DEPOSITS rose by €8.6 billion from January 2007 to January 2008, reflecting an annual growth rate of near 20 per cent, sending commercial banks into a scramble for a share of new deposits entering the country. As a result, consumers are seeing a rise in deposit interest rates across the banking sector in an effort to attract cash and commerce, mainly from abroad.

TWO SYRIAN brothers were hospitalised after they were stabbed in a Sunday night brawl in Paphos, police said yesterday.

Investigators are looking for two men in connection with the incident and the identity of a third suspect is still pending, Paphos police said.

A YOUNG man from Nicosia was killed in a road accident on Sunday evening.

Nicholas David Wright, aged 21 from Nicosia, lost his life in a horrific crash at 7pm on the Anthoupolis-Nicosia road after his motorcycle collided with a car driven by a 38-year-old man at a traffic light junction.

THE HOUSE Finance Committee yesterday called for an upgrade of the Centre for the Professional Integration of Disabled People (KEAA) so it can live up to today’s labour market needs.

Furthermore, Parliament has asked the Centre to increase its training programmes for people with disabilities, to make it easier for them to settle into the labour market.

MESA Yeitonia Council has announced the completion of the first phase of plans for the construction of a four-lane road along Makarios III Avenue. The project is expected to seriously alleviate the traffic congestion problems in the area.

“The completion of the first phase of the project will alleviate rush hour traffic congestion,” said Christos Mesis, Mayor of Mesa Yeitonia.

TWO of Cyprus’ leading higher education institutions have flung their doors wide open to pupils from private schools.

THREE young men, two 23-year olds and a 17-year-old, were arrested for illegal possession of drugs on Sunday night and are being held in custody to help police with their inquiries.

BARCLAYS Wealth Intermediaries, a division of Barclays Wealth, formally launches its new proposition to the local intermediary and corporate market today.