The World Health Organization has asked the Syrian government for permission to send mobile clinics and medical teams to the besieged town of Madaya to assess the extent of malnutrition and evacuate the worst cases, its representative said on Tuesday, Reuters is reporting.
WHO's Damascus representative Elizabeth Roth told Reuters that she is "really alarmed" and that WHO needs to do a "door-to-door assessment" in the town.
Meanwhile, in Syria's Latakia province, the Syrian army has made advances into the key rebel-held town of Salma.
Some sources are saying that Salma has completely fallen to the Syrian army, but this is unconfirmed as yet.
Turkish officials seem to be confirming initial suspicions that the Istanbul blast was terror related.
AP have published a photo showing Turkish police securing an area of Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet district, a popular tourist area, following an explosion earlier this morning.
Harald Doornbos has linked to photos of the area in Istanbul where this morning's blast is thought to have taken place, based on media reports.
There are a number of reports emerging via social media of a gag order being imposed over the blast in Istanbul, but these are not confirmed.
Now Turkey's Hurriyet News is also reporting that a gag order has been imposed over reporting on this morning's blast in Istanbul, so that confirms the rumors.
It is not known who was behind the blast in Istanbul -- though there is plenty of speculation on social media, with some people saying that the IS group may be responsible.
The Istanbul governor's office said in a statement that "Investigations into the cause of the explosion, the type of explosion and perpetrator or perpetrators are underway."
The U.S. Embassy in Turkey has tweeted to say that it is closely following the reports of the explosion in Istanbul.