A key employee who labeled a doomed experimental submersible unsafe prior to its last, fatal voyage testified Tuesday that the tragedy could have been prevented if a federal safety agency had investigated his complaint. David Lochridge, OceanGate’s former operations director, said he felt let down by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s decision not to follow through on the complaint. Earlier in the day, Lochridge said he frequently clashed with the company’s co-founder and felt the company was committed only to making money.

House Speaker Mike Johnson will move ahead with a temporary spending bill that would prevent a partial government shutdown when the new budget year begins on Oct. 1, despite the headwinds that prompted him to pull the bill from consideration last week. The bill includes a requirement that people registering to vote must provide proof of citizenship. The requirement has become a leading election-year priority for Republicans who are raising the specter of noncitizens voting in the U.S. even though it’s already illegal to do so and research shows that such voting is rare. The legislation faces an uphill climb in the House and has no chance in the Senate.

Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded near simultaneously in parts of Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people — including members of the militant group Hezbollah and a young girl. Officials in Lebanon say more than 2,700 were wounded on Tuesday, 200 critically. Hezbollah officials tell The Associated Press that the explosions affected a new brand of pagers used by the militant group. The explosions occurred in the suburbs of Beirut and in other areas that are Hezbollah strongholds. Hezbollah blamed the explosions on Israel. AP has reached out to the Israeli military, which declined to comment.

Ohio officials have stationed state police at Springfield schools in response to bomb threats that officials say are mostly coming from overseas. Gov. Mike DeWine dispatched dozens of members of the Ohio State Highway Patrol to city schools on Tuesday. Springfield gained attention recently after former President Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance made disparaging remarks about Haitian immigrants in the city. Schools, government buildings and elected officials’ homes in Springfield were among the targets of the more than 30 hoax threats made last week, forcing evacuations and closures. Two more schools had to be evacuated on Monday. The governor's office says the ‘vast majority’ of the threats came from overseas.

Florida law enforcement officials will launch their own criminal investigation into the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump that will run parallel to the federal probe. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made the announcement Tuesday. The governor said Florida prosecutors will pursue the most serious charges available under state law, including attempted murder, in the state-level investigation into Ryan Wesley Routh. The suspect was charged Monday with federal firearms offenses. The White House said Vice President Kamala Harris spoke Tuesday with Trump to express how grateful she is that he is safe.

A new report says the number of derailments related to the forces created when railcars push and pull against each other has increased as freight trains have gotten longer.  The National Academies of Sciences on Tuesday released a long-awaited report. It says that regulators, Congress and the industry should reexamine the risks associated with long trains and make sure they are addressed. The report said there is a clear correlation between the number of derailments related to in-train forces and the long trains that routinely measure more than a mile long. That means railroads must take special care in the way they assemble long trains.

Meta is banning Russia state media organization from its social media company platforms, alleging that the outlets used deceptive tactics to amplify Moscow’s propaganda. Meta owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. It said in a statement late Monday that it will roll out the ban over the next few days, in a fresh escalation of its efforts to counter Russia’s covert influence operations. Meta said it's expanding its “ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets: Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities, which are now banned from its apps globally for foreign interference activity.” The announcement drew a rebuke from the Kremlin on Tuesday.

The FBI says former President Donald was the target of what appeared to be “an attempted assassination” at his West Palm Beach golf club in Florida. U.S. Secret Service agents opened fire Sunday after seeing a man with a firearm while the Republican presidential candidate was golfing. Officials say the man was apprehended after fleeing in an SUV. The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, was charged Monday with federal gun crimes. Additional and more serious charges are possible as the investigation continues and prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury.

The man suspected in an apparent assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump camped outside a golf course with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours before a Secret Service agent confronted him and opened fire. That's according to court documents filed Monday. Ryan Wesley Routh, who is 58, faces charges of possessing a firearm despite a prior felony conviction and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Additional and more serious charges are possible as the investigation continues and Justice Department prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury.

The lead engineer for an experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreck of the Titanic says he felt pressured to get the vessel ready to dive and refused to pilot it for a journey several years earlier. Tony Nissen is the former engineering director for OceanGate, the company that owned the Titan submersible. Nissen was the first witness at a Coast Guard hearing in South Carolina on Monday. The hearing is being held to determine what caused the implosion. The Titan imploded on June 18, 2023, killing all five on board, including a co-founder of OceanGate.