Christian Cousins, the former child actor best known for the 1990 comedy 'Kindergarten Cop', has died.

What happened

Police in Irvine, California, said officers went to his home on 20 October after his family requested a welfare check because they could not reach him, and found him dead inside. They said there were no suspicious circumstances. The county coroner took custody of his remains, and no official cause of death has been released. News of his death spread this week after his half-brother, Jonas Roeser, posted a tribute on Instagram, saying Cousins had been seriously ill with liver disease.

His career

Cousins and his twin brother, Joseph, shared the role of Dominic Palmieri in 'Kindergarten Cop', starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Brian Tracy, the motivational speaker and bestselling author whose books shaped how millions of people approach work and personal goals, has died at the age of 82.

His death

Tracy died on 12 November 2026, according to reports. No official cause of death has been made public. His grandson shared an emotional tribute online.

His work

Tracy built his career in sales, marketing, real estate and consulting before founding Brian Tracy International. His company says he gave more than 5,000 talks and seminars to over five million people and wrote more than 70 books, translated into dozens of languages. His best-known book, 'Eat That Frog!', taught readers to tackle the task they are most likely to put off first. Other popular titles included 'Goals!' and 'No Excuses! The Power of Self-Discipline'.

It is one of the lesser-known chapters of Africa's liberation story, and a remarkable act of solidarity between two African nations.

A leader in danger

Patrice Lumumba, Congo's first Prime Minister after independence from Belgium in 1960, was overthrown within months and placed under house arrest. In January 1961 he was handed over to his enemies and assassinated, one of the most shocking political killings in African history.

As Congo descended into chaos, Lumumba's family was in grave danger, and his wife Pauline and their children had nowhere safe to turn.

Nasser's secret mission

Egypt did not look away. On the direct orders of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Colonel Saad El-Din El-Shazly, who later became one of Egypt's most celebrated military commanders, took on the task of getting Lumumba's children safely out of the country.

El-Shazly knew Congo well. He had commanded the Egyptian battalion sent there in 1960 as part of the international force during the independence crisis, at a time when Egypt firmly backed Lumumba.

The operation was carried out in complete secrecy. Lumumba's children, including his eldest son François, were smuggled out of Congo and flown to Cairo, where they arrived safely while their father was still under arrest.

A new home in Cairo

After Lumumba's death, Pauline joined the children in Egypt. Nasser offered the family protection and support, and the Egyptian government helped with their housing, schooling and other needs.

Lumumba's children grew up in Egypt, which became not just a place of refuge but a home that embraced their father's cause as a symbol of African liberation.

Pauline later spent time in Europe before returning to Congo in the late 1960s, after Lumumba began to be honoured as a national hero. She settled in Kinshasa.

Africa looking out for its own

The story is a reminder that Egypt was not just a witness to Africa's independence struggles, but an active partner in them. When Lumumba's family was in danger, an African nation stepped in to protect them.

Over to you

Did you know this part of Lumumba's story? What does it tell us about African solidarity then, and now?

He was sent to help bring a missing 14-year-old girl home safely. Instead, he became the person who harmed her.

Sinmi Asomuyide, a 33-year-old Nigerian-American former police officer in Kokomo, Indiana, has been sentenced to 40 years in a US federal prison for sexually assaulting the teenager. He will also serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.

How it happened

On 30 June 2024, the girl's father called the emergency line to report her missing as a runaway. Asomuyide, then on patrol with the Kokomo Police Department, was one of the officers who found her at the home of another underage girl.

While driving her to a youth centre, he switched off his body camera, took her phone and used it to call his own private number. He told her he would contact her later to return an item he had found on her.

Later that evening, after his shift, he went to where she was staying, picked her up while still in uniform, drove her to an empty warehouse car park and sexually assaulted her, according to court documents and GPS data from his car.

The evidence that exposed him

Asomuyide denied everything. When state police questioned him about a week later, he claimed he had never given the girl his number and that she had contacted him on a work phone, even though Kokomo officers are not issued work phones.

Within hours of the assault, he had also searched online for how to delete the messaging account he used to contact her.

But the evidence caught up with him. Investigators examining his patrol car found a stain on the centre console that matched his DNA.

In June 2026, a federal jury found him guilty after a five-day trial of violating the girl's civil rights by sexually assaulting her while on duty, witness tampering by lying to investigators, and destroying records. The judge handed down the 40-year sentence this month.

An earlier warning sign

Even more disturbing, investigators found that this was not the first allegation against him.

Before joining the Kokomo police, Asomuyide worked with the Portsmouth Police Department in Virginia. He resigned there after an allegation that he had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl while off duty. When he applied to Kokomo, he gave a false account of why he had left.

Sworn to protect

The case has shocked many, especially Nigerians at home and abroad. A police officer is trusted to protect the most vulnerable, and a missing child should be safest in the hands of the officer sent to find her.

It also raises hard questions about how a man with a previous allegation involving a minor was able to get another job in law enforcement.

Over to you

How can someone sworn to protect children become their abuser, and what should police departments do to make sure it never happens again?