A Marine who urinated on the corpses of Taliban fighters in a video seen worldwide pleaded guilty Wednesday to several charges at a court-martial at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Staff Sgt. Edward W. Deptola admitted desecrating the remains and posing with the bodies of insurgents in Afghanistan for what he called “trophy photographs.’’ He also admitted that he failed to supervise other Marines involved in the incident and did not report the violations of military regulations.

In a 39-second video that was widely viewed on the Internet after it appeared in January 2012, four Marines in combat gear were shown urinating on three corpses in southern Afghanistan in July 2011. One Marine could be overheard saying to one of the bodies, “Have a good day, buddy.’’

Deptola had previously been instructed that desecrating corpses was a serious violation of Marine Corps regulations, he told the presiding judge, Lt. Col. Nicole Hudspeth. Nonetheless, he said, he urinated on the dead men and did not intervene to prevent other Marines in his sniper platoon from doing so.

Britain's Court of Appeal has backed a judgment that Samsung's Galaxy
tablet computer is "not as cool" as Apple's iPad — and therefore
doesn't infringe Apple's rights.

The panel's upholding of the findings of by a lower court endorses the
U.K. judgment which made headlines around the world when it was handed
down in July. Judge Colin Birss had then gushed over Apple's design,
while knocking back the company's case against its rival.

"The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking," Birss wrote
at the time, enthusing over its "undecorated flat surfaces," its "very
thin rim" and "crisp edge."

"It is an understated, smooth and simple product," Birss wrote, saying
that Samsung's products "are not as cool."

On Thursday, the Court of Appeal agreed unanimously with Birss, with
Judge Robin Jacob ordering Apple to publicize the court rulings to
make sure consumers knew that Samsung wasn't a copycat.

"The acknowledgement must come from the horse's mouth," Jacob said.
"Nothing short of that will be sure to do the job completely."

Kim Walker, a partner with English law firm Thomas Eggar LLP, said
that the ruling was an endorsement of Samsung's originality — if not
its design.

"It appears that you don't have to be cool to be original when it
comes to intellectual property rights," she wrote in an email. "You
just have to be different!"

The British case is just one of several in Apple and Samsung's
international copyright battle, which has raged across Europe and the
United States.

The 3M Co. has filed a lawsuit against one of its former law firms, claiming its attorneys were motivated by "greed" when they switched sides in an environmental case against the conglomerate.

3M is suing Covington & Burling which is helping the state with a lawsuit against the company for environmental damage, allegedly caused by a chemical made by 3M and found in the Mississippi River and several lakes.

The Minnesota attorney general says the law firm agreed to help the state only after its work with 3M was finished. A statement from Covington says the firm had no "active matters" with 3M when it decided to help the attorney general in its case against the company.