DETROIT – The American Civil Liberties Union is taking up the case of a southwestern Michigan minister who was sent to prison for warning that a judge could be tortured by God. The ACLU said it asked the state appeals court Wednesday to release the Rev. Edward Pinkney on bail …

LOS ANGELES – Sen. John McCain will make his first post-election TV appearance on the “Tonight” show next week, NBC said Friday. The Republican presidential candidate is set to join “Tonight” host Jay Leno on Tuesday in honor of Veteran’s Day, the network announced. McCain is a former Naval officer …

MEMPHIS, Tennessee – A former Memphis police officer pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to civil rights charges in the jailhouse beating of a transgender prostitution suspect that was captured on video. An indictment unsealed Wednesday accuses Bridges McRae, 28, of using unreasonable force by repeatedly striking Duanna Johnson with his …

SUPERIOR, Wis. – Jim Kotera says the challenge hit almost three decades ago and got the ball rolling, so to speak. He heard of people claiming to have amassed the largest ball of twine in the world and decided to beat them. Kotera told Superior’s online newspaper, The Daily Telegram, …

HAVANA – Russia’s president met with ailing revolutionary icon Fidel Castro on Friday, winding up a visit aimed at freshening relations with his country’s old Cold War ally and raising Moscow’s profile across the rest of the Latin America. Dmitry Medvedev spent hours talking and sightseeing with President Raul Castro …

HONG KONG – Global stock markets rebounded strongly on Monday after last week’s historic sell-off as governments from Europe to Australia and the U.S. intensified efforts to ease a financial crisis that threatened to the throw the world into recession. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which tumbled more than 7 …

PITTSBURGH – A second alleged accomplice of a suburban Pittsburgh teenager accused of trying to kill family members with homemade chemical bottle bombs has surrendered to police. Fifteen-year-old Eric Evans, of Upper St. Clair, is charged with criminal conspiracy and attempted homicide. He surrendered Tuesday after being released from a …

MCLEAN, Va. – The Chinese government, concerned about the possibility of demonstrations during the Beijing Olympics, created a list of nine U.S. athletes and one assistant coach it thought might cause problems, USA Today reported Thursday. The newspaper obtained an internal U.S. Olympic Committee e-mail in which a Chinese official …

This is a rush transcript from “America’s Election HQ,” September 30, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. DAVID ASMAN, HOST: McCain is blaming Obama for the failure of the bailout. And Democrats are pointing fingers to McCain. The blame game is just …

NEW DELHI – India launched its first mission to the moon Wednesday, rocketing a satellite up into the pale dawn sky in a two-year mission to redraw maps of the lunar surface. Clapping and cheering scientists tracked the ascent on computer screens after they lost sight of Chandrayaan-1 from the …