But the Swiss Justice Ministry says it will keep Polanski in jail until it decides whether to appeal his release to the country's supreme court.

A Swiss court has approved Roman Polanski's bail offer of $4.5 million to be released from prison and kept under house arrest and electronic monitoring at his Swiss chalet.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will replace accelerator pedals on about 4 million recalled vehicles in the United States because the pedals can get stuck in the floor mats.

The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week to the lowest level in over a year.

The firms were working without required contracts. The official who oversees the pension fund's $5.8-billion hedge fund portfolio reportedly was disciplined.

California's huge public employee pension fund, under scrutiny after suffering billions of dollars in investment losses, is now investigating its own oversight of hedge fund deals.

Members also signal that they may cap dispensaries to between 70 and 200. The council plows through 50 proposed changes to its medical marijuana ordinance.

Dispensaries in Los Angeles could continue to accept cash for medical marijuana under a provision approved by the City Council on Tuesday, after it adopted language carefully crafted to maneuver past the city attorney's adamant position that state law bars the sale of the drug.

Companies could buy and sell allowances under plan to reduce pollutants 15%.

California officials on Tuesday issued the nation's first blueprint for a broad-based cap-and-trade plan, an innovative and controversial effort to use market forces to control global warming.

Bolstered enforcement efforts along the Mexico-U.S. border and the weak economy are cited. The trend is also apparent across the Southwest.

Arrests of illegal immigrants along the California-Mexico border declined 25% this year as a weak economy and bolstered enforcement efforts appear to be discouraging treks north, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Tuesday.

Little Mogadishu residents talk of a lack of identity and a life of poverty and racism. And they disagree over their former neighbors who are accused of plotting jihad in Somalia.

Barely a block from the Mississippi River sits a neighborhood Mark Twain could not have imagined.

The suggestion bouncing around Capitol Hill points to the fiscal anxieties President Obama faces if he asks Congress to write another big-ticket item into the budget.

As President Obama is preparing to announce a troop increase and new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, several powerful House committee chairmen have proposed a surtax on Americans to pay the future military costs.

One of the first officials interviewed about the decision by Tony Blair's government to join the U.S.-led war speaks of 'drumbeats in Washington' before 9/11 to oust Hussein.

The British government was aware of "drumbeats in Washington" in early 2001 calling for the toppling of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein but steered clear of such an aggressive policy before the Sept. 11 attacks, officials said Tuesday as a panel launched a major inquiry on how and why the British government went to war in Iraq.

Swedish automaker Koenigsegg Group cancels its proposed acquisition, marking another failure by General Motors to sell off some of its automotive brands. Closing Saab is now a possibility.

General Motors Co.'s plan to sell its Saab unit to a specialty Swedish automaker has collapsed, frustrating another attempt by GM to prune its roster of automotive brands and potentially spelling the end of the Saab brand.

Declines in financial and industrial stocks were partly offset by gains in the telecom, healthcare and energy sectors. The Dow Jones industrial average falls 17 points.

Stock prices retreated Tuesday, pulling the Dow Jones industrials from a 13-month high, after the government said economic growth in the third quarter was slower than first reported.

The City Council is expected to vote as early as tonight on an agreement that could clear the way for the electric vehicle maker to build a factory on the site of the former space shuttle plant.

Downey is hoping that for electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc., the third time is a charm.

The new infrastructure -- including gates, cameras and vehicle scales -- aims to hamper the smuggling of drug money and weapons to Mexican cartels. Businesses are protesting the increased wait times.

Driving into Mexico has been a largely hassle-free experience for decades: There were few customs inspectors, even fewer gates, and for most border crossers, no questions asked.

William Sparkman was found dead in the Kentucky woods with a rope around his neck and 'Fed' written on his chest.

A Census Bureau worker found dead in rural Kentucky -- a death that sparked fear of anti-government violence in some quarters -- committed suicide, authorities said today.

The FDIC says net income grew $2.8 billion in the third quarter, but end-of-the-year writedowns could cause a drop in the fourth quarter. The number of troubled banks, 552, is at a 16-year high.

The financial health of the U.S. banking industry improved slightly during the third quarter, with commercial banks and savings and loans posting net income of $2.8 billion. But the sector remains troubled, highlighted by the continued rise in the number of institutions in danger of failing, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said today.

The president says his strategy will include military, diplomatic and civilian initiatives designed to 'finish the job' in Afghanistan. Aides say the announcement could come as early as Tuesday.

President Obama says he will deliver a plan to "finish the job" in Afghanistan directly to the American people after Thanksgiving, along with an explanation of the strategy he has been working for months to forge.

California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton says one of the state's most politically powerful unions has threatened to cut off funding for the party over his support for a group that has broken away from the labor organization.

Praising India's prime minister as a man of peace, President Obama today called for greater efforts from all nations in the region, including Pakistan, to fight terrorism.

Young Somali Americans, many in Minneapolis, were lured to fight with an Al Qaeda-affiliated group, court documents allege. Eight suspects alleged to be part of that network face criminal charges.

Federal authorities unsealed criminal charges Monday against eight suspects alleged to be part of a U.S. recruiting network that sent young men to fight in Somalia -- one of the largest militant operations uncovered in this country since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.