A U.S. Appeals Court ruled on Tuesday against New York City in its long-running dispute with India and Mongolia over whether they owe about $47 million in taxes on property that houses staff assigned to consulates and United Nations missions.

The demands by the city that hosts the United Nations headquarters for property taxes from several foreign governments had become an irritant in diplomatic relations, according to a U.S. Department of State notice cited by the three-judge panel.

The June 2009 notice granted an exemption from property taxes on property owned by foreign governments and used to accommodate their personnel in the United States. The City of New York argued the properties should be taxable, despite the department's order under the Foreign Missions Act.

A man who has been trying for decades to take back his guilty plea in a notorious child molestation case won a huge moral victory Monday when a federal appeals court encouraged prosecutors to reopen their investigation.

Although the judges on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals denied Jesse Friedman's request to withdraw his plea, saying there was no legal basis to allow that, the panel criticized interrogation techniques by investigators in the 1988 case and actions by prosecutors and the trial judge.

"The record here suggests 'a reasonable likelihood' that Jesse Friedman was wrongfully convicted," the judges said in a 31-page decision. "While the law may require us to deny relief in this case, it does not compel us to do so without voicing some concern regarding the process by which the petitioner's conviction was obtained."

A teenage Friedman and his father, Arnold, pleaded guilty in 1988 to molesting 13 children during computer classes in the basement of their home in Great Neck, on Long Island. Jesse Friedman, now 40, was paroled in 2001; his father committed suicide in prison in 1995. The pair were charged with several hundred counts of sex abuse.

A Northern California appeals court has struck down a shopping mall's policy barring people from approaching strangers to chitchat.

The 3rd District Court of Appeal this week said the rules at Roseville's Westfield Galleria violate the California Constitution's free speech guarantee.

The mall prohibited people in its common areas from approaching people they didn't know to talk unless the conversation was about business involving the mall or its tenants. The case arose after mall officials issued a citizen's arrest of a 27-year-old pastor who tried to talk about his faith.

The appeals court says the policy effectively bars shoppers from chatting about the weather or offering directions.

A spokeswoman for Westfield says the mall is considering appealing to the California Supreme Court.

A federal appeals court in New York City has thrown out a decision that barred Congress from withholding funds from the activist group ACORN.

The ruling Friday reverses a decision by a district court. That judge found Congress had violated ACORN's rights by punishing it without a trial.

ACORN describes itself as an advocate for low-income and minority home buyers and residents.

Critics say the group has engaged in voter registration fraud and embezzlement. They say it has violated the tax-exempt status of some of its affiliates by engaging in partisan political activities.

ACORN's full name is the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

An aide to New York Gov. David Paterson surrendered Thursday to New York City authorities on assault charges stemming from a 2009 domestic violence case that touched off an evidence-tampering investigation in Albany.

David Johnson turned himself in to investigators with the Bronx district attorney's office on misdemeanor assault charges and was awaiting arraignment.

Paterson's involvement in the case — he made a phone call to the accuser, who soon dropped her allegations — caused him serious political damage, even though investigators found no evidence of witness tampering.

Buffeted by other ethics questions about World Series tickets, the Democratic governor soon dropped plans to run for a full term this fall, while saying he intended to finish the year in office.

The confrontation occurred on Halloween, with Johnson and his then-girlfriend, Sherr-una Booker. Angry over how she was dressed, she said he choked her, threw her against a dresser and ripped her Halloween costume. The case was initially handled in Family Court and dropped without prejudice because Booker did not appear for a hearing.

A California woman sued the governing body of U.S. competitive swimming and her former coach, claiming he sexually abused, humiliated and harassed her when she was a teenager training under his supervision.

The suit announced Wednesday is one of several around the country alleging USA Swimming covered up wrongdoing and allowed a culture of abuse to exist in coaching ranks. The lawsuit also names the West Valley Swim Club and Pacific Swimming, the West Coast branch of USA Swimming.

The lawsuit claims swim coach Norman Havercroft sexually abused Jancy Thompson over a five-year period in the 1990s, beginning when she was about 15.

The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual abuse. However, the now 28-year-old has chosen to speak publicly.

Thompson, who graduated from police academy and does gang intervention for a nonprofit group, said she came forward to help affect change.