Masekela dies at 78:
South African jazz trumpeter and anti-apartheid activist Hugh Masekela, above, has died at 78. A family statement issued on Twitter on Tuesday says Masekela died in Johannesburg after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. Masekela went into exile after the 1960 Sharpeville killings in which 69 protesters were shot dead. In 1968 he scored an international hit with “Grazing in the Grass.” Many of his compositions were about the struggle for majority rule in South Africa and full democratic rights. Masekela’s composition “Bring Him Back Home” calling for Nelson Mandela to be released from prison became an international anthem for the anti-apartheid movement.
Cosby performs: Bill Cosby performed in public for the first time since a sex abuse scandal embroiled him in 2015, joking that he “used to be a comedian” and playing with a jazz band in his hometown as a retrial looms in his criminal sexual assault case. He took the stage for about an hour Monday at a Philadelphia jazz club.
Drilling spat: Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday blasted President Donald Trump’s move to allow increased offshore drilling, saying he ought to drill in the waters off his Palm Beach, Fla., resort rather than California. “If you want to drill, do it off Mar-a-Lago,” Schwarzenegger tweeted.
Jan. 24 birthdays: Singer Aaron Neville is 77. Olympian Mary Lou Retton is 50. Actor Ed Helms is 44. Actor Daveed Diggs is 36.