The mating call of an extinct bush-cricket has been reconstructed, using the microscopic wing features of a fossil

UK foreign secretary makes statement to House of Commons after China and Russia blocked a UN resolution demanding an end to bloodshed in Syria. Hague described the violence in Syria as 'utterly unacceptable to the civilised world', and warned that a day of reckoning would come where Bashar al-Assad and those responsible would be held to account

Footage obtained from YouTube purports to show Syrian government forces shelling the city of Homs

? IMF predicts 8.2% growth in China this year
? Figure could almost halve if European crisis worsens
? China should respond with multi-billion dollar stimulus

A sharp downturn in Europe could cut China's economic growth rate nearly in half, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday, adding to warnings about a possible severe global slowdown this year.

The IMF said Beijing should be ready to launch a multibillion-dollar stimulus to ward off a slump in the world's second-largest economy.

The IMF is forecasting 8.2% growth this year for China but said that could be reduced by up to four percentage points if Europe's crisis causes large declines in credit and output.

"The global recovery is threatened by intensifying strains in the euro area and fragilities elsewhere," it said. "In the unfortunate event such a downside scenario becomes reality, China should respond with a significant fiscal package, executed through central and local government budgets."

China rebounded quickly from the 2008 global crisis and its economy expanded by a healthy 9.2% last year but growth has declined as Beijing tightened credit and investment curbs to prevent overheating.

China's leaders have responded to a plunge in global demand, promising bank lending and other aid to struggling entrepreneurs. The government warned last month it faced "complexity and challenges" due to global malaise.

The World Bank ? the IMF's sibling organisation ? told China and other developing countries last month they should prepare for a global slump that it warned might hit them harder than the 2008 economic crisis.

The IMF said its "global downside scenario" envisaged bigger-than-expected losses to banks on private sector lending and sovereign debt, a contraction in investment and slower global economic activity.

The IMF said a stimulus equal to about 3% of China's annual economic output spread over 2012-13 would limit the decline in Chinese growth to about one percentage point. That would be about 460bn yuan (£48bn).

China's banks might be shielded by barriers that keep its financial system sealed off from global capital flows, the IMF said. But it said a sharp fall in western stock markets might disrupt trade credit.

The government of Hong Kong, a Chinese territory with its own financial system, announced last week it will spend 80bn Hong Kong dollars (£6.5bn) this year on stimulus measures.

Citing anaemic trade, it said the Hong Kong economy could grow by as little as 1% this year after slowing to 3% in the final quarter of 2011.

Russia and India will record the strongest growth in advertising spend over the coming year, according to the latest Warc international ad forecast.

It predicts that Russia will increase expenditure by 16.5%, followed by India (14.0%), China (11.5%) and Brazil (8.5%).

The picture is very different outside the BRIC quartet, especially in Europe, where three countries - Germany (1%), France (0.8%) and Italy (-0.2%) - are now expected to record the worst year-on-year performances.

All three economies are facing the possibility of renewed recession due to the eurozone debt crisis.

Taking into account the likelihood of inflation, all three countries are likely to see a decline in advertising spend in 2012.

The forecast for the UK is more positive, with predicted growth of 4.2%. But Warc, the marketing intelligence service, points out that the figure will be boosted by two sporting events - the London Olympics and European football championships.

As for the United States, which is forecast to see a 4.1% increase in ad spend, its TV broadcasters will undoubtedly benefit from the presidential election.

Indeed, across all 12 countries covered by the survey, TV is predicted to increase its share of main media advertising, growing by 5.3% compared to the overall media total of 4.5%.

As for online advertising, the pace of expansion is expected to slow to 12.6% this year, down from an estimated 16.6% in 2011.

The internet is expected to account for 20% of all media spend by the end of 2012.

Warc's data editor, Suzy Young, said: "With continuing debt worries affecting mature markets and knocking business and consumer sentiment, it is no surprise that 2012 adspend growth will come from emerging markets.

"Without the support from the presidential election and major sports tournaments, the outlook would have been even worse. But there are some bright spots in the data, with TV's performance looking particularly encouraging."

