependent on the income of the immediate residents.”

In other words, higher-income residents are incentivized to live where the development pattern is not best for society, but for them personally.

“That means that local city planners and officials need to consider the broader social implications and choose zoning patterns and regulations that are best for all residents, particularly trying to reduce sprawl and increase infill development may have a long-lasting positive impact on children's economic possibilities,” Carlston said. “We probably can't turn Atlanta into New York City, but we could shape neighborhoods to be built for everyone. Additionally, we could try to reduce the negative effects of sprawl by increasing connectivity with better transit and finding mechanisms to spread funding throughout metropolitan areas.”

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Dennis Wei’s study co-authored with Kelsey Carlson, titled “Urban Sprawl and Intergenerational Mobility: City- and Neighborhood-Level Effects of Sprawl,” appears in the November edition of Economic Development Quarterly.

His study titled “Neighborhood environment, socioeconomic conditions, and intergenerational mobility” appears in the journal Cities. And “Urban sprawl and racial inequality in intergenerational mobility” appears in the Journal of Economic Geography. Ning Xiong, a co-author on the latter two studies, is a doctoral candidate in geography. Sergio Rey of San Diego State University is also a co-author.

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Journal

Economic Development Quarterly

DOI

10.1177/08912424241279561 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Urban Sprawl and Intergenerational Mobility: City- and Neighborhood-Level Effects of Sprawl

Musk flummoxes internet with ‘Kekius Maximus’ persona


By AFP
January 1, 2025

Elon Musk has adopted a new online persona, sparking a flood of speculation online - Copyright AFP ROBERTO SCHMIDT

Elon Musk adopted the moniker “Kekius Maximus” on X Tuesday, sparking speculation among his 210 million followers about his mysterious new handle that is a mash-up of an alt-right symbol, a memecoin, and the lead character of the movie “Gladiator.”

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and a confidant of US President-elect Donald Trump, also replaced his profile picture with one of “Pepe the Frog,” a popular cartoon character, wearing ancient Roman attire and holding a video game joystick.

In typical Musk fashion, the billionaire tech mogul and owner of X — formerly Twitter — offered no explanation about the new username and avatar, but the move triggered immediate ripple effects.

The change roiled the cryptocurrency world, sending the value of a memecoin — a digital currency inspired by an internet meme — with the same name skyrocketing.

It also sent internet sleuths hunting for answers: was the name change just for the laughs? Was there a hidden message? Was this another thinly-disguised attempt to jolt the crypto markets?

Musk and X did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.

His new handle appears to be a blend of “Maximus Decimus Meridius” — a Roman general played by Russell Crowe in the 2000 smash hit “Gladiator” — and “kek,” an expression popular among the alt-right and internet trolls that is used as a variation of “LOL,” or laugh out loud.

Pepe the Frog was originally a cartoon character from the “Boy’s Club” comic series.

But during Trump’s first presidential campaign, it became associated with the alt-right and white supremacists, with the Anti-Defamation League dubbing it a “hate symbol.”

“The majority of uses of Pepe the Frog have been, and continue to be, non-bigoted,” the ADL wrote on its website.

However, as the meme proliferated online, the meme was centered on “racist, antisemitic or other bigoted themes,” the ADL added.

Before changing his handle, Musk posted a teaser on X: “Kekius Maximus will soon reach level 80 in hardcore PoE.”

PoE is an apparent reference to the popular “Path of Exile 2” video game.

The billionaire is known to play the game, calling it a “hall-of-famer” earlier this month in a post on X.

In the wake of Musk’s handle change, the memecoin Kekius Maximus’s value soared by more than 1,600 percent as of Tuesday evening, according to the site CoinGecko.

The memecoin was trading at less than one-fifth of a dollar in value at around 22:00 GMT.

In the past, Musk has sent crypto prices on a rollercoaster ride with his social media commentary, but it was not immediately clear if he has any involvement in this particular memecoin.

The billionaire, an advisor to the incoming Trump administration, has been tapped to run the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with reducing government spending.

Musk’s account on X has become increasingly influential — and has often courted criticism for amplifying misinformation — since his purchase of the platform for $44 billion in 2022.

FASCISTS OF A FEATHER STICK TOGETHER

 Musk urges release of British far-right figure Tommy Robinson

Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has become vocal in his support for far right and anti-establishment parties in Europe.

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
03 January, 2025

Elon Musk on Thursday called for the release from prison of Tommy Robinson, one of Britain's controversial far-right agitators, in the US tech billionaire's latest UK intervention.

In a flurry of messages on his X platform, Musk also renewed his criticism of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, highlighting that his time as chief state prosecutor in England and Wales coincided with the emergence of a child grooming scandal.

