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       More than half of Vienna's 1.9 million residents live in some form of subsidised housing.

       Vienna's reputation as a beacon of social housing excellence is widely considered well-deserved; the city council owns, co-owns and manages some 50 per cent of the city's residential real estate through an array of social schemes, these initiatives have made rents affordable for tens of thousands of households.

       This decades-old tradition, which began in the 1920s, has contributed to the city's status as the world's most liveable city. But is the system as perfect and idyllic as it seems?

       Recent developments have raised concerns; critics point to rising rent prices, ever-increasing waiting lists, a diminishing share of social housing in the real estate market after a long period of low-interest rates, and subsequent increases in private property ownership.

       Euronews reporter Julian Lopez travelled to Austria's capital for Euronews Witness to see what's behind the facade.

       A tenant's paradise

       Administrative assistant Tesbire Keskin gave Euronews a tour of her 70 m2 apartment where she has lived with her family for almost 20 years. She pays €500 per month and enjoys a quality of life beyond market standards in her centrally-located flat. "The kindergarten is right opposite me, the school is a ten-minute walk. In two minutes, I'm at the underground," she explained.

       "When my children were small and I couldn't get home from work, the neighbours picked them up from kindergarten. It's very nice here; it is green, quiet. I'm very happy, satisfied."

       Tesbire Keskin, a social housing tenant living in Vienna Euronews

       Representatives from the city council also showed Euronews around some of Vienna's oldest social buildings. Unlike Berlin and other European cities with high rates of private landownership, the former capital of the vast Austro-Hungarian Empire never sold off its public land.

       Vienna's annual budget for social housing hovers above €400 million, exceeding those of bigger EU capitals like Rome, Madrid or Lisbon.

       "Our housing model is secured and financed by a housing tax that every Austrian pays," said Christian Schantl, the Head of International Relations at Wiener Wohnen-Vienna Living.

       "It is a small contribution from their gross income. The employer also makes a small contribution, and this money is specifically intended for housing construction throughout Austria."

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       The winds of change

       While Vienna is the pioneer of inclusive housing strategies, the city is also grappling with evolving housing dynamics and an increasing demand for social housing in addition, a prolonged period of low interest rates has worked in the favour of private developers.

       Experts at the NGO Volkshilfe, which helps homeless people access social housing, argue that decades ago, 80 per cent of new developments were social and 20 per cent private. But now, the tables have turned.

       "We used to have two thirds of all apartments built by social housing, ten or fifteen years ago. Now it is the other way around. Two thirds of all apartments are being built by private investors. The result is higher housing prices, of course. We should try to turn it around again," Martin Orner, the Head of the NGO's Housing Policy Department, told Euronews.

       Due to inflation, the cost of land, materials and maintenance costs have also skyrocketed, putting further pressure on social housing.

       "The main solution would be to get more land and more opportunities to build social housing," suggested Orner.

       A century-old tradition Lilli Bauer, Co-curator of the 'Red Vienna' Exhibition Euronews

       As the city continues to navigate the challenges of a changing real estate landscape, the spirit of 'Red Vienna' persists - a period in the 1920s and '30s when Austria's Social Democratic Workers' Party introduced a social housing construction program in response to severe housing shortages.

       Today, a permanent exhibition on this era serves as a reminder of the transformative power of social housing in shaping communities and fostering inclusivity. Euronews spoke with the curators, who maintain that this housing model has helped create the city's unique cultural and social character, which continues to influence the present.

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       "It was a city within a city and people hardly had to leave their residence because everything was available, including doctors' surgeries, shops and so on," explained Lilli Bauer, the exhibition's co-curator.

       "At the time, there were even tuberculosis care centres in those municipal buildings. Similarly, during the pandemic, there were COVID-19 testing and vaccination centres. They were all very decentralised and spread across the city, and easy to access," she added.

       Despite its limitations, Vienna stands as a testament to the enduring impact of progressive housing policies, the city council maintains it will continue to subsidise between 5,000 and 7,000 new flats every year.

       For Julian's full report click on the video in the media player above.

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       Sweden’s Security Service said Thursday it had arrested four people on suspicion of preparing “terrorist offenses” with links to Islamist extremism and organised crime.

       The service did not confirm whether any specific attacks had been planned, but in a brief statement it said it had “worked on the case for a long period of time.”

       Sweden media reported there was a major police operation in Tyreso, south of Stockholm. Public broadcaster SVT said there was a “powerful explosion in a clubhouse" but it is unclear what caused the blast.

       In August, Sweden's security service raised its terror alert to the second-highest level following a string of incidents where protestors publicly burnt the Quran.

       Thursday arrests came on the same day that Sweden became the 32nd member of NATO, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality.

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       More than 230 million women and girls around the world have now undergone female genital mutilation, most of whom live in Africa, according to a report issued on Friday by the United Nations children's agency.

       In the last eight years, some 30 million people have undergone the procedure, in which external genitalia are partially or fully removed, UNICEF estimated in the report, which was released on International Women's Day.

       The percentage of women and girls who experience female genital mutilation is declining, UNICEF said, but it warned that efforts to eradicate the practice are too slow to keep up with fast-growing populations.

       "The practice of female genital mutilation is declining, but not fast enough," the report said.

       The German UNICEF headquarters in Cologne. HERMANN J. KNIPPERTZ/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.

       So-called "female circumcision" is in some areas incorrectly believed to control women's sexuality.

       Girls are subjected to the procedure at ages ranging from infancy to adolescence. It is extremely dangerous, and can cause serious bleeding and even death; in the long term, it can lead to urinary tract infections, menstrual problems, pain, decreased sexual satisfaction and childbirth complications, as well as depression, low self-esteem and post-traumatic stress disorder.

       Some 144 million women and girls have been through female genital mutilation in Africa alone, followed by Asia and the Middle East with 80 million and 6 million respectively, the report said. Somalia tops the list of countries where the practice, also known as female circumcision, is prevalent, with 99% of the female population between the ages of 15 and 49 having been circumcised.

       Burkina Faso made the most significant progress, reducing the proportion of women between 15 and 49 who were circumcised from 80% to 30% over three decades.

       Nonetheless, the number of victims is rising. "We're also seeing a worrying trend that more girls are subjected to the practice at younger ages, many before their fifth birthday. That further reduces the window to intervene," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

       A Masai girl at an anti-female genital mutilation protest in Kilgoris, Kenya. SAYYID AZIM/AP2007

       The report also showed that 4 in every 10 survivors live in conflict-torn countries with high population growth rates, adding that political instability disrupts efforts to prevent the practice and provide support to victims.

       "Ethiopia, Nigeria and Sudan account for the largest numbers of girls and women who have undergone female genital mutilation in conflict-affected countries," the report said.

       Although the report hailed the progress made in some countries, it warned that the world is falling short of what would be needed to meet the U.N.'s goal of eradicating the practice globally by 2030.

       "In some countries, progress would need to be 10 times faster than the best progress observed in history in order to reach the target by 2030," said the report.

       Nimco Ali, CEO of the Five Foundation, a UK-based charity that fights female genital mutilation, said the UNICEF estimates were "shocking" and "devastating," and more funding is urgently needed to end the practice.

       "We must use the last six years of this decade to finally get to grips with this abhorrent abuse of a girl's human rights and save the next generation from the horrors of FGM," the Somali-born activist, author and female genital mutilation survivor said in a press release.