Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will attend the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Donald Trump, her bitter rival from the 2016 campaign.

Hillary will attend the inauguration with her husband and former US President Bill Clinton.

The Clintons announced their decision to attend the inauguration shortly after former President George W Bush's office said he would attend along with former first lady Laura Bush, CBS reported.

Bush has had a difficult relationship with Trump after his brother Jeb Bush contested in Republican primaries against Trump.

Last month, former President Jimmy Carter, 92, announced that he would attend the inauguration.

The report said that the Clintons decided to attend out of a sense of duty and respect for the democratic process.

Trump won the Electoral College 306-232 while Clinton, the former first lady, senator and secretary of state, beat Trump in the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes.

Since the election, Clinton has been lying low except for events for the Children's Defence Fund and a tribute to retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, near the end of last year.

Meanwhile, Trump said he would address a news conference in New York next week on January 11.

This would be his first news conference after his electoral victory in the general elections.

"I will be having a general news conference on JANUARY ELEVENTH in NYC Thank you," Trump said in a tweet.

He was originally scheduled to have a press conference in mid-December, but postponed it.

The news conference would be a little more than a week before his inauguration when he would be sworn in as the 45th President of the US.

BJP National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday said the party had nothing to do with the ongoing CBI probe here.

Vijayvargiya's statement came as Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government of "vendetta politics" over arrest of its Parliament members.

Trinamool MP and Leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay was on Tuesday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation after hours of grilling over the Rose Valley chit fund scam.

Another Trinamool MP, Tapas Paul, has already been under arrest in connection with the scam.

"The CBI investigation was ordered as early as 2014. The agency sent notice to the two leaders in 2015. They were interrogated and later arrested as they failed to provide satisfactory reply to the inquiry. I want to know who from the BJP or the Prime Minister's Office is involved in this," Vijayvargiya told the media here.

"It is extremely shameful for a Chief Minister to accuse the Centre of political vengeance for opposing the demonetisation. The chit fund probe is going on for many years, whereas the 'notebandi' happened just a couple of months back."

The BJP leader said Congress's comments over Trinamool MPs' arrest proved the party's "political immaturity".

"Before the election in West Bengal, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi demanded strict CBI investigation on all chit fund scams. State leader Abdul Mannan also appealed for the punishment of the offenders in the scams."

"The same leaders are now backing Trinamool's accusations when the full fledged investigation is going on. This shows the political immaturity of Gandhi and his party," he said.

Actress Amyra Dastur, who will be seen sharing screen space with actor Jackie Chan in Kung Fu Yoga  says she was starstruck to meet the Hollywood star for the first time.

"The first thing I told him was I love him a lot and he said, 'Oh My God..!' It took me a week to be normal with him.

I was starstruck," Amyra said.

The Issaq actress says Chan helped her in doing the action sequences right in the film.

"It is an action-comedy film, so most of the film has action sequences. I get frustrated when I don't get things properly on screen. I wasn't able to do a sequence in a graceful manner..I couldn't understand why I was not getting right," she said.

"Jackie saw me struggling to do the scenes. He asked me to do a scene for him and he pointed my mistakes, explained where exactly I was going wrong. In the next shot, it was done perfectly," she added.

Amyra said when she hurt her back, Jackie told her to rest.

"I had sprained my back badly in one of the action sequences as I fell flat on a rod. When you are doing an action film you are bound to get some bruises. Jackie felt sad when I got hurt… he told me to rest for two days."

Amyra said she admires the quality of generosity in the actor.

"He (Chan) doesn't act like a star. I have worked with Emraan Hashmi, he is a sweetheart but there is star quality in him. Jackie is chilled out and he is happy all the time. He is happy with his life. He says whatever you call me star or superstar, I am grateful to God and my family," she said.

Also starring Sonu Sood, Disha Patni, Kung Fu Yoga releases this month in China.

The Election Commission of India on Wednesday said that it will implement the Supreme Court ruling that seeking votes in the name of caste, creed, religion, community and language is illegal.

"EC is committed to abide by the apex court order. The order of the Supreme Court will be implemented effectively," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said while answering questions on the January 2 ruling.

A Constitution bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India TS Thakur had ruled that seeking votes on the basis of religion, race, caste or language of a candidate or his rival or even that of the voters is illegal and could jeopardise the electoral process.

The apex court's decision was termed as "historic and bold" by all the political parties. 

Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti on Wednesday likened Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for removing his father Mulayam Singh Yadav from the post of SP national president to don the mantle.

"Akhilesh is popular in advertisements only. Even in his family he is not popular. With division in family, he has surpassed Mughal emperor Aurengzeb," she told reporters here.

"The entire feud might be a well planned scheme of Mulayam and in the next one or two days they might unite also," she said.

