• UK millionaire admits plot to sell missile parts to Iran after US sting operation

    By NBC News wire services

    A British millionaire accused of trying to buy missile parts from undercover American agents and resell them to Iran pleaded guilty Thursday in a deal that would carry nearly three years in prison but could allow him to serve much of that time in his native United Kingdom.

    Christopher Tappin, 66, a retired shipping magnate, had faced charges of conspiracy to illegally export defense articles, aiding and abetting the illegal export of defense articles and conspiracy to conduct illegal financial transactions.

    He pleaded guilty to one count of the indictment Thursday at a hearing in El Paso, Texas. The deal calls for 33 months in prison, but as part of the agreement, prosecutors agreed not to oppose his request to be transferred back to his home country. He had faced up to 35 years in prison.


    U.S. District Judge David Briones will decide Tappin's sentence Jan. 9. He has been living in an upscale Houston neighborhood since his release on a $1 million bond in April.

    Federal prosecutors said Tappin, of the town of Orpington, southeastern England, and two other men sought to ship zinc/silver oxide batteries for Hawk Air Defense Missiles to Iran via the Netherlands.

    Risked US national security
    U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman said in a statement that “the defendant put at risk the national security of the United States and its allies by trying to sell to Iran the batteries that make the Hawk Missiles operational."

    The federal indictment filed in 2007 said a cooperating defendant provided computer files showing Tappin was involved in the attempted battery deal and that he and the cooperating defendant had illegally sold U.S. technology to Iran in the past.

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    The U.S. government alleged Tappin provided undercover agents with false documents to deceive authorities and circumvent the requirement for the batteries to be licensed by the government before being exported.

    Tappin's extradition in February touched a nerve in Britain, where many contend the fast-track extradition arrangements between the United Kingdom and the United States are unfairly weighted in Washington's favor.

    Iran's regular army has begun two days of ground and air military exercises. Iranian authorities say they want to increase combat readiness and deterrence against attack. NBC's Ali Arouzi reports. 

    But Tappin's attorney, Dan Cogdell, said Thursday that he didn't see much room for argument.

    "He pled guilty because he was guilty," Cogdell said.

    Tappin remained free on bond pending his sentencing. Cogdell said he expected Tappin to serve several months in a U.S. prison while authorities decided where to send him.

    Western intelligence sees 'small signs of wavering' on Iran nuclear policy

    Tappin fought extradition to the United States for two years until being denied a petition to take the case to Britain's Supreme Court. After he was brought to Texas, Tappin was held at the Otero County Jail for about two months, where he initially was put in solitary confinement at his request.

    Two men have already been sentenced to prison for charges stemming from the indictment. Robert Gibson, another British national, pleaded guilty in April 2007 and was sentenced to 24 months in prison. Robert Caldwell, from Oregon, was found guilty in July of that year and received a 20-month sentence.

    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • 'Kill-or-be-killed' self-defense guru Tim Larkin banned from UK

    By Ian Johnston, msnbc.com

    LONDON -- An American self-defense expert -- who teaches people how to deal with "kill-or-be-killed" situations -- has been banned from entering Britain. Officials say Tim Larkin's presence "was not conducive to the public good."

    Larkin attempted to board a flight to the U.K. from Las Vegas, but was given a letter from the U.K. Border Agency saying he would not be allowed in, according to BBC News.

     

    "The home secretary [the U.K. government's interior minister] will seek to exclude an individual if she considers that his or her presence in the U.K. is not conducive to the public good," a government spokesperson told the BBC, confirming Larkin was subject to an exclusion order.

    Heathrow chaos: Travelers spend more time in line than in the air

    Larkin, who runs a company called Target Focus Training, previously came to the U.K. in 2009, when he taught a class to teach people how to "maim and kill in self-defense," the BBC reported.

    Trains Navy SEALs
    According to his firm's website, Larkin is "the guy operations like the US Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces and the U.S. Border Patrol call in behind-the-scenes to teach them when it’s 'kill-or-be-killed.' The truth is … your best self defense in a life-or-death confrontation is injuring the other guy. And it’s the one thing that makes us so different."

    Larkin has spoken to government officials and business people in more 40 countries about surviving life-or-death violence, according to the website. He also co-authored a book called How To Survive The Most Critical 5 Seconds Of Your Life and writes an online newsletter, Secrets For Staying Alive When Rules Don’t Apply.

