Donors Pledge $1bn to Syrian Refugees

An estimated 700,000 have fled Syria since fighting began

Donors have pledged more than $1 billion at an international aid conference in Kuwait for Syrians displaced by nearly two years of fighting, a Kuwaiti minister said in remarks carried by the state news agency KUNA.

Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah al-Mubarak al-Sabah told reporters he hoped the total pledges would reach the target of $1.5 billion set by the United Nations by the end of the meeting later on Wednesday.