Referring to Mayawati, who released the castes of BSP candidates, the minister said the Supreme Court should take suo motu conginance of it.

Jyoti claimed that BJP would form majority government in the state and fight the polls on the plank of development and law and order.

On the Ram temple, she said it was a matter of faith and would not be made a political issue.

Nagaland was rocked by scams and saw a spate of agitations and protests besides continuous push by the civil society for a solution to the vexed Naga issue in 2016.

Nagas came together strongly opposing two major decisions of the Centre – imposition of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and Disturbed Areas Act and observation of Good Governance Day on Christmas day.

The year gone by saw gunfights between Assam Rifles and NSCN-K leading to casualties on both sides.

People held several rallies to protest such clashes.

President of NSCN (Unification), Khole Konyak, formally joined NSCN(IM) in March while Chairman of NSCN(IM) Isak Chishi Swu died after prolonged illness in June.

Inter-tribal clashes in Shamatore and Kiphire led to burning down of several houses and properties.

The state was also saw a pressure group under the banner of Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) and Concerned Citizens of Nagaland and others highlighting a fuel adulteration racket in June and anomalies in Public Distribution System in December.

Investigation by state police into the two scams is in progress.

The granting of recognised tribe status to Rongmei Nagas by the state government led to differences within the state's apex tribal organisation Naga Hoho, following which three tribal organisations Ao, Lotha and Sumi were disassociated from the Hoho in September.

On the political front, the Nagaland unit of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was launched at Dimapur.

In June, a group of suspended Congress leaders floated Nagaland Congress.

The political drama within the ruling Naga People's Front (NPF) continued with the suspension of political giants Neiphiu Rio, a three-time chief minister and now a Lok Sabha member along with MLA Imkong L Imchen on charges of conspiring to topple Chief Minister T R Zeliang.

Zeliang also removed BJP MLA Mmhonlumo Kikon from his ministry as Parliamentary Secretary for Labour and Employment, Skill Development and Border Affairs in October on charges of anti-DAN government activities.

The state government decided to hold elections to urban local bodies by granting 33 per cent women reservation despite pressure from various tribal organisations and civil societies to reconsider the decision.

With a view to amicably resolve the prolonged border issue with Assam, Zeliang in October met his Assam counterpart Sarbananda Sonowal at Kaziranga and discussed ways to create more cordial relations.

The state also become the first in the Northeast to pass Prohibition of Gambling and Promotion and Regulation of Online Games of Skill Bill.

The School Education department was rocked by several agitations – employees under centrally-sponsored schemes like SSA, RMSA and Hindi teachers for non-payment of salaries and regularisation of their services.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country grew by over 27 per cent to $27.82 billion during April-October this fiscal.

The FDI stood at $21.87 billion in April-October 2015-2016, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

The main sectors which have attracted the foreign inflows include services, telecom, trading, computer hardware and software and automobile.

India receives maximum FDI from Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Japan.

The inflows increased by 23 per cent to $55.6 billion in the last financial year.

Foreign investments are considered crucial for India, which needs around $1 trillion for overhauling its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth.

A strong inflow of foreign investments will help improve the country's balance of payments situation and strengthen the Rupee value against other global currencies, especially the US Dollar.

Further, the DIPP also said that trademarks filing has increased by around 10 per cent and its examination grew by about 250 per cent so far this fiscal till November.

"Trademark pendency has come down to 3 months and to be 1 month by March 2017," it said in a statement.

A roadside bomb today struck a police van, injuring at least 19 people, including five policemen, in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province.

According to police officials, the van was targeted when it was on routine patrolling of Dera Ismail Khan, a gateway to Pakistan's troubled tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Two women and a child were also among 19 those injured, police said.

The bomb which had been planted near the circular road, General Bus stand, weighed between five to seven kilogrammes, police officials were quoted as saying by Express Tribune.

All injured were shifted to a nearby hospital. Police reached the site and collected evidence after cordoning off the area.

Violence has declined in recent years following a series of military offensives in the tribal areas as well as concerted efforts to block the militants sources of funding.

But the remnants of militant groups are still able to carry out periodic bloody attacks, particularly in the northwest.

Actress Natalie Portman says she would like to return to the Marvel cinematic universe some day.

The 35-year-old actress may not be reprising her role as Thor's love interest, scientist Jane Foster in Thor: Ragnarok, but she insists that does not mean the character is being retired forever, reported Deadline.

"Well hopefully one day I figure it out!It is really an incredible thing to get to be part of. As an actor it is like a completely different scale. Because when you are making those movies you are working with so much blue screen and so much fantasy, your imagination has to be so much larger.

