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Business Matters: 31/10/2015 01:06 GMT: World Powers Agree to Step Up Efforts to end Syria Conflict

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World Powers Agree to Step Up Efforts to end Syria Conflict

31/10/2015 01:06 GMT

31/10/2015 01:06 GMT: World Powers Agree to Step Up Efforts to end Syria Conflict

BBC World Service - Business Matters, World Powers Agree to Step Up Efforts to end Syria Conflict

Efforts to end Syria's civil war have been ramped up by world powers including Iran.

Allies and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have agreed to renew efforts to end the civil war in Syria.

The states backing different sides in Syria's civil war have committed to work towards a ceasefire and an eventual end of the conflict. But at talks in Vienna, they agreed to disagree over the future of President Assad. As thousands of Syrians risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean sea to reach Greek islands, others are taking other circuitous routes to reach EU countries. The BBC’s Guy Hedgecoe has been to the Spanish city of Mililla - on the north coast of Africa - and met Syrians hoping to gain refugee status.

In Turkey people are preparing to head to the polls on Sunday. It's the second time in five months that a vote has been held to decide who will rule the country. The governing AK Party is hoping to win back its majority. The economy has faltered in the recent years as the country has grappled with civil unrest and violence and tried to cope with a huge influx of refugees from neighbouring Syria. We hear from Selin Girit, one of the BBC's reporters in the country. 

Over the past 25 years Colombia has lost around 6 million hectares of rainforest. Now the government is fighting back with an ambitious plan to restore at least five per cent of the rainforest in the south east of the country by 2020. We speak to Colombia's deputy agriculture minister Pablo Vieira. 

This week the UK reached a bit of milestone when it comes to diversity at the top. Women took up at least 25% of seats on the boards of all FTSE 100 companies. But do such quotas really lead to enhanced productivity?

One industry where women have been calling the shots for decades is fashion. Our Marketplace colleague Kai Ryssdal caught up with Donna Karen, as she steps down from her DKNY label.

All this and more discussed with our guest, Sean Turnell - Associate Professor of Economics at the Macquarrie University in Sydney.

(Photo: UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry. Credit: Reuters/Brendan Smialowski).

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