Air conditioning for all? France divided over response to record-breaking heatwave

Article excerpt

The heat is on. Enough to make Parisians take the plunge into the once notoriously polluted Canal Saint Martin. France this Tuesday awakening from its hottest night on record, enough to test the tempers of city dwellers as they sizzle under the zinc roofs of top floor apartments built for a bygone age. And while an unprecedented heat dome stalls over western Europe for God knows how long.