From wire reports
GENEVA -- Roman Polanski was granted $4.5 million bail Wednesday, clearing the way for the fugitive director to move within days from a Swiss jail to house arrest and electronic monitoring at his Alpine resort chalet.
The Swiss Justice Minister said she saw no reason to appeal the surprise decision by the Swiss Criminal Court. Polanski would have to remain in Switzerland as authorities assess whether to extradite him to the United States for having sex in Los Angeles in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.
Ministry Spokesman Folco Galli said the final decision on transferring Polanski to his chalet in the Swiss resort of Gstaad would be made "quickly."
"The 76-year-old appellant is married and the father of two minors," the court said as it considered Polanski's offer of a cash bail secured by his apartment in Paris. "It can be assumed that as a responsible father he will, especially in view of his advanced age, attach greater importance to the financial security of his family than a younger person."
The court said Polanski would be subjected to "constant electronic surveillance" at his chalet and an alarm would be activated if he leaves the premises or takes off the bracelet, adding that the filmmaker was still viewed as a high flight risk.
Appearing in Allen's next film: France's first lady
PARIS -- Woody Allen has successfully courted France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
The former supermodel and wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy says she's agreed to be in the famed director's next film, but doesn't know what role he has in store for her and admits she could be a terrible actress.
Allen "asked me to be in his next film," she said Monday on Canal Plus television, where she appeared for an interview and duet with crooner Harry Connick Jr.
Asked if he had told her what part she would play, Bruni-Sarkozy replied: "No. But I said 'yes'... I do everything a little bit blindly. If I don't, I won't do anything."
"I'm not at all an actress. Maybe I'll be absolutely terrible," she added.
"I'd like to -- you know -- when I'm a grandmother, to have done a Woody Allen film," said Bruni-Sarkozy, who has a son from a relationship before Sarkozy. "I cannot in my life miss an opportunity like this."
The bespectacled cinematic legend asked Bruni-Sarkozy not to make another film before his, she said.
"If this ever comes about, it'll be a great experience," she said.
Bruni-Sarkozy, now a singer-songwriter, has largely shelved her concert tour plans to make way for her responsibilities as France's first lady.
Andrews books British stage after 30-year hiatus
LONDON -- Julie Andrews is to perform in London, 30 years after her last appearance on the British stage.
Concert promoters AEG Europe said Wednesday the star of such musicals as "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music" will appear at London's 02 Arena on May 8.
Andrews had non-cancerous throat nodules removed in 1997. The operation initially left her unable to sing.
Andrews has since starred in "The Princess Diaries" and was the voice of Queen Lillian in the "Shrek" film series.
Andrews says in a statement "to perform once again in my homeland on the London stage will be a wonderful moment -- it is where it all began for me."
