1979 Mt. Sinai and the surrounding territory is restored to Egyptian control by Israel.
The Qur'an prescribes a humanitarian approach to slavery -- free men could not be enslaved, and those of other faiths could live as protected persons. The spread of the Islamic Empire, however, resulted in a much harsher interpretation of the law.
On 14 November 1975 the Franco government signed the tripartite Madrid Agreement with Morocco and Mauritania for the proposed administration of the region. Earlier in the month, 6 November, Morocco's King Hassan had ordered 350,000 people to begin the Green March into Western Sahara with the intent of annexing the entire country. The capital, Laayoune, was captured shortly afterwards. Mauritania also made moves to take control of the region.
Claims by Morocco and Mauritania were rejected by The International Court of Justice, who found for the indigenous Saharawis' right to self-determination. The Madrid Agreement, however, resulted in a two-thirds to one-third partition between Morocco and Mauritania, which came into effect on 28 February 1976. (Mauritania renounced its claim in 1979 and Morocco seized the whole country.)
On 13 November 1942 Tobruk changed hands for the last time in World War II's North African campaign -- but Montgommery's quarry, Rommel, is nowhere to be found. The port, which was captured by Rommel's forces back in June, is just a smoking shell: the harbor more or less unusable and its installations mostly destroyed.
Meanwhile in Tunisia, following the start of Operation TORCH, fresh German troops under the command of General Walter Nehring are being landed. It is a start of a race between Anderson's First Army moving up through Algeria and the 5th Panzer Army which is arriving by ship and plane.
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