| Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day's biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. 'Ghar wapsi' only after 'law wapsi', say farmers as 8th round of talks proves inconclusive The eighth round of talks between the government and representatives of protesting unions ended without any outcome on Friday. The next meeting is likely to take place on January 15, sources told The Hindu. Sticking to their key demand of the repeal of three farm laws to end their protest, farmer leaders told the government their "ghar wapsi" from protest sites at the Delhi border can happen only after "law wapsi". But the Centre insisted talks must be limited to contentious clauses and ruled out a complete withdrawal of the three laws. Sources said the talks did not make much progress and the next date has been decided keeping in mind a scheduled hearing of the Supreme Court on January 11. Government sources said the apex court may look into the legality of the three laws, besides other issues related to the farmers' protests. Trump changes tone, says he is 'outraged by the mayhem' A day after U.S. President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, Trump condemned the violence and acknowledged that a new administration would be sworn in on January 20. The remarks were made in a video released on his Twitter account, which was earlier suspended to prevent the President from inciting further violence. "Like all Americans I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem," Trump said as calls for removing him via impeachment or the U.S. Constitution's 25th Amendment grew louder. Several prominent GOP lawmakers had criticised Wednesday's violence and in the aftermath, more administration officials handed in their resignation.  U.S. President Donald Trump Trump addressed the rioters in his video message, saying they did not represent the country. "To those who broke the law, you will pay," he said. This was in sharp contrast to Wednesday, when Trump had called the rioters "very special" in another video message in which he also asked them to retreat. In a tweet he had called the rioters "great patriots" even as some of them were inside the Capitol. Trump said that emotions were high following an intense election and tempers "must be cooled" now. "Now Congress has certified the results. A new administration will be inaugurated on Jan. 20. My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power. This moment calls for healing and reconciliation," Trump said without mentioning Biden by name or offering congratulations, as is the norm. The man who waved the tricolour during the storming of U.S. Capitol A video of someone waving the Indian tricolour amid the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol had caused much speculation. Now it has emerged that one of the persons waving the tricolour was Vincent Xavier Palathingal, a Kerala-native hailing from Kochi. In a detailed Facebook post, Palathingal claimed that he was protesting a "stolen election." The post, in which he claimed that he was not part of the violence, has now been taken down after people inside and outside Kerala criticised him, saying he had insulted India by carrying the tricolour to a violent protest in which five people died.  Vincent Xavier Palathingal taking part in the US Capitol protest. "Trump rallies are always a lot of fun. And today was not an exception. About 50 or so lawless people who breached the U.S. Capitol perimeter by climbing the walls, breaking the windows, and attacking police inside this sacred temple to American Democracy is not a reason to throw the million-plus peaceful protestors under the bus," he had written in the deleted post. Palathingal also posted images of himself with the Indian national flag near the Capitol, along with other Trump supporters who laid siege to the Capitol. Palathingal is an active commentator in social media on Kerala politics as well, with several posts criticising the LDF Government. SC to hear plea against 'compulsory nature' of confessions to priests The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider a petition filed by a group of women against the compulsory nature of sacred confessions to priests in Christianity. Appearing before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for the petitioners, said "confessions are being abused". But Chief Justice Bobde said the veracity of such allegations would depend on the individual facts in every case. "There cannot be a rule to impose confessions on a worshipper... Ladies are forced to confess before the priest... The court has to see whether confessions are an integral part of the religion," Rohatgi went on to submit. The senior lawyer said forced confessions violated the right to privacy. When asked by the court why it should intervene in an obviously ecclesiastical issue like this, Rohatgi reminded the court about its interventions in questions concerning the personal laws and customs of communities such as the Bohra Muslims and Parsis. He said the court could examine the issues in the petition as they came within the ambit of the questions of faith, rights of women, and equality referred to in a nine-judge Constitution Bench in the Sabarimala case. He sought more time to amend the petition and add more facts. Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, when asked for an opinion by the court, said the whole issue stemmed from the Jacobite-Orthodox dispute. The Supreme Court had upheld the validity of the 1934 Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church to govern the parishes under the church. He suggested that the Kerala High Court should hear it. "The Kerala High Court knows the entire case history," he said. Hong Kong grants bail to arrested pro-democracy activists Authorities in Hong Kong said on Friday that they have granted bail to most of the 55 pro-democracy activists who were arrested this week in a sweeping crackdown on dissent. One of the activists said they could still be charged under a tough national security law. The activists were accused of taking part in an unofficial primary election last year that authorities said was part of a plan to paralyse the Legislative Council and subvert state power. The primary was held to choose the best candidates to field as the pro-democracy camp sought to win a majority of seats. The mass arrests on Wednesday were the biggest move against Hong Kong's democracy movement since Beijing imposed the national security law in the semi-autonomous territory last June to quell dissent following months of anti-government protests in 2019.  Former Democratic Party legislators Andrew Wan, left, Lam Cheuk-ting, second from left, and Helena Wong, right, attending a press conference after being released on bail in Hong Kong on January 8. Three of the 55 arrested people were not released — activists Joshua Wong and Tam Tak-chi, who were already in jail on separate charges, and former Hong Kong Democratic Party Chairman Wu Chi-wai, who remained in custody for failing to meet bail conditions in a separate protest-related case. Police said none of the activists arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of subversion under the security law had been formally charged. Former pro-democracy lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting told reporters that determinations of whether to formally prosecute people in Hong Kong are not based on evidence but on a "political decision" by officials. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,04,22,909 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,50,766. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with Chief Ministers to discuss the pandemic situation in the country and plans concerning the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine. The meeting will take place at 4pm on January 11 (Monday) via video-conferencing.
In Brief:
Mumbai attack mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was sentenced to 15 years in jail on Friday by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in a terror financing case. "The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore convicted Lakhvi for commission of offences of terrorism financing in a case registered by the CTD for 15 years under different sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997," a court official told PTI after the hearing.
The Tamil Nadu government today revoked its order allowing 100% occupancy in cinema halls across the state. The decision came after the Centre objected and asked the state to scrap the order. Movie halls will now have 50% occupancy, as per the Centre's Covid-19 guidelines. Interestingly, on the same day that Tamil Nadu reversed its order, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that movie theatres in Kolkata can operate at 100% occupancy. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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