Source: Warc

Beijing hardens line against European Union emissions levy that is also opposed by the US and India

China has banned its airlines from paying the new European Union carbon charge, state news agency Xinhua has reported ? stepping up the international battle over the scheme.

The levy applies to all airlines flying to and from EU countries. Companies that do not comply face fines and ultimately could be banned from using EU airports.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Monday that airlines were not allowed to pay the EU charge, increase freight costs or add other fees, according to Xinhua. It cited authorisation from the state council, China's cabinet.

Hinting at possible retaliation, Xinhua added: "China will consider adopting necessary measures to protect interests of Chinese individuals and companies, pending the development of the issue."

The EU's ambassador in Beijing, Markus Ederer, told a press briefing it hoped to resolve the issue through negotiation. Beijing's announcement came one week before a China-EU summit.

Although the scheme came into force from 1 January, fees do not have to be paid until March 2013. Supporters believe including aviation in the emissions trading scheme is crucial because the industry's carbon output is soaring.

China, the US, India and others are bitterly opposed to the scheme, leading to fears it could spark a trade war.

A US attempt to overturn the scheme was rejected by the European court of justice in December.

Chinese airlines have already vowed to ignore the scheme. China argues it is unreasonable to apply the levy to developing nations and wants the costs of reducing carbon to be passed on to aircraft manufacturers.

Critics also argue that regulation of the industry should be negotiated at the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organisation. But European leaders say they have been waiting for years for the ICAO to act.

Connie Hedegaard, the EU's climate action commissioner, has stressed the scheme allows for "equivalent measures" ? other forms of carbon reduction ? to be taken into account.

Chai Haibo, the deputy secretary of the China Air Transport Association, told Bloomberg: "I believe all sides will negotiate again and find a solution ? I can't imagine that the worst case, such as the EU grounding Chinese flights, could happen."

State paper denies giving 'free rein' to Bashar al-Assad's crackdown and points to UN mandate 'abused' in Libya by Nato

China's leading Communist party newspaper has defended Beijing's rejection of a United Nations resolution calling for Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, to resign. The People's Daily said western campaigns in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq showed the error of forced regime change.

The commentary is China's clearest defence of its decision to join Russia on Saturday in vetoing a draft UN resolution that would have backed an Arab plan urging Assad to quit after months of bloodshed.

The commentary suggested that Chinese distrust of western intervention lay behind the veto, which was described as a "travesty" by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state.

"The situation in Syria continues to deteriorate and numbers of civilian casualties keep rising. Vetoing the draft security council resolution does not mean we are giving free rein to letting this heart-rending state of affairs continue," said the paper, which echoes government thinking.

China, unlike its western critics, was acting "responsibly" for the sake of the Syrian people, it said. The author used the pen name Zhong Sheng, which can mean "voice of China" and is often used on articles giving Beijing's position on foreign policy.

"Currently the situation in Syria is extremely complex. Simplistically supporting one side and suppressing the other might seem a helpful way of turning things around, but in fact it would be sowing fresh seeds of disaster."

China's vice-president, Xi Jinping, is visiting the US next week and the Syria veto could add to frictions. Xi is the Communist party's likely next top leader.

Beijing and Washington have also sparred over Iran, which faces tightened western sanctions over its nuclear ambitions.

The People's Daily commentary laid bare broader Chinese concerns about western-backed intervention in the Arab world and beyond. China is one of the five permanent UN security council members that hold the power to veto resolutions.

In March, China abstained from a council vote that authorised western military intervention in Libya. That resolution became the basis for a Nato air campaign that led to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. Beijing and Moscow regarded the campaign as going beyond the resolution.

"Libya offers a negative case study. Nato abused the security council resolution about establishing a no-fly zone and directly provided firepower assistance to one side in the Libyan war," said the People's Daily.

It cited Iraq and Afghanistan in its case against the Syria resolution. "[These] calamities of Iraq and Afghanistan should be ample to wipe clear the world's eyes. Forceful prevention of a humanitarian disaster sounds filled with a sense of justice and responsibility.

