In brief: Polanski sex case bid

Lawyers acting for Roman Polanski (pictured), the Oscar-winning film director, asked a Los Angeles court on Tuesday to dismiss a charge of unlawful sex with a minor brought against the film director more than 30 years ago. The move follows the appearance of new evidence in a documentary, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, released earlier this year, which revealed "a pattern of misconduct and improper communications" between the district attorney's office and the judge who presided over Polanski's case…………. Patrick Swayze has denied claims made by the US magazine People that he is close to death, calling the allegations "shoddy and reckless reporting". The 56-year-old actor said of his pancreatic cancer, which was diagnosed in April: "It is a battle, but so far I'm winning"…………William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the TV series Star Trek, has a new job hosting a chat show for the US Biography Channel programme, Raw Nerve. Among his first guests are Jon Voight, Kelsey Crammer and Leonard Nimoy………… Johnny Depp has just brought the movie rights to Nick Tosches's acclaimed novel In the Hand of Dante. The film, in which the 45-year-old actor plans to star, revolves around a researcher who finds and then tries to authenticate a manuscript version of Dante's masterpeice, The Divine Comedy.............Ricky Gervais has spoken to he Sun about the "Manuelgate" affair. He admitted that his friend Jonathan Ross was "in the wrong" over the radio prank, in which the presenter informed Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs that Russell Brand had "fucked" his granddaughter, but said: "They made a mistake because they picked on a real person and they left the message on a human being's answerphone. He [Ross] knew he made a mistake – but he didn't kill anyone. I'm sure he'll get over it. He's a strong character"...........