SWISS airline releases its flight cancellation schedule for the Middle East; English is becoming even more prevalent in Switzerland; and more news in our roundup this Friday.
SWISS airline releases its flight cancellation schedule for the Middle East
Due to the “current situation in the Middle East and the resulting significant restrictions on air traffic,” the national airline announced that it is extending the current suspension of these flights to the region:
- To and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi until and including March 10th
- To and from Dammam until and including March 10th
- To Amman and Erbil until and including March 15th
- To and from Tel Aviv until and including March 22nd
- To and from Beirut until and including March 28th
- To and from Tehran until and including April 30th
English is becoming even more prevalent in Switzerland
Though it is not one of Switzerland’s national languages, English is, nevertheless, one of its main ones.
This is the finding of a study published by the Federal Statistical Office on Thursday.
It reports that 7 percent of the population speak English at home as their primary language – up from 6 percent in 2023 – making it the most commonly used non-national language in Switzerland.
In terms of workplace, English is spoken daily by 23.6 percent of employees.
It is even more prevalent in companies than Italian (8 percent).
READ MORE: Where in Switzerland is English most widely used?
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Zurich trams and buses are increasingly more accident-prone
The number of tram and bus accidents in the city of Zurich rose significantly last year. The transport authority, ZVV, recorded a total of 1,911 incidents in 2025, which is 10 percent more than in 2024.
There were 926 collisions between other vehicles and trams, including 530 cars, 289 commercial vehicles such as trucks, and 64 bicycles, mopeds, and e-scooters, according to the accident statistics released on Thursday.
People were injured in 687 accidents. Of these, 345 were stop-and-go accidents – meaning accidents within the tram or bus itself – caused by staff having to make an abrupt emergency stop.
Two people died in tram accidents last year. In both cases, the victims had failed to see an approaching tram.
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Ahead this weekend: Switzerland votes
On Sunday, Swiss citizens who haven’t yet sent in their paper ballots, will cast their votes on four issues: individual taxation of married couples; enshrining availability of cash, including franc as Switzerland’s only official currency, in the Constitution; lowering the TV license fee from 330 to 200 francs; and allocating significantly more funds to combating climate change and its consequences.
You can read more about each of these issues here:
READ MORE: What’s at stake in Switzerland’s national referendums on Sunday?
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at news@thelocal.ch
