>> the pledges begin an international conference is underway in kuwait to raise money for syrians affected by the war. hello and welcome to al jazeera live from headquarters in doha. todaday two of egypt's referend, the final day of voting and what it's saying about military.

and france's president on the defense. a news conference meant to tackle the economy and instead puts his personal life on center stage. dwell gates from at least 60 countries are meeting in kuwait to raise money for syria. the kuwait has pledged th to the largest appeal of humanitarian aid ever. there are 2.5 million people in neighboring countries who need help. that number is likely to it rise to 4 million if current trends continue, and more than 9 million people inside syria have been affected. so what needs to be done?

the first conference in kuwait a year ago, $1.5 billion was pledged, and about 60% that have has been received. now this year's conference is looking to raise $6.5 billion to help people both inside syria and in neighboring countries. some of the syrians in lebanon are most in need of international help. >> reporter: it is a heavy burden for this 14-year-old girl. she is trapped. she is a refugee from syria, this is all the family has and there is only one way to keep it. >> i'm not obliged to marry a 44-year-old man. i'm crying because of the situation i am in, but i have to do it so that my family can survive. >> reporter: she has agreed to marry the 44-year-old lebanese

landlord. she is the tradeoff. the family can no longer pay the $250 monthly rent. in exchange the owner of the house demanded that she become his second wife. >> it is a difficult decision. every mother wants to see her daughter secure and marry the man she loves. no mother wants to hurt her child, but we have no choice. >> reporter: if they move out of the house and into a tent her husband and son would not be able to survive in the cold, and her 12-year-old son barely makes enough money to provide for food. this is an example of how desperate syrian refugees have become. the majority cannot survive without help and humanitarian organizations cannot reach all those who need assistance. lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees from syrian, over 1 million have come here, but

not all have registered with the united nations, which means they're not he wil eligible for. >> they tell me i'm able to work and find a job, but i can't find a job. >> reporter: aid agencies are calling the crisis a humanitarian tragedy. but for this girl, it's one tragedy after another. she manages a smile when she thinks about the man she'll be married to. she thinks about her cousin who died. >> i don't want to marry him, but if i do my familiar can stay in this house. >> reporter: she says she feels exploited.

>> bernard, what is on the agenda. >> reporter: this meeting started a half hour ago. 69 nations represented here. ban ki-moon opened the meeting, and was stark was the extraordinary numbers involved near. the u.n. looking for $6.9 billion in pledges for syrian refugees in and outside of syrian. 13 million syrians are needing help. and ban ki-moon said he's now particularly concerned of reports of starvation outside coming in. and the attacks of cold are unrelenting. it really is a mood here, this is the biggest appeal they have had to put together.

the mood is one of emergencicy. >> you mentioned the 69 countries, of course, iran is one of them, isn't it, and there's still no word if there aren't going to attend the geneva two talks in syria, but it is there, isn't it? >> well, elizabeth, yes, there is an iranian delegation, we saw hethem in the conference call. we still don't know whether they're going to turn up at the geneva talks next week, that's because they want to go without condition, but the u.s. can' no

indications whether the iranians will go to geneva next week, but they're certainly here, and they're certainly participating here. >> that is bernard smith joining us from kuwait. meanwhile, there are concerns that palestinian refugees inside syria are facing a humanitarian crisis. the delegates visited the refugee camps. the u.n. said 15 people have died in the camp in recent weeks as the blockade intensifies. >> don't view th them as your hn

shield. this is an order for all armed men. >> reporter: let's go to the final day of a new election. protesters anger over the contents clash with security forces. let's look at some of the numbers in this referendum. 53 million people are i believe intelligible to caseligibleto c. al jazeera cairo producers and reporters have been held prison. >> we're starting to see could yous across the country.

