Labor officials are suspending work on part of the World Cup stadium where a worker died this weekend, creating a major headache for Brazilian organizers trying to get the site ready for the tournament's opening match on June 12.

Fast Engenharia, the construction company in charge of the stadium's temporary seats, said in a statement that it received notification from Sao Paulo state's labor secretariat late Monday that seat installation must halt until additional safety measures are implemented.

A firefighter put his reptile-handling experience to good use when he rescued a 6-foot-long python from a burning home in western Michigan.

Muskegon firefighter Scott Hemmelsbach told The Muskegon Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1jQ2Vbf ) that he reluctantly agreed to enter the two-story, smoke-filled house Sunday night to retrieve the snake. He says he cradled the "weighty" snake before carrying it to safety.

Authorities say they've arrested a man who's accused of breaking into Selena Gomez's guesthouse while the 21-year-old actress and singer was home.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says 20-year-old transient Cruz Che is being held Monday on $50,000 bail. Deputies didn't know if he'd retained an attorney.

Johnny Depp showed off a diamond engagement ring that he called a "chick's ring" on Monday — indirectly confirming rumors of his engagement to actress Amber Heard.

Asked whether he was engaged, the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star told The Associated Press: "The fact that I'm wearing a chick's ring on my finger is probably a dead giveaway. Not very subtle." He laughed as he lifted up his left hand and displayed a single diamond on a band around his ring finger.

Oprah Winfrey's former stepmother has been given extra time to vacate the $1.4 million home she once shared with the father of the iconic TV talk-show host.

Winfrey spokeswoman Nicole Nichols told The Associated Press in an email that Oprah's company has granted Barbara Winfrey 60 days to leave following her request for more time.

For the first time since Japan's nuclear disaster three years ago, authorities are allowing residents to return to live in their homes within a tiny part of a 20-kilometer (12-mile) no-go zone around the Fukushima plant.

The decision will allow 357 people in 117 households to return to their homes starting Tuesday in a corner of Tamura city after the government determined that radiation levels are low enough for habitation.

Australia is deploying a modified Boeing 737 to act as a flying air traffic controller over the Indian Ocean to prevent a mid-air collision among the large number of aircraft searching for the Malaysia Airlines jetliner that went missing over three weeks ago.

According to an Australian government briefing note read out to The Associated Press by an official, the air force is sending an E-7A Wedgetail equipped with advanced radar to start monitoring the search zone Tuesday.

Japan raised its sales tax Tuesday, moving to stabilize government finances but at the risk of undermining a shaky economic recovery.

It's a gamble the world's No. 3 economy cannot afford to take, given its soaring public debt.

The American ambassador to India said she has resigned and will retire before the end of May, ending a two-year tenure after the strip-search of an Indian diplomat in New York City badly damaged U.S.-India ties.

In a posting on the U.S. Embassy website Monday, Ambassador Nancy Powell gave no reason for her decision but said she had planned it for some time.

A Detroit-area man accused of trying to travel to the Middle East to fight alongside Hizbullah in Syria's civil war will remain in custody while his case moves through court.

The government said Monday that 22-year-old Mohammad Hamdan wanted to join Hizbullah, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization.