- Bayern hit nine, Real Madrid and Liverpool win as new Champions League kicks off
- Author John Grisham joins bid to save Texas death row inmate
- Venezuela arrests fourth American over alleged 'plot' against Maduro
- 'Happy' Mbappe strikes on Madrid Champions League debut win over Stuttgart
- Man Utd hit Barnsley for seven in League Cup rout
- Dolphins quarterback Tagovailoa facing concussion layoff
- Stylish Liverpool strut past Milan in confident Champions league opener
- Kane scores four as Bayern put nine past Zagreb in the Champions League
- Mbappe strikes on Madrid Champions League debut win over Stuttgart
- More than 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
- Harris calls Trump as assassination scare sparks tensions
- Dow edges down from record as some eye a smaller Fed rate cut
- Sommer vows Inter will 'defend with all we have' to stop Haaland
- Report links meatpacking companies to 'war on nature' in Brazil
- Bolivian ex-leader Morales, backers set out on weeklong protest march
- Smith grateful to McCullum for launching his England career
- Arizona to ask court to rule on voting rights
- Villa make perfect start on Champions League return after 41-year absence
- Israeli supply chain infiltration likely behind Hezbollah pager blasts: analysts
- Rodgers backs Celtic to be 'really competitive' in Champions League
- Spacewalk an 'emotional experience' for private astronauts
- Storm Boris toll rises to 22 in central Europe
- Nine dead, 2,800 wounded as Lebanon's Hezbollah hit by pager blasts
- Boeing, union resume talks as strike empties Seattle plants
- Over 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
- Australia's Zampa accepts Ashes chances remote as 100th ODI looms
- UN General Assembly debates call for end to Israeli occupation
- Marseille complete signing of French international Rabiot
- Easterby to fill in as Ireland coach while Farrell is with the Lions
- Hezbollah in Lebanon hit by wave of deadly pager blasts
- Postecoglou taken aback by criticism of his second season success claim
- US, European stocks rise on retail sales, rate cut expectations
- Fendi sees Roaring 20s at Milan Fashion Week in challenging times
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr part ways with coach Castro
- Scottish government backs Glasgow to stage troubled 2026 Commonwealth Games
- Storm Boris toll rises to 21 in central Europe
- Instagram, under pressure, tightens protection for teens
- Inflation slows again in Canada to 2%
- US, European stocks rise on eve of Fed rate decision
- EU bans Algerian spread toasted on social media
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with racketeering, sex trafficking
- Trump returns to campaign trail after assassination scare
- Activist urges repatriation of Native Americans dead in Paris 'human zoo'
- US retail sales see slight rise, beating expectations
- US Fed begins two-day meeting set to end with rate cut
- Exploding Hezbollah pagers wound hundreds across Lebanon
- Runners-up Yokohama thrashed 7-3 in AFC Champions League goal fest
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs to plead not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking
- Jihadist group claims rare attack on Mali capital
- 'I am a rapist,' Frenchman tells trial over mass rape of wife
Vienna's horse-drawn carriages feel the heat
As much of Europe stifles under record high temperatures, Vienna's "fiaker" horse carriage drivers fear for their future with animal rights activists turning up the heat.
At the stables of one of the Austrian capital's leading fiaker businesses, driver Marco Pollandt explains how the animals are coping with increasingly hot weather and how much time off they enjoy.
Rights activists want horses to stop work as soon as temperatures hit 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) and not 35C as under current rules -- a demand that fiaker or carriage drivers say will destroy their centuries-old profession.
"We can all live with the 35 degrees but going down more is actually not good for the horses, and we also have to discuss the economic results of this," Pollandt tells AFP.
The 28-year-old Viennese says horses trained to pull carriages need the exercise, while their caretakers need the income.
On hot days, fiaker drivers ensure the horses drink enough, while the places where they wait for customers are shady in the afternoon.
"The climate is changing and it's getting more and more hot," Pollandt says.
"And of course it makes a difference if we have seven days a year that we are not allowed to ride or if we have 30 days a year we are not allowed to ride."
- High demand -
Pollandt -- who used to work in gastronomy and started to offer dining in a fiaker five years ago -- has been running a website to inform people about the horses and the carriage driving profession. He also runs stable tours offering a glimpse behind the scenes.
Three hundred horses still pull carriages through Vienna, past the town hall and other tourist sites, generating thousands of jobs, he notes.
"I realised no one actually explains to people how everything works," says Pollandt pointing to strict regulations and regular veterinary checkups to keep the horses fit.
Hurt by Covid lockdowns and travel curbs since 2020, business has picked up again swiftly this year.
But activists say the animals suffer in the big city especially in scorching temperatures.
"This work is clearly linked to animal suffering. The horses are sometimes in the sun at 34.5 degrees and working.
"They are exposed to noise, exhaust fumes, traffic and of course stress," says David Fenzl of the Association against Animal Factories.
In June, city officials considered the demands to enforce stricter regulations, but in the end decided to delay lowering the temperatures under which horses are not allowed to work, pending a study to be carried out next year.
So for now, fiakers can ride on -- unless temperatures exceed 35C, as predicted later this week.
Scientists say heat waves are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.
Britain and France went on unprecedented heatwave alerts this week as southwest Europe wilted and ferocious wildfires devoured more forests.
B.Finley--AMWN