Syria civil war: Donors pledge billions for refugees

Germany pledged $2.6bn (£1.9bn; €2.3bn) and the UK $1.7bn. The US pledged about $925m, most of it for life-saving assistance such as food and shelter.
The goal of the donor conference is to raise $9bn (£6.2bn) for the refugees.
However, it has been overshadowed by the suspension of peace talks in Geneva on Wednesday, and intense fighting on the ground.
A Syrian government offensive, backed by Russian air strikes, is continuing north of Aleppo.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said an estimated 70,000 Syrians fleeing the bombing were moving towards Turkey.
Focus on children
Opening the conference in London, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said: "There is a critical shortfall in life-saving aid."
He and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon both spoke of the need to get all Syrian refugee children into education within months.
Sixty countries are represented at the conference, including 30 world leaders.
It is the fourth of its kind, focusing on education and jobs for the 4.6 million Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries. Turkey is hosting 2.5 million - the largest number.
Hours before the conference began, peace talks between the Syrian regime and opposition were suspended.
The United Nations-brokered talks, which opened just two days ago, are expected to resume on 25 February. Staffan de Mistura, the UN's special envoy at the talks, admitted there had been a lack of progress but said that the negotiations had not failed.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the talks were "undermined by the continuous lack of sufficient humanitarian access, and by a sudden increase of aerial bombings and military activities within Syria".
He urged the warring sides to "get back to the table, not to secure more gains on the battlefields".
The $9bn being sought on Thursday is made up of a UN appeal for $7.7bn and about $1.3bn requested by regional host governments.
Part of the reason for the record request is the underfunding of previous appeals.Only 43% of the $2.9bn pledged to the UN's 2015 appeal has so far been funded.
Delegates from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon said their societies would need long-term support in order to adapt to the influx from Syria, BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins reports.
On Monday, officials said the European Union would promise $2.2bn (€2bn) in aid at the conference.
A coalition of more than 90 humanitarian and human rights groups meeting in London on Wednesday - including Amnesty International, Oxfam and the Malala Foundation - called for better access to education and jobs for refugees in Syria and neighbouring states.