HOUSTON: Astronauts Alan Shepard, Mitchell and Stuart Roosa entered the final two weeks of preparation today [Jan 17] for a moon flight which they intend will wipe out the stigma of the Apollo 13 failure. …

After two expeditions in the lunar module, they will take off homewards at 1.47 p.m. (1847 GMT) on Feb 6 and splashdown in the Pacific south of American Samoa, at 4.01 p.m. (2101 GMT) on Feb 9. The mission was virtually the same for Apollo 13 last April. But Apollo 13 did not make it. An oxygen tank explosion deprived the spacecraft of its main electrical power system as it neared the moon, and plunged the crew into the frantic struggle to get home. — Agency

[Meanwhile, as reported by agencies in Beirut,] A widening rift between moderate and left-wing Palestinian guerrilla organisations came into the open on Saturday [Jan 16].... Dr George Habash, leader of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) issued an unequivocal call for the ouster of King Hussein and urged other organisations to follow his lead. The ouster of Hussein is opposed by Yasser Arafat, overall command chieftain and leader of Al-Fatah, the largest group. He maintains the guerrillas have no desire to interfere in the internal affairs of Arab countries.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2021