WhatsApp now allows a videocall with up to eight users

The App enters the competition with other virtual meeting platforms, as a result of the worldwide confinement due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Until now the App only allowed 4 people on a videocall, that number has increased to 8. The only requirement is that all user must have their application updated.

Recently, the other Apps have also increased the limit of people on videocalls: Google Duo to 12, Facetime to 32, Skype and Messenger Rooms to 50 and Zoom to 100.

Brazil’s Supreme Court Rejects Bolsonaro’s Bid for House Arrest

Brazil’s Supreme Court has once again denied house arrest to former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a coup d’état. According to a ruling released Monday, the court determined that he is already receiving adequate medical care in prison to address his health conditions.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the case’s rapporteur at the Supreme Federal Court, rejected the request for “humanitarian” house arrest filed by Bolsonaro’s defense team.

His lawyers argued that the far-right leader suffers from multiple chronic conditions, including persistent hiccup episodes and severe sleep apnea, and therefore qualifies to serve his 27-year prison sentence at home.

However, Justice de Moraes stated that Bolsonaro receives “continuous and permanent medical care,” undergoes “physical therapy sessions and physical activities,” and has “comprehensive religious assistance and regular visits from his wife, children, lawyers, and other individuals.”

In this context, the justice — echoing the position of the Prosecutor’s Office — found no “exceptional requirements” to justify humanitarian house arrest.

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He also recalled repeated violations of precautionary measures imposed during the proceedings, including “concrete acts of attempted escape, such as tampering with electronic monitoring.”

Finally, the ruling cited the findings of an official medical examination, which concluded that the prison facility in Brasília where the 70-year-old former president is being held is fully equipped to meet his medical needs, “with absolute respect for his health and human dignity.”

International

Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

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Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.