    The U.K.'s Guardian newspaper ran an online poll about the decision to prevent Larkin from coming to Britain. At 10:15 a.m. ET, more than 72 percent of those choosing to vote said he should have not have been banned.


    The BBC said Larkin had been invited to speak at "The Martial Arts Show" conference in Birmingham on May 12 and 13, and to hold a seminar in the Tottenham area of London. Both places experienced rioting during widespread disorder in the U.K. in August last year.

    Riots break out in London after fatal-shooting protest

    Larkin told the BBC that he thought he had been banned for arguing that U.K. law should be changed to allow people to defend themselves without fear of criminal charges being brought against them.

    The riots that left several London neighborhoods burning, caused major property damage and brought hundreds of arrests has given away to a spirit of renewal and civic pride. NBC's Jim Maceda reports.

    "You are sitting in your house and you're being attacked, or you're attacked out in the street... There's an awful lot of martial arts and self-defense being taught there right now that gives no instruction on [how to hurt] the human body," he said.

    The science of the London riots

    "There are those rare, rare black swan occasions -- like the [August] riots -- where law-abiding citizens are put in situations where they are facing grievous bodily harm and they hesitate because they are afraid of being prosecuted. That is a very real thing," he added.

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  • Eco-warriors give London small taste of spill pain

    By F. Brinley Bruton, msnbc.com staff

    LONDON – As BP CEO Tony Hayward resigned under a cloud Tuesday, thousands of British motorists got an unexpected reminder of the oil spill that's wreaked havoc in the Gulf of Mexico.

    Protesters with the environmental group Greenpeace said they shut off fuel supplies at 46 BP gas stations across London just in time for the morning rush-hour. Small teams of activists used a standard shut-off switch to stop the flow of fuel oil at the targeted stations. The switches were then removed to prevent most BP outlets in the capital from opening.

    Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

    Demonstrators stand outside a BP petrol station, which they have barricaded with fences, in London on Tuesday.

    And to ensure there was no chance of drivers buying gas, demonstrators in fluorescent vests and helmets locked green metal fences around some sites.

    "What BP needs to do is not just change CEOs it needs to actually come up with a new strategy," Greenpeace U.K.’s chief executive John Sauven said at one of the shuttered stations in Camden, north London.

    Sauven said BP must live up to its pledge to move "beyond petroleum" and stop focusing on squeezing oil from places like the Gulf of Mexico, Canada's tar sands and the fragile Arctic wilderness.

    'Holding us to ransom'
    Anna Jones, who was one of the handful up at dawn to ensure gas stations were shuttered, took a harder line.

    "Big companies like BP are holding us to ransom, chasing profits at the expense of us," the 29-year-old part-time dance teacher said. "The generation before us is largely responsible and the next generation coming up will have to deal with the consequences."

    A BP spokesman described the group's protest as "an irresponsible and childish act which is interfering with safety systems." The firm claimed that only a handful of stations had been prevented from opening.

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    Londoners had mixed views on Greenpeace's actions.

    Daniel Watson, a 41-year-old teacher and tuba player, said BP should recognize the problems of global warming and dependence on petroleum products.

    "We are still living in the illusion that we can live on fossil fuels indefinitely," he added. "There is this kind of approach that it is somebody else’s problem."

    Golden handshake
    Big firms also need to stop handing out big packages to disgraced executives, he said. Hayward's golden handshake included a $1.6 million payoff and pension pot valued at about $17 million.

    "We need controls so that doing a bad job doesn’t get rewarded," Watson said.

    Steve, who has driven a London cab for 37 years and only gave his first name, said he wanted to do something to "save the whales" but branded the protests targeting gas station as "stunts."

    However, Hayward's payout and the behavior of many other executives left the cabbie annoyed.

    "Some of cleverest guys can be the stupidest when it comes to the real world – I see that in my job all the time."

    But not everyone thought Greenpeace was on the right track.

    "Is everybody going to skip driving cars, heating our houses, flying? Get a grip,” said Kathy Wallace, a Canadian who was on her way home to Scotland. “The environment is going to hell anyway, we've already ruined it. All we can do is control the situation."