Image caption Muadhamiya, near Damascus, is one of the areas due to receive help The Syrian government has approved humanitarian access to seven besieged areas, the UN has said. Convoys were being prepared to depart “as soon as possible”, said spokesman Farhan Haq. Among the areas due to receive aid is Madaya, where people have been dying of starvation. World powers last week agreed to seek a nationwide “cessation of hostilities” and to accelerate and expand aid deliveries. After talks in Damascus on Tuesday, the UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said the Syrian government had a duty to allow access to whoever needed it. This obligation, he said, would be put to the test on Wednesday. The seven areas are those deemed by the 17-member International Syria Support Group to be most in need of relief. “Humanitarian agencies and partners are preparing convoys for these areas […]