"But are not the unstoppable attacks and explosions over a decade after regime change a humanitarian disaster?"

During the festival, which marks the end of the Chinese new year celebrations, children visit temples to solve riddles on the lanterns

UK foreign secretary warns President Assad he risks all-out civil war if he remains in power, despite collapse of UN resolution

William Hague has described the Syrian regime as "doomed" and "murdering" and warned that the country is moving closer to an all-out civil war following the dramatic collapse of a major diplomatic effort to call for President Bashar al-Assad to stand down.

The foreign secretary said hopes now rested on the Arab League to increase pressure for political change in the light of this weekend's setback. On Saturday, a UN security council resolution calling for the president to resign was vetoed by Russia and China, angering western diplomats.

Activists attacked Syrian embassies across the world as news of the vetoes spread.

"This is a doomed regime as well as a murdering regime. There is no way it can get its credibility back either internationally or with its own people," Hague said on Sky.

"Because the regime is so intransigent, because it is conducting ten months unmitigated violence and repression ? more than 6,000 killed with 12,000 or 14,000 in detention and subject to every kind of torture and abuse ? it is driving some opponents to violent action themselves. That is tipping Syria closer to something that begins to look like a civil war," he said.

In Syria, dozens were reported killed on Saturday in one of the bloodiest days since protests began last March. Rebel groups and opposition activists said the regime launched an assault on the city of Homs on Friday night using mortar and tanks to bombard civilian areas.

One opposition group said it had confirmed 62 deaths in Homs, while other organisations gave death tolls in excess of 200.

Hague, said that Russia and China's veto had emboldened Assad's position. "I think Russia and China do bear increased responsibility and that means in the Middle East and Arab world there will be a great deal of anger at the positions that Russia and China have taken.

"This underlines the need for a political transition and in our view for Assad to go, or in the plan of the Arab League to hand over to his deputy and form a unity government. That's a sensible way forward," he said.

He said, however, that he would continue to work alongside the Russian and Chinese governments, and planned to contact Russia's foreign minister when he returns from a visit to Syria later this week.

"We will continue to work with Russia and China on this. We want them to change their position," Hague said.

Asked about plans by Arab countries to expel Syrian diplomats, Hague said that Britain's diplomatic options wre constantly being reviewed but any announcement would first be made to parliamentt.

"We haven't taken any decisions to sever our diplomatic links at the moment but the Arab League is playing a very strong role ? This is the main way forward now, for the Arab League to pursue their plan because they don't need the UN to do that although it would have been good to have had a clear mandate from the United Nations.

"They should pursue their plan and intensify their own pressure on the Assad regime to stop the killing and allow a peaceful political transition."

Hague said the UK had reduced its embassy operations in Syria to an absolute minimum and reiterated the government's position of ruling out military intervention, stressing the differences with last year's regime change in Libya.

"In Libya we had the authority of the UN to take all necessary measures. Given what has happened this weekend, we could not pass such a resolution.

Secondly, the consequences would be far more difficult to foresee in Syria than they were in the relatively straightforward Libya because of the knock on effects across the region. Thirdly it would have to be on a dramatically bigger scale in Syria in order to be effective," he said.

The Sino-Russian veto was intended to promote a political settlement, China's state news agency Xinhua said in an article today.

It "aimed at further seeking peaceful settlement of the chronic Syrian crisis and preventing possible drastic and risky solutions to it," the piece said.

"With the veto, Russia and China believed more time and patience should be given to a political solution ? which would prevent the Syrian people from more turbulence and fatalities."

The opposition Syrian National Council condemned Moscow and Beijing for obstructing the passage of the draft resolution.

The veto drew an angry response from Washington's UN envoy Susan Rice, who wrote on Twitter that she was disgusted and said Russia and China would have blood on their hands.

The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, criticised the UN resolution, saying it made too few demands of anti-government armed groups, and could prejudge the outcome of a dialogue among political forces in the country.