"It is really challenging for me that and I don't feel like I have gotten it yet. I don't feel like I have understood it yet. It is something that I'm fascinated by, because I'm really challenged by it more than anything almost," Portman said.

The star said she enjoys the experience because she needs to use her imagination so much so that it almost feels like she has returned to childhood.

"Because when you are in a room that looks like a room and has all the things a room has in it, you can interact with all that stuff, and all that stuff does what it does in life.

You don't have to imagine anything. You are just in the emotional state of your character.

"When you are doing those blue screen movies, you have to imagine everything outside and within. You have to create the whole world. It is like being a kid again."

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday announced a number of new measures for the upcoming assembly elections in five states.

Zaidi announced putting up of four posters at each polling station, informing the voters of locations of booths, and other Dos and Don'ts. 

The posters were a statutory requirement at all polling stations, he said. 

A voting assistance booth would also be kept at the polling stations.

Taking note of complaints received by the Election Commission (EC) in previous elections, the CEC announced that the height of the voting compartment would also be raised to 30 inches this time. 

This was done to conceal the upper part of the body of the voters, the movement of which might giveaway the button they were pressing.

"This measure is being taken to maintain secrecy," Zaidi said. 

The five states going to polls this year were Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur. 

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday said it was confident of winning the assembly elections in Goa and Punjab and forming governments there.

After the Election Commission announced the polling dates in five states, AAP leader Ashutosh said: "AAP is fully geared up for elections. We are prepared. AAP is confident of forming the governments in Goa and Punjab."

Goa and Punjab go to the polls on February 4.

The eggs of non-avian dinosaurs took nearly between three to six months to hatch, similar to crocodiles and lizards, which explains the reason behind the extinction of the dinosaur species, scientists have found.

It was long assumed that the duration of dinosaur incubation was similar to birds, whose eggs hatch within 11 to 85 days, but they are more like of reptiles whose eggs take weeks to months to hatch.

"Some of the greatest riddles about dinosaurs pertain to their embryology — virtually nothing is known. Did their eggs incubate slowly like their reptilian cousins? Or rapidly like living dinosaurs — the birds," asked lead author Gregory Erickson, Professor at Florida State University.

For the study, the team examined the fossilised teeth of two extremely well-preserved ornithischian dinosaur embryos: Protoceratops — a pig-sized dinosaur, whose eggs weighed 194 grams — and Hypacrosaurus — a very large duck-billed dinosaur, with eggs weighing more than 4-kg.

Analysing the pattern of "von Ebner" lines — the growth lines that are present in the teeth of all animals, as well as humans –, the researchers found that the Protoceratops embryos were about three months old when they died and the Hypacrosaurus embryos were about six months old.

"These are the lines that are laid down when any animal's teeth develops. They're kind of like tree rings, but they are put down daily. And so we could literally count them to see how long each dinosaur had been developing," Erickson added.

In addition, the study found that the prolonged incubation may have affected dinosaurs' ability to compete with more rapidly generating populations of birds, reptiles, and mammals following the mass extinction event that occurred 65 million years ago.

The long incubation period also exposed the non-avian dinosaur eggs and attending parents to predators, starvation, and environmental disruptions such as flooding, the researchers stated, in the paper published in the journal PNAS.

The Indo-US defence relationship is on an "excellent path" and will continue to be so in the next administration and beyond, the Pentagon has said, days ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

"The (Defence) secretary's (Ashton Carter's) commitment to this (India-US) is clear. We think the defence relationship with India is on an excellent path and will continue to be so in the next administration and beyond," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters at a news conference.

Known as a friend of India and strong believer in a robust India-US defence relationship, Carter is the only American defence secretary to have so many trips to India and included New Delhi in his farewell overseas trip as well.

In his previous capacity, Carter was instrumental in the path-breaking India US Defence Technology and Transfer Initiative (DTTI), under which the two countries have started several joining development and co-production projects.

"Our relationship with India, you've seen the commitment made by this department and this Secretary of Defence and this administration to improving our defence relationship with India," Cook said.

Responding to a question on restrictions on technology transfer to India due to the outdated arms control act of the US, Cook said obviously there are several aspects to it.

"There are limits on what we can do in terms of technology — the export of technology to India or any other country," he said.

"And we'll continue to abide by the law and to work with India in places where we can, where it's appropriate for that kind of — for specific technology to be exported. Again, not just to India but to any country, but we're gonna follow the law," Cook said.

Azhar Ali and Younis Khan kept Pakistan afloat after rookie Peter Handscomb made it three centurions in Australia's big first innings declaration at the third Sydney Test on Wednesday.

The tourists, who have already lost the series after defeats in Brisbane and Melbourne, made a rocky start after Steve Smith called a halt at 538 for eight leaving seven overs for Pakistan to negotiate before tea.

