Integral catches a new erupting black hole

27 November 2006


ESA's gamma-ray observatory, Integral, has spotted a rare kind of gamma-ray outburst. The vast explosion of energy allowed astronomers to pinpoint a possible black hole in our Galaxy.

The outburst was discovered on 17 September 2006 by staff at the Integral Science Data Centre (ISDC), Versoix, Switzerland. Inside the ISDC, astronomers constantly monitor the data coming down from Integral because they know the sky at gamma-ray wavelengths can be a swiftly changing place.

The UN refugee agency and the World Food Programme on Monday appealed for the rapid restoration of order in volatile eastern Chad following weekend unrest in which mobs looted warehouses storing vital aid supplies for hundreds of thousands of Darfurian refugees and Chadians.


Both agencies reported that their main warehouses in the eastern Chad town of Abeche, the hub for relief efforts for 218,000 refugees from Sudan's neighbouring Darfur region and some 90,000 internally displaced Chadians, had been pillaged, reportedly by local residents, during the turmoil on Saturday and Sunday. Abeche was occupied by rebel forces on Saturday, then re-taken by government troops on Sunday.

Note for the press EURO/20/06 Copenhagen, Rome, Szentendre, 27 November 2006


Sections of the European population are still struggling with "traditional" environmental health problems, poor water and sanitation being one of the most urgent. The 22nd meeting of the European Environment and Health Committee (EEHC) will take place in Szentendre, Hungary, on 27-28 November 2006. It was in Hungary in 2004 that European ministers committed to protecting children's health from a harmful environment (see below). The EEHC meeting, hosted by the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe, will assess progress in the European Region in reducing water-related disease among children.