Russian news agencies reported that Lavrov and Russia's foreign intelligence chief, Mikhail Fradkov, would meet Assad in Damascus on Tuesday.

Syria has been a key Russian ally since the Soviet era and Moscow has opposed any UN demands that could be interpreted as advocating military intervention or regime change.

Earlier on Saturday, Tunisia decided to expel Syria's ambassador in response to the "bloody massacre" in Homs and said it no longer recognised the Assad regime. As news of the violence spread, a crowd of Syrians stormed their country's embassy in Cairo and protests broke out outside missions in Britain, Germany and the US.

A Tibetan has died and two others have been seriously injured in self-immolations against Beijing's rule, according to reports

Three Tibetans in south-west China have set themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule, the latest in a series of self-immolations over the past year, according to media reports and an activist group.

The three set themselves ablaze on Friday in Seda county, known as Serthar in Tibetan, in Sichuan province, calling for freedom for Tibet and the return of the region's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, the Radio Free Asia news service said on Saturday.

One person died at the scene. The other two ? Tsaptsai Tsering, 60, and Kyarel, 30 ? were seriously injured, it said, citing unidentified sources. It said it could not identify the dead person. "Details are difficult to obtain due to the shutting down of communication lines in the area," a source told Radio Free Asia.

If confirmed, the incidents would bring to at least 19 the number of people who have set themselves on fire, mostly in traditionally Tibetan areas of Sichuan province. Most have called for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama, who fled to India amid an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

The London-based activist group Free Tibet also reported the incidents. It did not provide any further details, adding only that there had been substantial increases in security forces in the area recently.

It has been difficult to get news from the area because the government limited communications after violent protests last month in Sichuan, where Tibetans protested against what they said were hardline Chinese policies.

Tibetan activist groups say at least six people were killed in the clashes . The Chinese government says two rioters died and 24 police officers and firefighters were injured when stone-throwing Tibetan separatists attacked police stations.

The violence and self-immolations come as China enters a sensitive period, with the leaders of the ruling Communist party due to change by the end of this year.

The government has condemned self-immolations and says recent violence in several counties in Sichuan, including Seda, was instigated by forces outside the country wanting to separate Tibet from China.

This has been the region's most violent period since 2008, when deadly rioting in Tibet's capital, Lhasa, and spread to Tibetan areas in adjoining provinces. China responded by flooding the area with troops and closing Tibetan regions to foreigners for about a year.

Western reporters trying to visit that part of Sichuan in recent weeks have been turned away by security forces.

Moscow and Beijing's refusal leaves international community all but helpless in face of escalating violence

Russia's emphatic "nyet" to a UN security council resolution on Syria leaves the international community bitterly divided and all but helpless in the face of escalating violence before the vote.

Last-minute negotiations in New York failed to bridge the gap between an Arab-western plan for political transition and Moscow's refusal to arm-twist concessions from Bashar al-Assad. China's supportive veto was bleak repetition of past practice.

Grim faces around the council's table attested to a diplomatic failure following agreement to dilute the resolution to assuage concerns about regime change or foreign military intervention.

Overshadowed by memories of last year's Libyan crisis, the final draft did not even call on Assad to hand power to his deputy, as Arab countries had demanded. Instead, it simply expressed support for a "Syrian-led" political transition. It mentioned neither sanctions nor any other punitive action, or blocking arms deliveries ? Russia is Assad's most important supplier. The scathing western responses, including US "disgust", reflected frustration as well as real anger.

Many among Syria's opposition had never had high hopes of diplomacy. "Whatever happens in New York, the Syrian people are on their own in the fight against Assad," blogger Maysaloon tweeted hours before the Russian decision on the East River. "The Syrian people got this far without the UN. They will topple Assad in spite of Russia and China," he added later.

Estimates of how many civilians had been killed by Syrian forces in Homs during the preceding 24 hours ranged from more than 300 to 60. Confusion and propaganda no doubt played a part, but even the lower figures were a reminder of the human cost of Syria's collapse into civil war. Barack Obama condemned an "unspeakable assault".

