AP News in Brief at 6:09 p.m. EDT

Venezuela’s government said families reported at least 68,900 people missing, three days after the one-two punch of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes devastated the South American nation.

Venezuelans looking for loved ones and neighbors used shovels, heavy equipment, ropes and bare hands atop mounds of toppled concrete throughout La Guaira, one of the hardest-hit states. They were joined by a growing number of international rescue teams who began to climb through the rubble, offering a small glint of hope to anguished families.

Tensions peaked over what many Venezuelans viewed as an inadequate response by the government, whose soldiers, firefighters, police and military cadets were evidently underprepared to respond to the scope of the tragedy. Many felt every minute ticking away as they ran out of time to rescue people alive.

Frustration was amplified by efforts to project the image of a robust state response.

Older buildings and substandard construction left Venezuela vulnerable to earthquakes

Older buildings, substandard construction and geography left many neighborhoods in Venezuela vulnerable to strong earthquakes like the ones that struck the country this week.

Engineers and other experts said the back-to-back earthquakes on Wednesday were among the most intense to hit the country in more than a century, leveling buildings and leaving more than 900 dead with the number expected to rise. Videos and satellite imagery from the disaster zone reviewed by The Associated Press reveal scores of multistory buildings had collapsed.

Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab analyzed satellite imagery of Catia La Mar in La Guaira state, one of the hardest hit cities along the Caribbean coast. Using AI-based damage assessment models, Microsoft determined that about a third of the city's nearly 30,000 structures were damaged.

Among the factors that left so many structures at risk: Some housing complexes in northern Venezuela were constructed quickly during recent oil booms, and builders may not have adhered to best practices that mitigate the risks of serious seismic activity, according to experts.

Engineers said that older housing erected in the 1950s and 1960s — before modern earthquake standards were adopted — may not have been retrofitted to survive such violent shaking. And many buildings were constructed on geography and soft soils that compound the danger of the earthquakes, the experts said.

US military says it struck multiple targets in Iran as ceasefire is strained by 2nd day of attacks

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military said Saturday it had struck multiple targets in Iran at President Donald Trump’s direction, continuing a string of attacks that have shaken the war’s uneasy ceasefire.

The military said in a post on X that “Iran had a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement” but “elected not to” when its forces attacked a ship near the Strait of Hormuz earlier Saturday.

Iran state TV reported explosions north of the Strait of Hormuz.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran launched a drone assault targeting Bahrain while a ship in the Strait of Hormuz separately came under attack Saturday, in Tehran's likely response to overnight airstrikes by the United States.

Residents on notice as fast-moving fire in Utah, the largest in the US, blackens more forestland

MARYSVALE, Utah (AP) — The largest fire in the United States is marching through deep canyons and over steep mountainsides, blackening an already parched landscape in Utah as residents of sparsely populated areas wait for word in case they have to evacuate.

The Cottonwood Fire already has severely damaged the Eagle Point ski resort in Beaver County and forced campground closures in Fishlake National Forest. Other public lands in the area have been closed as a precaution.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, in a social media post early Saturday, asked for prayers for firefighters and “the rains we desperately need.”

“More property destroyed. It’s as bleak as it’s ever been ... and yet there were several miraculous stops and saves,” Cox said, referring to the work of the hundreds of firefighters assigned to the blaze.

They are among the crews that have been pouring into Utah as more wildfires in the arid state gain steam thanks to consecutive days of what forecasters call critical fire weather, or dangerously low humidity levels, warm temperatures and gusty winds.

Central Europe sizzles as heat records are smashed in Switzerland, Denmark and Czech Republic

BERLIN (AP) — Temperatures soared to record highs from Switzerland to the Czech Republic and Denmark on Saturday, as a heat wave that baked western European countries this week moved to central and eastern parts of the continent.

Unusually high temperatures were recorded even in the Nordic countries not known for sweltering summers. Denmark's Meteorological Institute reported a record 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in Ødum north of Aarhus — the warmest day since records there began in 1874.

In Switzerland, a record 38.8 C (101.8 F) was set in the city of Basel.

Germany's famous Autobahn was overwhelmed, too, as temperatures were expected to hit 40 C (104 F). In two places outside Berlin, the concrete of the A2 burst due to the high temperatures and the highway had to be closed. Other highway damage was reported across the country, according to the German daily Bild.

Train operator Deutsche Bahn and other rail companies advised against all nonessential train travel this weekend.

2 tropical storms pound Japan with floods and landslides, killing 1

TOKYO (AP) — Two major storm systems pounded Japan on Saturday, causing landslides and floods and leaving one dead and several injured, media and officials said.

