Brazilian lawmakers preparing to conduct official business found themselves sharing the halls of a state legislature with several uninvited — but unusually relaxed — guests.

A group of capybaras entered the Mato Grosso Legislative Assembly in Cuiabá on July 30, briefly drawing attention away from an upcoming vote as they explored the government building.

Video recorded by legislative staffer Nayara Bueno showed the animals moving calmly through the entrance while workers sought to steer them outside.

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«They show up here quite often, so we’ve gotten used to seeing them,» Bueno told The Associated Press.

The rodents’ guest appearance did not cause any damage to the Mato Grosso state legislature, according to officials.

The animals appeared calm as they wandered through the front door of the local legislative building in Cuiaba. (UGC via AP)

The legislature borders a park that is home to wildlife, giving the animals easy access to the surrounding government complex. 

Native to South America, capybaras are semiaquatic mammals commonly found around wetlands and other bodies of water. They are highly social, generally travel in groups and can reach weights of about 175 pounds.

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The legislative building is located near a park filled with wildlife, where the capybaras had wandered away from. (UGC via AP)

The world’s largest living rodents have also become internet favorites, with social media users frequently highlighting their laid-back behavior around other animals and people.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jordan Herrera, an attorney, Air Force veteran and former Missouri assistant attorney general, won the Democratic nomination Tuesday in Missouri’s newly redrawn 4th Congressional District, defeating better-funded democratic socialist Hartzell Gray in a seven-way primary.

Herrera prevailed over Gray, the 33-year-old former Kansas City radio host and tenant organizer who drew national attention after appearing on Hasan Piker’s Twitch livestream and blasting «sell-out Democrats.»

The result puts a more conventional Democrat on the November ballot against Republican Rep. Mark Alford in the GOP-leaning district, rather than Gray, who had framed his campaign as a left-wing challenge to the party establishment.

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The new 4th District takes in part of Kansas City before extending south through a broad swath of suburban and rural Missouri. While the map made Alford’s district less Republican than it had been, it remains a solidly GOP seat.

Gray emerged as the clear financial leader in the Democratic field. FEC records showed his campaign had raised about $250,000 through mid-July — more than six times the roughly $40,000 raised by Herrera and far more than Cass, the 2024 Democratic nominee who again sought the seat.

The Kansas City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America said its backing of Gray marked its first endorsement in a federal race. The group praised Gray’s refusal to take money from corporations, developers and lobbying groups, while pointing to his support for universal health care, tenant protections and more progressive taxation.

Then-Sporting Kansas City host Hartzell Gray pumps up the crowd in 2022 during a watch party for the announcement of the FIFA World Cup 2026 host cities at Power & Light District. (Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports)

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Gray, who has also called for rent controls, Medicare for All and ending the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, has framed his campaign as a rebuke of a Democratic Party he argues has become too closely tied to wealthy donors and corporate interests. The 2010 ruling allowed corporations and unions to spend unlimited sums independently to influence elections.

His appearance on Piker’s show helped turn an otherwise low-profile Missouri primary into a small test case for the party’s socialist left, which has increasingly relied on social media personalities, small-dollar donors and activist networks to build support outside traditional party structures.

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Gray’s campaign said viewers gave more than $30,000 after the Piker appearance. He later appeared on The Majority Report , another left-leaning online program, as his campaign sought to translate national attention into turnout in Kansas City.

Members of the Democratic Socialists of America gather outside a Trump-owned building on May Day, May 1, 2019, in New York City. (Getty Images)

The primary also included former Democratic nominee Jeanette Cass, attorney and Air Force veteran Herrera, radio host Randy Miller, Ashleigh Rogers, Wayne Russell and G. Rick.

Gray’s nomination is a win for a local Democratic Socialists of America chapter that had not previously backed a federal candidate. But the general election will test whether the kind of coalition that powered him through a fractured Democratic primary can compete in a district intentionally drawn to favor Republicans.

Una nueva ola de ataques con misiles y drones lanzados por Rusia causó la muerte de al menos 15 personas y dejó heridas a otras 24 en la capital ucraniana, Kiev, y su región durante la noche del martes y la madrugada de este miércoles. Este bombardeo se suma a los más reciente en una serie de ofensivas mortales del Kremlin contra territorio ucraniano.

Periodistas en la ciudad reportaron explosiones poco después de la medianoche, luego de que la fuerza aérea ucraniana advirtiera sobre la llegada de misiles balísticos. Uno de ellos describió la presencia de humo negro y el persistente olor a quemado en el aire horas después del ataque.

La administración militar de Kiev confirmó que los misiles y drones impactaron edificios residenciales y almacenes. “El enemigo está atacando una vez más deliberadamente a personas e infraestructura civil”, señaló la institución en un comunicado difundido en Telegram. En Kiev, el ataque provocó incendios en cuatro distritos, y dejó una mujer muerta y al menos 24 personas heridas.

En la región de la capital, las autoridades informaron de 14 fallecidos y más de 20 heridos en las zonas aledañas. “La región de Kiev ha sufrido esta noche uno de sus ataques enemigos más trágicos”, escribió Tymur Tkachenko, jefe de la administración militar regional.

La nueva ola de ataques se suma a otras incursiones nocturnas recientes: el sábado, bombardeos rusos sobre Kiev y sus suburbios dejaron 10 muertos y más de 30 heridos, mientras que drones ucranianos hundieron un buque portacontenedores ruso en el Mar Negro. En los últimos meses, Ucrania solicitó a sus aliados el suministro de más interceptores Patriot de fabricación estadounidense, a medida que Rusia incrementa el uso de misiles balísticos más de cuatro años después del inicio de la invasión a gran escala.

Un análisis de la agencia AFP indicó que tanto Rusia como Ucrania intensificaron sus ataques de largo alcance en las últimas semanas, con Rusia duplicando el uso de misiles en julio. El empleo de drones se volvió habitual y Ucrania incrementó sus bombardeos contra infraestructuras, incluidas instalaciones de petróleo, gas y logística en territorio ruso.

Cinco personas murieron y otras diez resultaron heridas el martes por la mañana en la región de Moscú, en una ofensiva de Kiev dirigida a almacenes del gigante ruso de comercio electrónico Wildberries. El alcalde de Moscú informó que las defensas aéreas rusas interceptaron y destruyeron al menos diez drones que se dirigían hacia la capital. El gobernador de Tula, al sur de la capital, reportó que las defensas destruyeron 107 drones ucranianos durante la noche, con daños en dos edificios de apartamentos y un incendio en una instalación logística de Wildberries.

La empresa, a la que Ucrania acusa de almacenar piezas de drones y colaborar con el Ejército ruso, ordenó una “evacuación preventiva”. Mientras tanto, Kiev expresó indignación por un vídeo que muestra a un hombre perseguido por un dron en Kherson, hecho al que calificó como una “caza” deliberada de civiles.

Los observadores de derechos humanos de la ONU alertaron por el aumento de víctimas civiles, que alcanzó su nivel más alto desde el inicio de la invasión rusa en febrero de 2022. El presidente ucraniano, Volodimir Zelensky, afirmó que la falta de interceptores de misiles balísticos “solo anima a Rusia a lanzar ataques que cuestan vidas humanas”. La semana pasada, Zelensky se reunió con el presidente estadounidense, Donald Trump, para solicitar licencias que permitan la producción de sistemas Patriot en Ucrania.

Rusia declaró que el ataque del sábado tenía como objetivo industrias del complejo militar-industrial y centros logísticos. Entre los edificios dañados en Kiev se encuentran la embajada de Lituania y un edificio residencial de cinco plantas.

(Con información de EFE)