Anger about the Russian veto masks the larger truth that there will be no Libyan-style intervention on the bloodiest frontline of the Arab spring. Attention will now focus on a trip to Damascus on Tuesday by Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister. Lavrov hinted last week that Moscow's support for Assad was no longer automatic. It is possible that Russia will try to put together a Syrian transition deal like the one that forced the departure of Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

? Thirteen other council members vote in favour
? UK and US react with fury to decision
? Homs death toll more than 200, say activists

Russia and China have vetoed a UN security council resolution calling for the Syrian president to step down, provoking a furious reaction.

All 13 other members of the council, including the US, France and Britain, voted in favour of the resolution, which backed an Arab peace plan aimed at stopping the violence in Syria. Russia and China blocked the resolution because of what they perceived to be a potential violation of Syria's sovereignty, which could allow for military intervention or regime change.

William Hague, the foreign secretary, condemned the decision. "More than 2,000 people have died since Russia and China vetoed the last draft resolution in October 2011," he said after the vote. "How many more need to die before Russia and China allow the UN security council to act?

"Those opposing UN security council action will have to account to the Syrian people for their actions, which do nothing to help bring an end to the violence that is ravaging the country. The United Kingdom will continue to support the people of Syria and the Arab League to find an end to the violence and allow a Syrian-led political transition."

The draft resolution, tabled by Morocco, did not impose sanctions or authorise military action and contained nothing that warranted opposition, Hague said. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, reacted angrily to the news at a press conference in Munich on Saturday night: "What more do we need to know to act decisively in the security council? To block this resolution is to bear responsibility for the horrors that are occurring on the ground in Syria."

Responding to the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, who asked "What's the endgame?", Clinton replied: "The endgame in the absence of us acting together as the international community, I fear, is civil war."

Hague accused Russia and China of siding with "the Syrian regime and its brutal suppression of the Syrian people in support of their own national interests. Their approach lets the Syrian people down, and will only encourage President Assad's brutal regime to increase the killing, as it has done in Homs over the past 24 hours."

France's ambasador to the UN, Gerard Araud, said: "It is a sad day for the council. It is a sad day for Syria ... History has compounded our shame."

The defeat came despite concerted efforts by western leaders to get security council backing for the resolution censuring the Damascus regime.

Speaking before the vote, Barack Obama called for Assad to step down following the latest bloodshed. The US president said Assad had lost his legitimacy as a ruler and had "no right" to cling to power. He said the regime's policy of terrorising its people "only indicates its inherent weakness and inevitable collapse".

Britain and France also condemned the violence and called for decisive action by the international community in an apparent rebuke to Russia, which carried out its threat to veto the draft resolution.

Death tolls cited by activists and opposition groups ranged from 217 to 260, making the Homs attack the deadliest so far in Assad's crackdown on protests that erupted 11 months ago in response to uprisings that overthrew three Arab leaders.

Hague said it was time for countries to stop giving "shelter" to the regime after the assault on Homs. "The Syrian regime's actions display President Assad's cold-blooded cynicism in the face of mounting international pressure for the UN security council to do its utmost to end the bloodshed.

"The time is long past for the international community, particularly those that have so far sheltered the Assad regime, to intensify the pressure to end over 10 months of violence."

The French foreign minister, Alain Juppe, said the Homs bloodshed was a crime against humanity and "those who block the adoption of such a resolution are taking a grave historical responsibility".

But the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, criticised the UN resolution, saying it made too few demands of anti-government armed groups, and could prejudge the outcome of a dialogue among political forces in the country.

Russian news agencies reported that Lavrov and Russia's foreign intelligence chief, Mikhail Fradkov, will meet with Assad in Damascus on Tuesday. Syria has been a key Russian ally since Soviet times and Moscow has opposed any UN demands that could be interpreted as advocating military intervention or regime change.

Earlier on Saturday, Tunisia decided to expel Syria's ambassador in response to the "bloody massacre" in Homs and said it no longer recognised the Assad regime. As news of the violence spread, a crowd of Syrians stormed their country's embassy in Cairo and protests broke out outside Syrian missions in Britain, Germany and the US.

