Syria agrees UN aid access for besieged areas

The Syrian government has agreed to allow UN aid into areas trapped by fighting between rebels and the regime's forces, a spokesman has told the BBC.

The United Nations has launched it biggest ever appeal, suggesting that three-quarters of the country's population - almost 16m people - will need humanitarian aid in 2014.

It is thought that around 2.5m Syrians are trapped in besieged or hard to teach areas, where essential supplies such as food are scarce.

Lyse Doucet reports from Damascus.