It comes after Musk, the world's richest man and key ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, faced recent criticism over his support for Germany's far-right AfD party.

Concerns have also emerged in Britain over claims that Musk is set to donate tens of millions of pounds to the upstart hard-right, anti-immigrant Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage.

Musk has been highly critical of Starmer, including during anti-immigration riots that rocked English and Northern Irish cities last year.

In his overnight X posts, Musk claimed Robinson was in prison "for telling the truth" and that "he should be freed".

His posts swiftly garnered huge support from far-right figures, including Dutch politician Geert Wilders, as well as some right-wing YouTube channels.

Grooming scandal

Robinson, a one-time football hooligan who boasts a string of UK criminal convictions, is serving an 18-month jail term for repeated contempt of court breaches.

He has amassed a big online following after years spearheading a vehemently anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant movement.

Accused of helping fuel last summer's riots, Robinson was jailed in October after he admitted committing contempt of court over a long-running libel case involving a Syrian refugee.

However, Musk's messages Thursday focused on Robinson's long-time highlighting of historical scandals involving paedophile grooming gangs in northern English cities.

Next to photos of Starmer, he later also posted "no justice for severe, violent crimes, but prison for social media posts", in a reference to jail terms handed out to people found guilty of online incitement during the anti-immigration riots.

The widespread abuse of girls, which emerged more than a decade ago in a number of English towns and cities including Rochdale, Rotherham and Oldham, has long stirred controversy.

A series of court cases eventually led to the conviction of dozens of men, mostly of South Asian Muslim origin. The victims were vulnerable, mostly white, girls.

Subsequent official reports into how police and social workers failed to halt the abuse found that officials in some cases turned a blind eye to avoid appearing racist.

The scandals have been seized upon by far-right figures, in particular Robinson.

Inquiry calls

Sharing various other accounts' claims around the decades-spanning crimes, Musk noted that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decides whether to charge suspects.

"Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008-2013," he posted.

Starmer was the head of the CPS in that period, but none of the probes into the scandals singled him out for blame or found that he tried to block prosecutions due to concerns over Islamophobia.

In 2012, Starmer blamed the justice system's flawed approach to sexual exploitation and ordered a comprehensive restructuring of the CPS's responses to it.

Musk has also criticised Jess Phillips, safeguarding minister since July, following reports she has rejected calls for a public inquiry into the grooming scandal in Oldham, northwest England.

Following a backlash from some UK opposition lawmakers to the reported decision, Musk posted Wednesday that "she deserves to be in prison".

Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party -- in power from 2010 to 2024 but now the official opposition -- on Thursday backed a wider public inquiry "into the rape gangs scandal".

"Trials have taken place all over the country in recent years, but no one in authority has joined the dots," she said.

EXPLAINER

Who is Tommy Robinson and why is Elon Musk throwing his weight behind him?

Musk made posts on X calling for jailed right-wing UK activist Robinson to be released.


Video Duration 02 minutes 27 seconds  02:27

Musk calls for release of jailed UK far-right activist ‘Tommy Robinson’

By Al Jazeera Staff
3 Jan 20253 Jan 2025

Not content with merely campaigning for United States President-elect Donald Trump and urging Germans to vote for the far-right political party, Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the country’s upcoming elections, American billionaire Elon Musk is ruffling political feathers in the United Kingdom as well with an online campaign to free Tommy Robinson, a far-right activist, from prison.

Here is more about Robinson, who is currently serving time for violation of an injunction but has also previously been jailed for assault and contempt of court:

What has Musk said about Tommy Robinson?

Musk, who was recently named as a special adviser by Trump, posted several times on his X account on Wednesday and Thursday, stating that Robinson, a notorious far-right activist who campaigns against immigration and Islam, “should be freed” from prison.

Who is Tommy Robinson and why is he in prison?

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who goes by the name Tommy Robinson, 42, is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence after he admitted to contempt of court during a libel case involving a Syrian refugee schoolboy, Jamal Hijazi.

A video showing 15-year-old Hijazi being attacked by another teenager at a school in Almondbury, Yorkshire in northern England, went viral in the UK in October 2018.

Robinson posted videos on his Facebook account in response, claiming that Hijazi had attacked “young English girls” and threatened to stab a boy at school, allegations that Hijazi denied.

These videos, seen by nearly one million people, led to Hijazi and his family receiving death threats.

The High Court ruled in 2021 that Robinson had defamed Hijazi and ordered him to pay 100,000 pounds ($124,000) in damages. The judge also handed him an injunction which prevented him from repeating the claims.

However, in February 2023, Robinson began to repeat the claims and made a documentary which he posted on his X account claiming he had been “silenced by the state”. In July 2024, he showed this documentary to viewers in London’s Trafalgar Square.