Homs residents said pro-Assad forces began shelling the Khaldiya neighbourhood at around 8pm on Friday using artillery and mortars. They said at least 36 houses with families inside were destroyed. "We were sitting inside our house when we started hearing the shelling. We felt shells were falling on our heads," said Waleed, a resident of Khaldiya.

It was not immediately clear what had prompted Syrian forces to launch such an intense bombardment, just as diplomats at the security council were discussing the draft resolution supporting the Arab League demand for Assad to step aside.

Some activists said the violence was triggered by a wave of army defections in Homs, a stronghold of protests and armed insurgents whom Assad has vowed to crush. "The death toll is now at least 217 people killed in Homs, 138 of them killed in the Khaldiya district," Rami Abdulrahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters, citing witnesses.

"Syrian forces are shelling the district with mortars from several locations, some buildings are on fire. There are also buildings which got destroyed."

An activist said forces bombarded Khaldiya to scare other rebel neighbourhoods. "It does not seem that they get it. Even if they kill 10 million of us, the people will not stop until we topple him."

The opposition Syrian National Council said 260 civilians were killed, describing it as "one of the most horrific massacres since the beginning of the uprising in Syria". It said it believed Assad's forces were preparing for similar attacks around Damascus and in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour.

Another group, the Local Co-ordination Committees, gave a death toll of more than 200. It is not possible to verify activist or state media reports as Syria restricts independent media access. Video footage on the internet showed at least eight bodies assembled in a room, one of them with the top half of its head blown off. A voice on the video said the bombardment was continuing as the video was being filmed.

World's top tech firm brought to book by minor monologuist over working conditions in factories that make its gadgets

These days Mike Daisey is run off his feet. "I don't even have time to listen to my voicemail now. That's a phenomenon I have not experienced before," he told the Observer with an amazed laugh. Perhaps he shouldn't be so surprised. In the past fortnight, Daisey has gone from being a gifted but obscure solo act in the US theatre to the public face of a backlash against one of the iconic corporations of the 21st century.

Daisey's latest work, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, has triggered off a spasm of soul-searching about the sometimes appalling labour conditions in China under which many of America's most cherished products are made. Specifically, the shiny, sleek iPhones, iPods and iPads produced by Apple.

The Agony and the Ecstasy was devised after exhaustive research talking to exploited and abused workers in China, for almost 18 months. Daisey played to small but appreciative crowds across the US, winning critical praise but stirring little trouble, not even with the target of his ire: Apple itself.

But everything changed in January when a discussion and partial performance of Daisey's monologue appeared on the National Public Radio show This American Life. It rapidly became the most downloaded episode of the show's history and an online petition calling for Apple to reform its practices began. Within 48 hours it attracted 140,000 names. Then the New York Times ran an exhaustive investigation of Apple's supplier network in China that revealed industrial accidents, brutal working conditions and child labour. Daisey had briefed the newspaper's reporters and they had watched his show last year. Suddenly, Apple's Chinese supplier network was huge news.

That has turned him into an unlikely nemesis, sending tremors of fear through one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world. It is an amazing shift. After all, for 15 years the New York-based Daisey has crafted his art as a gifted monologuist, winning praise but little mass appeal on a variety of topics from his first job at Amazon to his views on Oprah Winfrey, or recounting a trip to the South Pacific.

But now, arriving apologetically late and harried in a trendy Brooklyn restaurant near his home in New York, Daisey is a man in intense demand. He has appearances lined up on CNN and other TV shows. On his blog he has been updating the story regularly and fending off criticism from Apple's defenders, including comedian Stephen Fry and Forbes columnist Tim Worstall.

Daisey is delighted but exhausted, having been up until 5am composing a response to a public attack from Worstall. "I am tired but I am encouraged to see traction. The only way you can fight for a thing like this is when you know the truth is on your side," he told the Observer.

