WASHINGTON — The confirmation of another Cabinet member stalled yesterday because of unpaid taxes after USA Today disclosed that the husband of Labor secretary nominee Hilda Solis paid about $6,400 this week to settle numerous tax liens against his business dating to 1993.

Solis and her husband, Sam Sayyad, were unaware of liens against his auto repair shop until USA Today asked about them Tuesday, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said yesterday. Vietor said Sayyad went to the Los Angeles County tax office and paid what he was told he owed — about $6,400 — to settle outstanding liens.

Disclosure of the long-unpaid taxes prompted the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee yesterday to cancel a scheduled vote on Solis' nomination. The committee wants the Obama administration to review the matter and report back.

ARCTIC FISH MAY BE OFF-LIMITS

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — In a move aimed at limiting harm to Arctic waters opened by global warming, a federal advisory board voted yesterday to ban commercial fishing north of the Bering Strait off Alaska's coast.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, meeting in Seattle, voted unanimously to prohibit industrial fishing in nearly 200,000 square miles of U.S. waters in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas.

The U.S. Commerce Department is expected to approve the recommendation.

EMBASSY CASHIER STOLE $800,000

WASHINGTON — A former cashier at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $800,000 from the State Department. Jean Saint-Joy, a Haitian citizen, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Washington. He worked at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince from 1995 until July 2008.

COUPLE SET VICTIM ON FIRE, POLICE SAY

LOS ANGELES — A man and a woman doused an exotic dancer with flammable liquid and set her on fire early yesterday outside the club where she worked.

The 27-year-old mother of two was in grave condition with burns over 60 percent of her body. Her identity was not released.

Police identified the suspects as Rianne Celine Theriault-Odom, 27, and Nathaniel Marquis Petrillo, 22.They were being sought for investigation of attempted murder, police said.