SANAA, Yemen — U.S. helicopters airlifted soldiers to a central Yemeni province where they targeted an al-Qaida compound, clashing with suspected militants and killing at least seven of them early Tuesday, according to the American military, Yemeni security officials and tribal leaders.

The Central Command said U.S. forces killed the militants using “a combination of small arms fire and precision airstrikes” to attack the compound, believed to be used as a “safe haven” by senior al-Qaida leaders.

Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said the death toll may be higher, given that an AC-130 gunship was called to the scene after a firefight broke out.

The Defense Department said the operation, led by a team of Navy SEALs, was conducted with the support of Yemen’s government.

According to Yemeni officials, the raid took place in the al-Sirim area in the province of Marib. Tribal members said explosions were heard in al-Sirim, followed by helicopters and gunfire.

The operation, which also included forces from the United Arab Emirates, was launched in part from the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship off Yemen. It aimed to recover digital and other material that could be used for intelligence purposes, and did not target a specific individual, officials said.

Davis said the operation had resulted in modest injuries among U.S. forces, but declined to give additional details. He said there had been no credible reports of civilian casualties.

In a January raid in Yemen shortly after President Donald Trump took office, Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens, 36, of Peoria, Ill., was killed. Three other service members were wounded in that raid.

Astronauts complete urgent repairs to data system on ISS

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Spacewalking astronauts completed urgent repairs at the International Space Station on Tuesday, replacing equipment that failed three days earlier and restoring a backup for a vital data-relay system.

It took commander Peggy Whitson much longer than expected to install the spare unit. Success finally came after her spacewalking partner, Jack Fischer, blasted the area with nitrogen gas to clear away flecks of metal.

Mission Control noted that the failure occurred 2 days, 21 hours, 38 minutes earlier, “and we are already back in a good position, so excellent work.”

Testing confirmed the new unit worked, restoring full redundancy to the system that operates solar panels, radiators and robotic equipment. The ISS also is home to two Russians and a Frenchman.

Man with bladed gloves, clown makeup held in Colo. stabbing

DENVER — A man wearing claw-like gloves and clown-style makeup is suspected of stabbing and killing another man in Denver.

Christian Gulzow, 36, was arrested early Tuesday after surveillance cameras helped officers track him down, police said.

Witnesses told police that a man with white clown makeup with black streaks threatened the 29-year-old victim in a convenience store and took swings at the victim with his gloves, which had blades 2 to 3 inches long at the end of each finger. They say the victim walked away with the suspect yelling after him.

Police say witnesses later saw the suspect and the victim across the street in a parking lot, where the victim reportedly collapsed. The suspect left on a scooter, police said.

Records suggest years of abuse for slain Kansas boy fed to pigs

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas received reports that a boy who ultimately was murdered and fed to pigs was being physically abused years before his death, according to documents released Tuesday that also show a social worker was in contact with his father and stepmother by phone more than a year after the state said it lost physical contact with the family.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families released more than 2,000 documents on Adrian Jones, whose father and stepmother are serving life prison sentences in his death. Authorities say Michael and Heather Jones abused, tortured and starved Adrian, whose remains were found in Kansas City, Kansas, in November 2015.

The family moved frequently, living in Kansas and Missouri.

Temer aide arrested in Brazilian fraud scheme

RIO DE JANEIRO — Embattled President Michel Temer’s attempt to win back confidence and stay in power was undermined Tuesday as one aide was arrested in a fraud scheme, another aide turned over to police a bag of cash and shouts of “down with Temer” led a Senate commission to suspend work on a package of the president’s labor reforms.

Tadeu Filippelli was arrested in connection with a fraud investigation into renovations of the Brasilia soccer stadium for the 2014 World Cup.

Brazil’s federal police say the construction works were overpriced by more than $260 million.

Hours after the arrest, Temer fired Filippelli.

In the same operation, two former governors of Brazil’s Federal District, which includes capital Brasilia, were also arrested: Jose Roberto Arruda and Agnelo Queiroz.

Sponsors pull out of parade feting former FALN leader

NEW YORK —More sponsors are dropping out of a New York City parade that is honoring Oscar Lopez Rivera, a Puerto Rican nationalist who served more than 35 years in prison for his involvement in a group that claimed responsibility for more than 100 bombings.

Coca-Cola, AT&T and JetBlue became the latest sponsors to skip the June 11 Puerto Rican Day parade along Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.

Lopez Rivera, 74, had his sentence commuted by President Barack Obama. Lopez Rivera was a member of the Armed Forces of National Liberation, or FALN, which claimed responsibility for more than 100 bombings in Chicago, New York, Washington and Puerto Rico in the 1970s and 1980s.

Law enforcement officers were among those injured in FALN blasts.

Ohio fire: A neighbor of an Akron family that died in a May 15 house fire was charged Tuesday with intentionally setting it ablaze, killing two adults and five children. Stanley Ford, 58, was charged with aggravated murder and arson, police said. Authorities said they do not know of any connection between Ford and the family.

WHO chief: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a former Ethiopian minister of health, was elected Tuesday as the next director-general of the World Health Organization, becoming the first non-medical doctor and the first African tapped to lead the U.N. agency that helps set health priorities worldwide.