2 months ago
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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: An American missionary in South Africa was kidnapped and subsequently rescued by authorities following a deadly gun battle.
👥 Who’s Involved: Josh Sullivan, 45, the missionary; South African police; and multiple unidentified suspects.
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📍 Where & When: The kidnapping occurred in Motherwell, near Gqeberha, South Africa, during a church service last Thursday. The rescue took place at a safe house in KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha.
💬 Key Quote: “Josh has been released. I just got ‘the go ahead to let it be known,’” Pastor Tom Hatley stated.
⚠️ Impact: The incident underscores the dangerous kidnapping rates in South Africa and concerns over the safety of Christian missionaries.
IN FULL:
Authorities in South Africa have successfully rescued Josh Sullivan, an American missionary, who was kidnapped during a church service last week. The operation resulted in a deadly exchange of gunfire, leaving three suspects dead.
Sullivan’s abduction occurred at a Fellowship Baptist Church service in Motherwell last Thursday. Armed assailants entered the church, targeting Sullivan specifically. While approximately 30 attendees, including Sullivan’s family, were present, no others were harmed during the incident.
Police tracked Sullivan for five days before receiving a tip-off that led them to a safe house in KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha. Upon their approach, suspects inside a vehicle opened fire, prompting a retaliatory response from the authorities. The confrontation ended with the fatal shooting of three suspects. Sullivan was discovered inside the vehicle, unharmed, and assessed by medical personnel, who confirmed he was in “excellent condition.”
Pastor Tom Hatley of Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, confirmed the rescue on social media. “Josh has been released. I just got ‘the go ahead to let it be known,'” he said.
Questions remain about the motives behind Sullivan’s kidnapping. International Christian Concern suggested religious reasons might be a factor, as the church had faced threats in the past. However, the Reverend Jeremy Hall, from the Gqeberha area, speculated that financial motives might be a more likely explanation.
South Africa has witnessed a notable surge in reported kidnappings, with instances rising by 264 percent over the past decade. The period from 2023 to 2024 alone saw over 17,000 recorded kidnappings, raising significant concerns about security in the region.
The successful rescue comes amid tensions between the United States and South Africa over seizures of the land of white farmers without compensation. Last month, President Donald J. Trump dismissed the South African ambassador, who had referred to the America First leader as a white supremacist.
PULSE POINTS:
What Happened: The Trump-led EPA has launched an investigation into Make Sunsets, a solar geoengineering startup, for releasing sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, prompting concerns about air quality violations under the Clean Air Act.
Who’s Involved: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Make Sunsets founders Luke Iseman and Andrew Song, and the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.
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Where & When: EPA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., April 14, 2025, with a public statement from Zeldin on April 15, 2025.
Key Quote: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated on X, “Make Sunsets is a startup that is geoengineering by injecting sulfur dioxide into the sky and then selling ‘cooling credits.’ This company is polluting the air we breathe.”
Impact: The EPA’s actions could lead to monetary penalties or criminal charges for Make Sunsets, potentially setting a precedent for regulating geoengineering activities in the U.S., amidst broader Trump administration efforts to deregulate climate policies.
IN FULL:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump’s Administrator Lee Zeldin, has initiated what it says will be a swift investigation into Make Sunsets, a startup accused of polluting the atmosphere through geoengineering. On April 14, 2025, the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation issued a letter to Make Sunsets founders Luke Iseman and Andrew Song, demanding information within 30 days to determine if the company’s activities violate the Clean Air Act.
Make Sunsets has been releasing sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere via weather balloons, aiming to reflect sunlight and cool the planet—selling these balloon flights online in the form of so-called “cooling credits.” The Trump administration is acting against the startup due to its potential to degrade air quality, coupled with a lack of regulatory oversight.
Zeldin took to X (formerly Twitter) on April 15, 2025, to explain the situation, stating, “Make Sunsets is a startup that is geoengineering by injecting sulfur dioxide into the sky and then selling ‘cooling credits.’ This company is polluting the air we breathe. I’ve instructed my team that we need to quickly get to the bottom of this.”
The EPA’s letter, signed by Abigale Tardif, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation, cites Section 114(a) of the Clean Air Act, which empowers the agency to demand information from entities suspected of impacting air quality. It warns of potential enforcement actions under Section 113 of the Act, which includes fines and criminal penalties for non-compliance or providing false information.
On behalf of Make Sunsets, Iseman previously argued, “It’s morally wrong… for us not to be doing this.” However, the company has already been banned in Mexico following unauthorized sulfur dioxide releases in Baja California in 2022. Notably, this prompted the Mexican government to prohibit solar geoengineering experiments altogether in 2023.
Make Sunsets later conducted launches in Nevada, which also drew scrutiny for failing to report to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) despite requirements under U.S. law. Critics, including environmentalists and scientists, have long warned that such geoengineering efforts lack sufficient scientific backing and international governance, posing unpredictable risks to the environment and public health.
The investigation into Make Sunsets could set a significant precedent for regulating geoengineering in the U.S., a field that remains largely ungoverned both domestically and internationally.
READ:
Make Sunsets is a startup that is geoengineering by injecting sulfur dioxide into the sky and then selling “cooling credits.” This company is polluting the air we breathe. I’ve instructed my team that we need to quickly get to the bottom of this and take immediate action. pic.twitter.com/9b6xPzMf4v
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) April 15, 2025
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President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at slashing prescription drug costs—with insulin reduced to three cents for low-income Americans.
The details: Trump’s order takes aim at drug costs and Big Pharma from several angles:
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- Insulin: Prices drop to as low as three cents for low-income and uninsured patients.
- Epinephrine: Injectable doses fall to $15.
- Cancer drugs: Standardizing Medicare payments for prescription drugs, like cancer treatments, which can lower prices by 60 percent.
- Generics: Boosted access to biosimilars, which can be up to 80 percent cheaper.
- Middlemen: Order demands transparency from pharmacy benefit managers and pushes reforms to the entire supply chain.
- Drug importation: States can import lower-cost meds, including for sickle cell.
Back up: In 2020, Trump launched a program to give seniors access to $35 per 30-day supply of insulin. Biden let the program expire and then rolled it into the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and took credit for it.
Eclipsing Biden: The IRA also created the Medicare Drug Pricing Negotiation Program, which allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices directly with pharma companies for high-cost prescription drugs.
- In its first year in effect under Biden, the program netted a 22 percent reduction in prices. Trump’s order aims to “eclipse” that number.
Big picture: Roughly 68 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare—meaning these reforms will touch roughly 20 percent of the U.S. population.
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President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at slashing prescription drug costs—with insulin reduced to three cents for low-income Americans. show more
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