Africa: African heads of state meet at Niger River basin conference

African leaders gathered in Paris on Monday for a conference on the receding waters of the Niger River, the continent's third-longest river and a lifeline that sustains 100 million people. Representatives of nine African countries are trying to come up with an action plan to encourage better management of the water and prevent its levels from dropping further. "The basin is today threatened with becoming a place of desolation and misery," said Niger President Mamadou Tandja, who is head of the Niger Basin Authority.