obviously they had tuesday to start voting but many it a lot owill becoming to cast their vo. there are 47,000 and international ngo's in place on the flip side we've seen pictures going on in other parts of the country. the sixth of october city to cairo. again, we're not hearing of large numbers. people have tried to stage a protest. we saw pictures of the various government yesterday. amongst them, interestingly when we see the egyptian tv channels they plan on making three

presidential decrees. one will be the law regulating the presidential king. the second, the exercise of political rights and the third regarding people's assembly. we'll find out what those three laws enstale later on today. we've got three tweets. one is coming from the secretary general office ban ki-moon. they're falling referendum, causing all to express their dishes without violence. this may be a hope in egypt, but not yet the political solution. the third cynical. color me red soldiers give roses in apreviousation, while that could be considered a war zone.

we'll hear from you. we have our live lock www.aljazeera.com. you can tweet us, and there is always the facebook page. >> you can find lots more on what's happening in egypt on our website, www.aljazeera.com, and you can always tweet us or message us on facebook. now more than 30 international media organizations issued a statement calling for the immediate release of five outage journalists. mohamed fahmy and bader mohamm mohammed, and peter gr este are

being held outside of cairo. two others have been detained for five months. thailand's government is sticking with february 92 election day despite protesters. it claims supporters are dwindling. meanwhile, gunshots were heard overnight and an attack on anti-government pro testers. at leaswe'll go live to bangkok. and shinawatra's government not budging from that election day? >> no, indeed, and this is one of the major points that divide the thousands of people that you see demonstrating here over the past few days, in fact, the last few months.

and the supporters supporting the prime minister shinawatra and the election day of february 2nd has been clear, confirmed, approved by another very important institution. the monkey here in thailand. however, the people here are going to see this as another reason to ratchet up the pressure they have seen in the last three days. i don't think this decision is going to put off anyone here. it's not closing down the city by any means, but it is very difficult to get around. these are some of the most commercially successful shopping centers in the whole of the

country. so there is no doubt that bangkok, it remains to be seen how far the anti-government elections as they insist it must not in 2009, you might remember, they shut down the airport causing immense disruption for international travelers. >> thank you for that update. joining us from the thai capitol of bangkok. still to come power of solar power. how a mosque in pakistan is getting around a chronic shortage of ministry.

and russian prime minister saying john kerry has obsession in finding peace in the middle east. >> the most important money stories of the day might affect your savings, your job or your retirement. whether its bail-outs or bond rates this stuff get complicated. but don't worry. i'm here to take the fear out of finance. every night on my show i break down confusing financial speak and make it real. al jazeera america. we understand that every news story begins and ends with people. >> the efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents.

>> we pursue that story beyond the headline, pass the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capital. >> we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is a scene of utter devastation. >> and follow it no matter where it leads - all the way to you. al jazeera america, take a new look at news. activists show the

>> it's good to have you with us. these are the top stories on al jazeera. polling stations in egypt in the second day of voting on a referendum. 11 people have died in clashes

with security forces on tuesday. support for protesters are swindling. and down verse gathered in kuwait to raise funds for syrian refugees. part that have funding will be used to help hundreds of thousand of syrian children to get back to school. former prime minister gordon brown talked about it. >> we've got to do it because there are children on the street. there are children begging and children turning to violence. unless we do something about this we've got a huge social problem.

why should we concentrate on education. we've got to provide healthcare. we've got a polio epidemic we have to watch for, and we've got to watch for the other means that people will survive. but if you don't give children education they lose hope. they can't plan for the future. they can't think of jobs they can do after the conflict is over. >> the education system in lebanon is already incredibly stretched. >> how much money are you going to need, and where is it going to come from? >> we need $200 million a year. that's very cost effective for hafor400,000 children who shoule in school. we've got an indication of support for western agencies. some of the arab countries are considering support, and we

believe this could be up and running in weeks. 400,000 children backing in weeks. that's why we've issued this appeal. >> it is going to be difficult to raise that money for education. >> it's going to be difficult because it's almost an after thought. but if you know that this conflict is continuing and if you know that the traditional conflict will last ten years, and it will be years in fact before these children are back in their own country, then you got to do something about this. we established the red cross that healthcare would be provided even in the worst possible situations in convict. now wconflict these children's right to education, and we have a right

to fund it. >> french president hollande had hoped to use a news conference on tuesday to talk about his economic plans. jackie roland reports from paris. >> reporter: françois hollande had hoped to use this press conference to keep france on the world stage. >> if france wants to continue its presence in the world, if it wants to keep control of its destiny it must imperatively find some economic strength. >> above all the president didn't want this news conference to be about his personal life, but that was the subject of the very first question towed answer.

