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Washington prepares for Donald Trump's big moment

Donald Trump has arrived in Washington -- and he's going to be here for at least four years. The reality of the moment, that the real estate mogul and reality show star will recite the oath of office Friday, is finally taking hold.

Obama offers reassurance mixed with warnings

"The only thing that is the end of the world is the end of the world. "With that parting message to the nation, a sanguine Barack Obama sought to reassure the millions of Democrats disorientated and fearful about Donald Trump's pending inauguration that presidents may change but the nation always endures.

The world needs fixing — and Trump thinks he's the man to do it

Just days ahead of his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump has issued his own data dump.It amounts to a blueprint of his foreign policy and has caused widespread consternation among European allies. Germany's foreign minister at EU meetings in Brussels described reaction among leaders as "astonishment and agitation."

Ex-President of Iran dead at 82

Iran's ex-President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a dominant figure in the country's politics since the 1980s, has died at the age of 82, media say.

Palestinian rams lorry into Israeli soldiers killing four in Jerusalem

Four people have been killed in Jerusalem by a Palestinian who rammed a lorry into a group of soldiers, in what police say was a terrorist attack.

Three women and one man, all in their twenties, were killed and at least 13 more were wounded, police said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacker, who was shot dead by soldiers, was a suspected supporter of so-called Islamic State.

The prime minister's office gave no details on what led to the finding.

Israel's police chief Roni Alsheich said the attacker, who has been identified by police, was a Palestinian from East Jerusalem.

CCTV footage showed the man driving the truck off the road and ploughing at high speed into the soldiers, before reversing over the victims.

"He drove backward to crush more people," eyewitness Leah Schreiber told reporters. "That was really clear."

The attack took place on the popular Armon Hanatziv promenade overlooking the walled Old City of Jerusalem.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said security had been heightened throughout the city in response.

Mr Netanyahu visited the site on Sunday afternoon, alongside Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman. The pair spoke with rescue workers and security officials.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat called on residents not to "let terror win" and said militants would "pay a heavy price".

"There is no limit to the cruelty of the terrorists who are willing to use any means possible to murder Jews and to damage the life routine of Israel's capital," he said.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas praised the attacker, according to the Associated Press. Hamas spokesman Abdul-Latif Qanou called it a "heroic" act and encouraged other Palestinians to "escalate the resistance".

Before this latest incident, 35 Israelis had been killed in a wave of knife, gun and car-ramming attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs since October 2015.

More than 200 Palestinians - mostly attackers, Israel says - have also been killed in that period.

Israel says Palestinian incitement has fuelled the attacks. The Palestinian leadership has blamed frustration rooted in decades of Israeli occupation.

The BBC's Yolande Knell in Jerusalem says the number of attacks had begun to subside in recent months, but Sunday's incident is one of the most serious there has been.