U.S. President Barack Obama will host Saudi Arabia's King Salman in their first and long-delayed White House summit Friday, with clashing views on Middle Eastern crises coming to the fore.

Salman's inaugural visit as king -- originally scheduled for May and cancelled by Riyadh -- has been billed as a way of reinforcing U.S.-Saudi relations.

Harrowing pictures of a drowned Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish beach brought home the horror of the escalating refugee crisis Thursday as Europe was accused of letting the Mediterranean become a "cemetery" for migrants.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan bluntly blamed EU states for the death of every single migrant who lost their lives making the perilous journey to Europe.

More than 13 million children are being denied an education by Middle East conflicts, the U.N. said Thursday, warning "the hopes of a generation" would be dashed if they cannot return to classrooms.

In a report on the impact of conflict on education in six countries and territories across the region, the United Nation's children fund UNICEF said more than 8,850 schools were no longer usable due to violence.

Russia said Wednesday it was still considering the details of how to establish a U.N. team to investigate chemical weapons attacks in Syria, holding up final Security Council approval to launch the probe.

Last month, Russia -- a key ally of President Bashar Assad's regime -- joined the 14 other council members in adopting a resolution setting up the team, in a rare display of unity over how to address the deadly conflict.

Former U.S. military commander David Petraeus said Wednesday fighters from Al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate could be used to take on the Islamic State group as he warned that his nation's hesitation to enforce "red lines" in Syria had damaged US credibility.

The decorated four-star general said a controversial move to harness fighters from a group linked to Al-Qaida -- which was responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks -- was "an option that has some prospect for achievement".

Ten people were killed and dozens wounded on Wednesday in a rare car bombing in the Syrian city of Latakia, the coastal bastion of President Bashar Assad, state media said.

"Terrorists detonated a car laden with many explosives at noon (0900 GMT) in Hamam square in Latakia, killing 10 people," the official SANA news agency reported.

At least 12 Syrian migrants trying to reach Greece drowned Wednesday when two boats sank in Turkish waters, the Turkish coastguard and media said, as an image of a toddler's lifeless body washed ashore sparked horrified reactions on social media.

The Turkish coastguard said in a statement that two boats had sunk after separately setting off from Turkey's Bodrum peninsula for the Greek Aegean island of Kos early Wednesday.

Syria's conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, but it has also seen the country's irreplaceable heritage dug up and sold, damaged by war and wilfully destroyed.

From pre-historic settlements and ancient markets, to Greco-Roman ruins and Crusader castles, Syria is a repository of treasures from different ages and cultures.

Gunmen kidnapped at least 18 Turkish employees of a company building a football stadium in Baghdad on Wednesday, officials said, but it was not immediately clear who was holding them.

Dozens of Turks have been kidnapped in Iraq by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group over the past 18 months and later released, but the latest abductions took place in Sadr City, a stronghold of Shiite paramilitary forces.

The CIA and U.S. special forces are carrying out a secret campaign using armed drones to target and kill Islamic State leaders in Syria, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The clandestine program is separate from America's wider military operations against IS fighters, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.