The News Review:

- IMF Approves $76 Million Aid for Senegal to Combat High Prices
- Center Diene nears end of Baylor journey with graduation today
- France says new Africa auto rally is dangerous

IMF Approves $76 Million Aid for Senegal to Combat High Prices
Bloomberg 
20 (Bloomberg) — The International Monetary Fundapproved a one-year $75. 6 million aid deal for Senegal to helpthe African nation offset higher food and energy prices. The approval will allow Senegal to draw about $37. 8 millionfrom the IMF immediately and an equal amount upon completion ofthe first review under an arrangement to help nations deal withexternal events that affect their budgets the IMF said in astatement. ?The Senegalese economy is facing a difficult period?.

Center Diene nears end of Baylor journey with graduation today
Waco Tribune Herald TX 
mp3 –> Saturday December 20 2008 By John WernerTribune-Herald staff writerMany memories will flood through Mamadou Diene’s head when he walks across the stage to receive his Baylor degree at today’s graduation ceremonies. He’ll think about how far he’s come since leaving his native Senegal nearly four years ago. He’ll think about all the friends he’s made at Baylor and the great opportunity that college basketball gave him. But mostly he’ll remember his deceased parents Demba and Aida and how much they would have enjoyed this moment. “My parents sacrificed a lot for me to go to school” Diene said. “Getting my degree is a way I can honor their memory.

France says new Africa auto rally is dangerous
USA Today 
Chevallier declined to provide details saying he hoped the itinerary would be amended to take into account the ministry’s concerns. No starting point for Auriol’s alternate version of the Dakar Rally has been named but he said in May that it would start in the winter of 2008-2009 from “a major European city on the Mediterranean” and would last 15 to 17 days. The race would cross Morocco Mauritania and Senegal where it would wind up like its famous predecessor in Senegal’s seaside capital Dakar. Like the Dakar Rally it would also include racers on motorbike and trucks. The Dakar Rally was canceled in January for the first time in its 30-year history because of security fears sparked after suspected al-Qaida-linked militants killed a family of French tourists on Dec. 24 in the desert nation of Mauritania. Eight of the 15 stages were to have passed through the northwest African nation.
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