He was sentenced to 18 months in prison by Woolwich Crown Court in October 2024 after he admitted to violating the 2021 injunction.

His documentary, titled “Silenced”, is still up on X and has 146.2 million views as of Friday. It has been retweeted by about 101,000 people, including Musk.

Robinson was banned from X, then known as Twitter, in 2018. However, he was allowed to return to the platform in 2018 when Musk bought it. Robinson now has more than one million followers on X.

In the past, Robinson has been jailed for assault (2005), mortgage fraud (2014) and contempt of court (2024).

In 2019, he was sentenced to nine months in prison for contempt of court after he uploaded a video on Facebook featuring defendants in a criminal trial. The trial was of a gang of alleged sex offenders who were accused of abusing young girls.

He founded the far-right Islamophobic organisation, English Defence League, in June 2009. It staged violent demonstrations against Islam and was active until around 2013.
Why has Musk thrown his support behind Robinson?

Musk’s posts in support of Robinson come in the wake of a long-term grooming gang scandal in the UK which Musk claims Robinson tried to blow the whistle on.

In June 2022, an independent review found that the police and council had failed to prevent sexual exploitation of young girls by gangs in Oldham, northern England. The review identified multiple opportunities to stop the abuse from 2005.

In July 2024, political leaders in Oldham Council called on the government to investigate child sexual abuse in the town at the hands of “grooming gangs”.

But in October 2024, Home Office Minister Jess Phillips rejected the council’s request, saying it should lead an investigation itself.

On Wednesday, right-leaning British outlet GB News reported on this and blamed the Labour Party, which swept to power in July in a landslide election unseating the Conservative Party after 14 years of rule, for its inaction on the grooming gangs. The report was amplified by Musk, as well as Conservative leaders in the UK.

Musk posted on his X account saying British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had failed to prosecute child rapists when he was director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013. He also posted on X on Friday: “Jess Philips is a rape genocide apologist.”

Musk’s posts supporting Robinson come along with a wave of his posts supporting European right-wing figures online. In late December, he wrote an opinion piece in support of the German right-wing party AfD. He has also backed Nigel Farage’s far-right Reform UK party and Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
How have UK politicians reacted to Musk’s comments?

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Musk’s views are “misjudged and misinformed”.

“Musk’s support not just for Tommy Robinson, but also the AfD in Germany, shows just how big a problem he is for democracy as well as the reputation of those who cosy up to him like Nigel Farage and Liz Truss,” Labour parliamentarian Stella Creasy told Politico.

In December, Farage met Musk at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. On Thursday, Musk posted on X “Only Reform can save Britain”.

In 2018, Farage resigned from the UK Independence Party (UKIP) after its leader Gerard Batten appointed Robinson as an official adviser.

Reform’s chairman Zia Yusuf is also Muslim. Farage has yet to publicly react to Musk’s recent posts about Robinson.

Source: Al Jazeera

British right smacks down MAGA after Elon Musk goes a 'step too far': report

Erik De La Garza
January 3, 2025 

RAW STORY

FILE PHOTO: Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk stands with Republican presidential candidate former U.S. president Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s increasing influence in the United States as a key ally of incoming President Donald Trump and around the world has stoked concerns among far-right figures in the United Kingdom.

And they’re not keeping their unease to themselves.

Warnings from far-right British politicians poured in Thursday after Musk posted a flood of messages on his X platform calling for the release from prison of far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who is known as a prominent far-right agitator in Britain, Bloomberg reported Friday.

For Musk, the world’s richest man, it was the latest example of his stepping into international politics, but for far-right Britains, it crossed the line.

“Several prominent Brexit-supporting politicians with links to Trump spent Thursday warning their Republican counterparts against following Musk’s endorsement of Robinson, saying it was a step too far,” according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the views of both the Conservative and Reform UK parties, who were granted anonymity.

Reform leader Nigel Farage, who has distanced himself from Robinson, would not benefit from being associated with Robinson, the British politicians told their counterparts in the United States, according to the report. Robinson is serving jail time after pleading guilty to contempt of court breaches last year.

“The outreach by British politicians to their US counterparts was triggered by the latest foray by Musk into British politics,” according to the report. “Since Prime Minister Keir Starmer won the UK general election last July, the close Trump adviser has regularly criticized the new Labour government, called for a new election and urged Britons to back Reform.”

But Musk isn’t just becoming “a headache for Starmer.”

Musk also this week sent out a series of posts about a British child sex abuse scandal, and while some on the British right were “sympathetic” to many of his opinions on the scandal and other criticisms of the Labour government in general, “endorsing Robinson was beyond the pale, one of the people involved in the outreach effort said,” according to Bloomberg.