Daisey's sudden catapult on to the world stage as the public face of criticism against Apple is an astonishing development, especially for such a rarely practised art as the theatrical monologue. It has also likely made his Steve Jobs piece one of the most remarkable performances of recent years, not least because of its leap from the stage to real world activism. "It's the first time maybe in a generation that the American theatre has affected change."

The play's premise is simple enough. It blends Daisey's own backstory as a nerdy geek who loved ? and continues to love ? Apple products, with the story of how Jobs ran the company with a mix of tyranny and genius before he died last year. But then it heads into dark territory as Daisey recounts how he became obsessed with photographs that emerged from inside the giant Foxconn factory in which many Apple products are made.

His fascination with how his beloved gadgets were built ends up with a subversive trip to southern China and interviews with ordinary workers who describe the physically and mentally crippling conditions in which many toil. On the trip Daisey was stunned that he, as a playwright, was the one digging up the truth. "I wanted journalists to tell the story. I am a monologuist and it's not the same thing. But I had to act as a journalist," he said.

Daisey is scathing about many of the journalists who cover Apple. He claimed they were often cowed by the firm, given strictly controlled access to the latest product launches but subject to intimidation over writing about anything that might hurt Apple's public image. He recites the story of one tech journalist who agreed to appear on a panel with him, only to be contacted by Apple and warned off doing so. "Apple has built an incredible institution of secrecy and people understand that when Apple threaten them they mean it. Everyone knows that," Daisey said.

As a performer, though, Daisey is immune. Yet he confesses he still has a complex emotional relationship with the company. He still uses an iPhone and does not tell people to boycott the company, just spread the word about Chinese labour practices in the hope that they change. When people email him to ask what phone they should buy ? and they do in large numbers ? he tells them to make an "ethical" choice they are comfortable with. He himself no longer upgrades his devices and is considering buying secondhand in the future.

Apple for its part says many of the stories emerging from China are not true and that it already is acting to monitor its suppliers' behaviour and bring in greater transparency. Other defenders of the firm point out that many other electrical goods firms are equally as culpable as Apple, if not more so.

For Daisey, perhaps because he loved Apple's caring and cool public image so much, that is not good enough. "It is like watching a friend lose his way. It is hard to imagine the Apple of a generation ago making this ham-fisted error." He believes the firm could have acted years earlier to improve its supplier network in China and would have reaped a PR bonanza, rather than the current global whirlwind of bad publicity.

"Now all they have to do is clean up the mess, but if they had got ahead of it they could have looked fantastic," he said.

Daisey himself is not stopping his charge. His monologue is still on stage and will remain so for at least the rest of the year. He may take it to bigger venues for one-off shows, aiming at 2,000-3,000-seat venues so the ticket prices can be driven down. He is also seeking to turn the monologue into a film. As a final way of spreading the word, he is soon to release a transcript of it and allow anyone in the world to adapt his show or put it on in as their own live performance. "People can tell this story to other people. This is exactly how the environmental movement really took hold. People realised these values mattered and they began to tell the story from person to person and that's what caused change," he said.

Though Daisey has other ideas for future monologues he knows the success of the Jobs show and the issue of Chinese labour practices that it illustrates is going to dominate his life for the foreseeable future. As he got up to leave the restaurant he left behind a half-eaten sandwich. He was headed to a car that would whisk him to a TV studio for another interview. "It's like that feeling you get when you climb a mountain and you get to the top and it turns out you are in the Alps, and there's a whole series of mountains ahead of you. Then you sharpen your stick and keep walking," he said.

Internet connections and mobile phone signals were cut for 30 miles around scene of clashes in Sichuan, state media reports

Chinese officials cut off mobile phone and internet connections to areas where Tibetans were shot dead amid unrest last month, state media has reported.

Officials say security forces fired in self-defence after mobs of rioters attacked police and official buildings in the south-western province of Sichuan, resulting in two deaths.

Tibetan exiles and campaign groups say police fired at peaceful protesters and killed at least three people.