They lost debutant Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam in one Josh Hazlewood over before the interval with just six runs on the board.

But the in-form Azhar and 114-Test veteran Younis steadied the ship with a century stand and took the tourists to stumps at 126 for two.

Azhar, who scored an unbeaten 205 in last week's Melbourne Test, was on 58 with 39-year-old Younis providing support on 64 to trail Australia by 412 runs.

Azhar had an escape nearing stumps on 51 when David Warner could not hold a sharp one-handed catch at leg-slip off Nathan Lyon.

Azhar was eight runs short of Mohsin Khan's 1984 record for the most runs (390) for Pakistan in a series in Australia having tallied 382 at the close, while Younis got to 1,000 Test runs against Australia.

Handscomb completed his second century in just four Tests to join David Warner (113) and Matthew Renshaw (184) in another huge Australia innings against the beleaguered tourists.

The 25-year-old right-hander was out in bizarre circumstances when he went back in his crease to cut Wahab Riaz only for his bat to dislodge the leg-bail and he was given out hit wicket for 110.

Handscomb, brought into the Australian team along with Renshaw in a shake-up after the Hobart Test debacle against South Africa in November, batted for 205 balls in 319 minutes.

Renshaw's epic knock ended inside the first half-hour Wednesday when he played paceman Imran Khan on to his stumps.

The 20-year-old Renshaw's first century in his fourth Test came off 293 balls with 20 fours in 413 minutes. He shared in a 142-run stand with Handscomb.

Debutant Hilton Cartwright hit the highest score by an Australian number six this season with 37 before he was bowled by Imran.

The Zimbabwe-born all-rounder, brought in for his Test debut at the expense of Nic Maddinson, looked solid during his 97-ball stay which eclipsed the previous highest of 26 by Mitchell Marsh against South Africa in Perth in November.

Matt Wade made 29 before he was caught sweeping Azhar and upon Mitchell Starc's dismissal for 16, skipper Smith called a halt, giving his bowlers 25 minutes at the Pakistan batsmen before tea.

Hazlewood struck twice in five balls with Sharjeel caught by Renshaw at slip for four and he snared Babar leg before wicket for nought.

Pakistan spent almost 10 hours in the field after toiling for almost 11 hours in Australia's massive 624 for eight declared first innings in Melbourne last week.

They showed the gruelling effects of the back-to-back Boxing Day-New Year Tests with Mohammad Amir and leg-spinner Yasir Shah nursing leg injuries and paceman Wahab Riaz leaving the field at one stage holding his right side.

Coming close on the heels of the TMC attack on the state party headquarters of the BJP in Kolkata on Tuesday, West Bengal BJP General Secretary Krishna Bhattacharya's house was attacked with bombs in Hooghly district on Tuesday night.

Three men, with their faces covered, came in a motorcycle to her house in Konnanagar Jorapukur Ghat at 9 PM on Tuesday night and started hurling bombs.

They barged into the house, smashed a windowpane, damaged furniture, and abused and assaulted her, Bhattacharya said in her police complaint.

The BJP leader said in her complaint that it was the handiwork of "anti-socials harboured by the TMC".

She has been admitted to Uttarpara State General Hospital where her condition has been described as stable, hospital sources said.

The police said they rushed to her house after getting the information, adding that investigation was on.

District TMC leader Tapan Dasgupta said no party supporter was involved in the incident.

Several BJP workers were injured on Tuesday when activists of the students wing of Trinamool Congress had attacked the state party headquarters here with stones to protest the arrest of the TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case.

English Premier League (EPL) bottom side Hull City have sacked manager Mike Phelan.

Hull City, who were promoted to the EPL this season, lost 1-3 at West Brom on Monday after leading 1-0. Swansea City's 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Tuesday sent Hull City to the last place of the standings, reports Xinhua news agency.

The 54-year-old Phelan was named as caretaker manager in the summer and appointed as manager in October.

"We would like to thank Mike for his efforts both as assistant manager and head coach over the last two years," the club tweeted on Tuesday.

Hull City will next play fellow strugglers Swansea City in the FA Cup third round before taking on Manchester United in the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals on January 10.

English Premier League (EPL) bottom side Hull City have sacked manager Mike Phelan.

Hull City, who were promoted to the EPL this season, lost 1-3 at West Brom on Monday after leading 1-0. Swansea City's 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Tuesday sent Hull City to the last place of the standings, reports Xinhua news agency.

The 54-year-old Phelan was named as caretaker manager in the summer and appointed as manager in October.

"We would like to thank Mike for his efforts both as assistant manager and head coach over the last two years," the club tweeted on Tuesday.

Hull City will next play fellow strugglers Swansea City in the FA Cup third round before taking on Manchester United in the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals on January 10.