The storms, Mekkhala and Higos, have dumped heavy rain and damaged roads as Japan experiences its annual rainy season.

A man in his 70s died and three others were injured after a house collapsed in a landslide in Yamaguchi prefecture on Friday, Japan’s Kyodo News agency reported.

Footage from Kyoto showed the Kamo River swollen with churning, muddy water. A flooding alert was issued in parts of Kyoto, Osaka and other areas in western Japan.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said more than 30 homes were flooded in Nara and Hiroshima on Friday. Heavy rain also disrupted some train operations and flights in the area.

Some paid the ultimate price to enact voting rights. Their survivors see America turning backward

WASHINGTON (AP) — Holiday gatherings and major life events have come with an empty seat. Certain dates on the calendar meant time at a cemetery, standing before granite stones.

They are a relatively small group of people, scattered across different states, but they share a common bond that stretches back decades: Each had a family member die violently in the struggle for voting and civil rights, victims on a long and difficult path marked by blood that ended when the country seemed to mature into the nation of its creed.

But 61 years later, and as the country approaches its 250th anniversary, those sacrifices are in question. In a series of decisions over the past dozen years, including one in April, the Supreme Court has effectively dismantled the law that their family members died to see enacted, the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“My mother’s blood is on that bill. We were always proud of that, and now it’s gone,” said Anthony Liuzzo, whose mother, Viola Liuzzo, died on an Alabama highway between Selma and Montgomery while driving marchers in 1965.

Critics of the law argue that times have changed, a point Chief Justice John Roberts made in a 2013 decision that was the first major step in rolling back the law.

Scratching that bug bite might feel good at first but science explains why it's a bad idea

WASHINGTON (AP) — You’ve likely heard it since childhood: Don’t scratch that bug bite or rash, you’ll make it worse. But why would something that feels so good be bad?

A lot of things can cause itchiness, sometimes serious diseases. Whatever the cause, doctors have long warned that scratching too much can damage the skin. Now researchers better understand why even a mildly annoying itch could put you on an itch-and-scratch cycle if you give in.

How did they find out? In part by putting tiny “cones of shame” onto mice to uncover what happens on a cellular level when an itch gets scratched — or left alone.

They also gained insight into why a good scratch at least at first brings a sigh of relief. After all, not just people and other mammals scratch, even fish do. The commonality suggests there must be some evolutionary reason and the mouse experiment hints at a little germ protection — but still not a reason to scratch.

Dr. Daniel Kaplan, a University of Pittsburgh dermatologist whose lab studies immune reactions in skin, was exploring a run-of-the-mill type of itch called allergic contact dermatitis, caused by irritants such as poison ivy or nickel in jewelry.

Are Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce getting married at Madison Square Garden? What we know

Are Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce really getting married at Madison Square Garden?

Frenzied speculation surrounding the superstar singer and football player's upcoming wedding has spiked over the past few days as reports swirl that the two are getting married the first week in July at one of New York's iconic landmarks.

Yet nearly a year after Kelce and Swift announced their engagement with the caption “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” they have disclosed little about their plans.

Here's what we know and don't know.

Nothing has been publicly confirmed by the couple, despite The Associated Press' multiple requests to Swift’s representative for comment.

Blues get Brandon Carlo; Hurricanes trade for John Carlson's rights at NHL draft

The St. Louis Blues acquired Brandon Carlo from the Toronto Maple Leafs during the NHL draft on Saturday, those teams' latest steps to remake their rosters during an offseason of upheaval.

St. Louis sent the Nos. 73 and 76 picks to Toronto for the 29-year-old defenseman.

Carlo lasted just 88 games with the Leafs after they sent a first-round pick, a fourth-rounder and highly regarded forward prospect Fraser Minten to Boston for him at the deadline in March 2025. That was with the previous regime in charge, and general manager Brad Treliving was fired two months ago and replaced weeks later by John Chayka, and they only got to keep the pick this year because they won the lottery for the No. 1 overall pick.

This is the third trade of the week for the Blues, who are also in transition as GM-in-waiting Alexander Steen is set to take over for seasoned executive Doug Armstrong next week. Armstrong in his final days at the helm has been plenty busy.

On Tuesday, he traded Jordan Kyrou to Washington for fellow forward Connor McMichael, prospect Milton Gastrin and the No. 16 pick, accumulating a league-high four in the first round. On Friday night, he sent two of them to Anaheim for 23-year-old Mason McTavish, who is signed through 2031.