It has been impossible to verify accounts of the unrest. Foreign reporters attempting to visit the region have been turned back, with officials blaming bad weather and the state of the roads.

Friday's English-language edition of the Global Times newspaper published a report from the region titled Monks Run Amok. The police chief of Luhuo in Ganzi ? a county known to Tibetans as Drango ? said police first tried to disperse rioters with high-power water guns and rubber bullets, but failed.

"Rioters continued to attack and tried to grab the guns from the police," he told the paper. "[Officers] first shot in the air as a warning, but it was completely ignored, so we had no other choice but to open fire."

The newspaper said the incident began with a protest that became violent. It said other Tibetan-populated counties had quickly tightened security, allowing police to quickly control the next day's unrest in Seda, known to Tibetans as Serthar, where another Tibetan was shot dead.

"After the riots, internet connections and mobile phone signals were cut off for over 50km [30 miles] around the riot areas. Police believe external forces played a part in the riots," the newspaper said.

In 2009, China cut off internet and text messaging services across the north-western region of Xinjiang after ethnic riots in the capital, Urumqi, left almost 200 dead.

Officials blamed "trained separatists" for instigating the events in Ganzi. They have also sought to blame outsiders for a string of self-immolations by Tibetan clergy and laypeople over the last year, mostly in Sichuan.

China appears to have stepped up security across other Tibetan areas, with the top party official in Lhasa urging security forces to increase surveillance of monasteries and main roads in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Qi Zhala ordered all people entering Tibet to carry identification cards from March, the state news agency Xinhua reported. He urged officials to strive for "no big incidents, no medium incidents and not even a small incident".

Wang Lijun is revered in Chongqing after declaring war on triads and organised crime

The abrupt transferral of a gang-busting police chief ? due to be immortalised in film ? has sent China's internet rumour mill into overdrive.

Wang Lijun became famous nationwide after leading a crackdown against organised crime in Chongqing launched by the region's high-profile party secretary, Bo Xilai.

His move from police to more general duties has sparked particular interest because he is seen as such a close ally of Bo, who is expected to rise still further when the next generation of leaders takes power this autumn.

Their controversial anti-gang campaign led to more than 1,500 arrests and culminated in the execution of the city's former deputy police chief and top justice official, Wen Qiang, for corruption, rape and shielding organised crime.

But on Thursday, Chongqing's information office said on its blog the party committee had given Wang a new portfolio in charge of economic affairs in place of his public security post, the South China Morning Post reported.

A few hours later, the office revised its message to say the 52-year-old would be in charge of issues including education, the environment and industrial and commercial management. "A hero who fought as a triad-buster has been pushed aside to a vice-mayor position without real power ? it is not only sadness for Chongqing but the whole of China," said one of many bloggers speculating that Wang was being sidelined because the portfolio was relatively junior.

But Bo Zhiyue, an expert on Chinese politics at the National University of Singapore, suggested the move was designed to prepare Wang ? who became vice-mayor last spring ? for higher office. "I think this is actually career enhancement ... To be promoted along the political path, to a mayor or provincial governor, he has to learn to deal with different issues," he said.

Lin Zhe, a professor with the party school of the CPC central committee, told the state-run Global Times newspaper: "Chongqing's work in cracking down on criminal gangs was called to an end early in 2010, when a meeting in the city was held to summarise the achievements of cracking down on gangs.

"So Wang has fulfilled his task as an anti-gang hero, and it is time for him to explore new spaces in other fields."

Chongqing officials have reportedly commissioned a four-volume history of the anti-triad campaign, with a film and television series to follow.

Wang's career seems made for the movies; according to the South China Morning Post, he has 20 scars from knife and bullet wounds and was once in a coma for 10 days due to his longterm battle with the triads.

The crackdown proved hugely popular with many residents ? "If Wang is not in charge of the PSB, is Chongqing still going to be safe?" one commentator asked ? although critics were alarmed by its methods.

There was particular concern at the jailing of a lawyer for his defence of an alleged gang boss. Others argue it is impossible to root out organised crime because of the gang bosses' powerful connections.