>> everyone in their private lives go through difficult times. but i believe private business is dealt with privately. so it is neitherly the time nor the moment to do so. opinion polls suggest his leamed affair has not had much impact on his popularity, but that popularity is already very low. this was the president on the defensive. defensive on the economy and defensive on his person life. this could hardly be the fresh start that he had hoped for. he has promised tocracy jobs, reduce spending and hoped to tell the french people soon whether they have a first lady.

>> the governor of new jersey has apologized for a scandal that has dented his hopes for running for presidency. he's also accused of intentionally blocking off a bridge to create traffic mayhem. >> the stakes were clearly made, and as a result we let down the people we're entrusted to serve. i know our citizens deserve better, much better. now i'm the governor, and i'm ultimately responsible for all that that happens on my watch, both good and bad. without a doubt we will cooperate with all country inquiries to ensure that this beef of trust does not happen again.

>> two children have been arrested a student after he open fired in school. >> robots will now search tunnels to smuggle narcotics into the states. 170 continuanc170 tunnels have d since the 1990. >> peacpeace making efforts, a newspaper that kerry was obsessive and messianic, and prompted the white house to issue a rebuke. wasatch front more from washington. >> there is no sign of a break through in the latest round of the latest palestinian peace talks. but the defense minister said the process is a weighs of time and he blames the secretary of state. according to israel's largest

newspaper, they said during a private conference. >> secretary of statedown kerry turned up with messianicfe mess. >> so far we are the only sides that have given anything, the release of murdersers,ed and palestinians have given nothing. >> we find it to be eoffensive and inappropriate especially give all the united states has done to support israel's security lease and we'll continue to do that. >> he said he didn't mean to, quote, cause any offense. they believe they made the comments because they don't like the security plan relying on

high-tech equipment not really used as borders. the incident is raising new questions about how united the israelis are as they move forward in talks with the palestinians. al jazeera. >> construction work to expand the panama canal will continue to increase costs. one of the companies involved has demanded $1 billion to cover cost overruns. >> we're going to continue operating the canyon as we have been as natural. we've been walking with our clients, with the ports, emphasizing that the projects

will be finished. >> the landslide has killed a family of four. christians workers removed their bodies from what was left of their homes, and several buildings collapsed after heavy rain caused mudslides. now secure and consistent energy supply is crucial to the development to the successful economy. but in countries and the world over energy needs are not being fully met, and that includes pakistan. we have reports from ca karachio show how one mosque has dealt with the security shortages. [♪ singing ] >> this call to prayer is powered by harnessing the sun's energy. it is a desperately needed respite for those come to pray, and it also brings down the

electric bill. and that's where places of worship such as this one can play a positive role, according to the management of this mosq mosque. >> cost is very high. we're saving thousands every month. because of solar panels it's one-time investment, and we become owner of our own power. >> it's about simple to go ren renewable energy as much as possible. and mere at the governor's house it plans to save nearly $40,000 a month just by small green initiatives. all high-con tumor light pulse can be replaced by low powe pow.

>> it will save a lot both in energy and financial benefits. >> reporter: but not everyone can afford solar panels for something similar for their houses. solar panels like this is start and can only handle a few fans and lights. >> it's expensive because there is a lot of ground fluctuation as the u.s. dollar gains value, business is good, and people are watching solar panels when prices are low. >> reporter: critics say it's too low in responding to the energy shortage, and instead of finding new ways of finding fossil fuel, it should concentrate on what they have in abundant supply. al jazeera, karachi.

>> that story and the rest of the day's news including much more on the referendum on egypt's new constitution that's taking place can all be found on our website www.aljazeera.com.