Jamil al-Juburi, 53, has never left his village in northern Iraq, where his family has worked the land for generations -- but a dam will soon swallow his home, forcing them out.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis are threatened by the Makhoul dam, which the government hopes will be operational on the mighty Tigris in five years.

"I was born here and I grew up here," said Juburi, whose village of Al-Messahag is set in pasture land on the banks of the river.

"It's difficult to leave for somewhere else. It is a whole past that we leave behind us."

The body of an Israeli teenager snatched by Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank was returned to his relatives Thursday, following intense talks to avoid an escalation of violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid had on Wednesday threatened tough reprisals against those who had taken the body of Tiran Fero, a 17-year-old Israeli Druze who was critically wounded in a car accident a day earlier.

The Israeli military said his body was released "as a result of the efforts of the security forces and in coordination with the Palestinian authorities."

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday condemned Iran's repression of peaceful demonstrators following the death of Mahsa Amini, and voted to create a high-level investigation into the deadly crackdown.

Despite heavy lobbying by Tehran and a last-minute effort by China to undercut the resolution, a broader-than-expected majority of the 47-member council backed launching a probe of Iran's response to the ongoing protests.

Favourites Brazil begin their bid to win a sixth World Cup on Thursday when they take on Serbia, while Cristiano Ronaldo will hope to put his acrimonious departure from Manchester United behind him as Portugal enter the fray against Ghana.

Brazil will be wary of a dangerous Serbian side when the teams meet at Lusail Stadium, especially after seeing Argentina suffer a shock defeat against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday at the same venue and Germany lose to Japan on Wednesday.

Iran voiced hope Wednesday that European Union negotiators are trying to break the deadlock in talks to revive its frayed nuclear deal with major powers.

The landmark 2015 deal promised Iran sanctions relief in return for limits on its nuclear programme, but has been on life support since then US president Donald Trump pulled out from it three years later.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian pointed to tensions with four parties -- the United States, Britain, France and Germany -- to the accord also agreed with China and Russia.

Saudi Arabia's unexpected World Cup victory over giants Argentina triggered a rare moment of joint celebration across the fractured Arab world including among Qataris -- less than two years after a seething regional dispute.

A caravan of Qatari cars, horns honking, paraded through the streets of Doha after the Saudis' famous 2-1 win over the South American champions, one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.

Turkey said Wednesday it was more determined than ever to secure its Syrian border from attacks by Kurdish forces, threatening a ground operation "at the most convenient time".

Ankara launched a campaign of air strikes across parts of Iraq and Syria on Sunday as part of Operation Claw-Sword, following a bombing in Istanbul on November 13 that killed six people.

An Israeli-Canadian teen was killed and 14 people were wounded Wednesday as the first bombings in Jerusalem in years hit two bus stops, with Palestinian militant group Hamas cheering the unclaimed attacks.

A search was underway for suspects who targeted an area frequented by ultra-Orthodox Jews at the city's western exit, as violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict flares and while Israeli politicians discuss the make-up of a coalition government.

With hammer and saw, Nour al-Janabi is building her latest creation, a candy-pink sofa, in the carpentry workshop she runs in male-dominated and conservative Iraq.

"At the start, relatives criticised me," said the 29-year-old carpenter and furniture-maker, who is also a mother of four.

"They would say: 'But you're a woman... You're an amateur... It's a men's trade'."

Covered in velvet or imitation leather, the sofas and armchairs that she designs, makes and mends in her south Baghdad workshop go from rustic style to Louis XV.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Wednesday kidnappers in the occupied West Bank had snatched the body of an Israeli teenager, whose father saw him taken in critical condition from hospital.

Tiran Fero, an Israeli Druze, was involved in a "serious road accident" Tuesday in the northern West Bank, the Israeli military said.

"According to the family's testimony, the kidnappers entered the hospital, disconnected a child who was fighting for his life from medical equipment, and kidnapped his body," Lapid said.