CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is in a "stable situation" in a Cuban hospital receiving treatment due to a severe respiratory infection, his government said Monday.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Professor Clement Sankat has been re-appointed as pro vice-chancellor and principal of the St Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) for a further four years, until his retirement on September 30, 2016. The announcement was made by Professor E Nigel Harris, vice-chancellor of The UWI who said the university’s Finance and General Purposes Committee (the Standing Committee of the University Council) has accepted his recommendation.

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – A radio announcer has pointed an accusing finger at the attorney for Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit as being the source of secret and confidential information about the head of government being aired on a local radio station in December last year.
The Integrity in Public Office (IPO) said it has already written to Police Commissioner Daniel Carbon, seeking assistance in investigating the leak, but Lennox Linton has accused Senior Counsel Anthony Astaphan of providing the information which the radio announcer said he used on his radio programme.

NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – The Bahamas government says a decision will soon have to be made on whether or not to make Majority Rule on January 10 a public holiday.
Prime Minister Perry Gladstone Christie said Bahamians have tended not to see the importance of celebrating Majority Rule, even though it is arguably the most important event in the country’s history with the exception of the Abolition of Slavery and Independence.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC –The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) on Monday called on government to honour the agreement reached with the Region Council that brought an end to the crisis in the mining town of Linden last year including the deaths of three people.
“Moreover, we are calling on the government to ensure that all the resources necessary are made available to facilitate the conclusion of the terms agreed upon in the agreement,” the private sector group said.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Michael de la Bastide is being nominated as a candidate to be T&T’s fifth President by the 851 members of a Facebook group. It was created by De La Bastide's brother, Peter.
The electoral college will vote on the presidency on February 15 and many believe the former chief justice and former president of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) should be added to the list.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - High on the list of coming attractions with potential to fulfill or disappoint hopes for a bright and prosperous new year is constitution reform. Late last year, Legal Affairs Minister Prakash Ramadhar, who is also leader of the Congress of the People, described the process of "constitution reform (as) allowing citizens to participate in the way we govern ourselves".

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, hinting at a general election “which is not too far away” is appealing to supporters ensure that the St. Andrew’s seat is won by his ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP).
The last general election was held in January 2008 and the main opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has been calling on Prime Minister Stuart to name the date for the polls.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonslaves is urging nationals to purchase shares in the Bank of St. Vincent and the Grenadines that on Monday launched an initial public offering (IPO) hoping to raise expansion capital of more than EC$17 million (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents).
The former state-owned bank, is offering two million shares at a price of EC$8.64 and Gonsalves told a news conference “it is not a bad investment.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Barbados has recorded a significant increase in dengue cases last year even as health authorities were reporting a decline in confirmed cases during a four week period leading up to mid-December last year.
Official figures released here show that for the four-week period leading up to December 15, last year, there were 43 confirmed cases of dengue, compared to 68 in the four weeks leading up to November 17.