WASHINGTON, Oct 09 (IPS) - The World Bank has initiated a major call to action for private sector investors around infrastructure projects in developing countries.

NAPLES, Italy, Oct 09 (IPS) - Small farmers can look to options like agroecological intensification and innovation, without necessarily turning to climate-smart agriculture, which is promoted by the United Nations but has awakened doubts among global experts meeting in this Italian city.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 09 (IPS) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last month singled out what he described as "one of the greatest ironies of modern science": while humans are searching for life on other planets, the world's nuclear powers are retaining and modernising their weapons to destroy life on planet earth.

NAPLES, Italy, Oct 09 (IPS) - In his parody of the Michael Jackson hit "Beat It", the American satirist and singer Weird Al Yankovic has a parent urging his son to eat the food on his plate, warning that "other kids are starving in Japan".

PYEONGCHANG, Republic of Korea, Oct 09 (IPS) - Scientists here are warning Caribbean countries, where the fisheries sector is an important source of livelihoods and sustenance, that they should pay close attention to a new international report released Wednesday on ocean acidification.

APIA, Oct 09 (IPS) - The size of the youth population in the Pacific Islands is double the global average with 54 percent aged below 24 years, creating enormous challenges for slow-growing small island economies unable to create jobs fast enough.

AÑELO, Argentina, Oct 08 (IPS) - Unconventional oil and gas reserves in Vaca Muerta in southwest Argentina hold out the promise of energy self-sufficiency and development for the country. But the fracking technique used to extract this treasure from underground rocks could be used at a huge cost.

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, Oct 08 (IPS) - Livestock farmers in the Caribbean are finding it increasingly difficult and expensive to rear healthy animals because of climate change, a situation that poses a significant threat to a region that is already too dependent on imports to feed its population.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Oct 08 (IPS) - Imagine traveling for almost an entire day in the blistering sun, carrying all your possessions with you. Imagine fleeing in the middle of the night as airstrikes reduce your village to rubble. Imagine arriving in a makeshift refugee camp where there is no running water, no bathrooms and hardly any food. Now imagine making that journey as a pregnant woman.

WASHINGTON, Oct 08 (IPS) - Most of the world's governments are taking measures to reduce the worst and most hazardous forms of child labour, according to a major report released here Tuesday by the U.S. Labour Department.