My guilty pleasure: the Fast and Furious franchise

What's happening? Paul Walker and Vin Diesel in Fast Five. Photograph: Universal Pictures

This is my favourite promotional photograph of recent years. Yeah boy! So what exactly is happening at this juncture of Fast Five, instalment numéro cinco of The Fast and the Furious (F&F) franchise? Paul Walker and Vin Diesel are both crouched low in the internationally recognised pose of shit's-going-down, but beyond that, who knows? Is Paul landing, or about to take off? Is Vin driving with his foot and, if so, is that legal? Is the car even moving? They look serious, atop their modified 1963 Corvette Grand Sport, like they're anticipating imminent delivery of a piece of heavy furniture. Whatever, don't sweat it; that's just how these guys roll.

You know you're going to get certain things from an F&F movie, and Juliette Binoche isn't one of them. Bombastic street-racing scenes filmed in juddering Shakycam like it's footage of a space shuttle exiting the upper atmosphere. Scantily clad women draping themselves over high-performance vehicles, as daydreamed by the tooth-grilled love child of Ali G and Jeremy Clarkson. The F&F franchise is cinema's equivalent of those dodgy Urban Flava-type music compilations – brash, festively obvious, ruthlessly demographicked, impossible not to find yourself nodding along to at some point. I'm completely hooked.

They're reprehensible films in many ways. The petrolhead thing isn't exactly in tune with the times; it feels as if, film after film, Vin and Paul have been essentially unzipping the flies on their Evisus and copiously relieving themselves all over Lord Stern. And however much Michelle Rodriguez's stink eye is deployed to bolster the series' girl power, the sexual politics remain, let's say, problematically booty-centric. Oneleading female Hollywood producer recently told me F&F was her own guilty pleasure. This has only partially stifled my qualms over lapping up a franchise that ushers in its centrepiece romance to the dulcet strains ofLudacris's Area Codes.

I get where that producer is coming from, though. They're well-made films, and they do whatever it takes to get the audience in the zone. Building on the solid if workmanlike chassis of the 2001 original, heavily modelled on the lines of ur-guilty pleasure Point Break, successive mods – hip-hop and martial-arts stars; Bond-style global locations from Tokyo Drift onwards; the addition of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, a great jutting spoiler of a casting coup – have put F&F in the entertainment big league. They always hit the spot, and they're oddly progressive in their own way. I like to think that audiences have been attracted by the series' embrace, to a far greater degree than any other Hollywood franchise, of the urban multicultural ideal as much as by all the pit-girl flesh on display.

OK, OK, I've clearly been at the nitrous fumes again. But if the series happily works inside its limitations, there's much to be enjoyed from doing the same as a viewer. As it's become more successful, the F&F formula has hardened into a set of posturing and rituals as intricate and formalised as a Hapsburg court ball. The opening dance, affirming the protagonists' keeping-it-real credentials, is usually the spontaneous street race. But my favourite part is Vin's inevitable flirty head-to-head with his female counterpart, packed to baroque distraction with foreplayish clutch-popping, coy cross-traffic glances and patronising, pretty-fly-for-a-girl nods. Despite the asphalt-paved vocal chords, Vin is, it has to be said, an awkward romantic lead, which makes the whole fandango even more hilarious.

F&F is also a curiously old-fashioned franchise; also, I think, responsible for its unexpected longevity. The only thing more sentimental than its glorification of property crime as morally superior to violent crime is its sense of family values. That's usually a good reason to give any film a wide berth, but there's something oddly comforting about the Toretto family soap opera that has taken root in the last three films; a parallel universe where there's no amount of coerced undercover police collaboration, or brutalisation at the hands of the local drug kingpin, that can't be smoothed over by a few Coronas and an al fresco chicken barbecue in the company of one's homies.

That said, my man Vin did make the family-above-all talk look a bit hollow when he bailed on the franchise at the first opportunity in 2002, whenplaying a Maori-tattooed, extreme-sports-loving secret agent instead briefly seemed like a good idea. But, hey, now he's back, while the golden prince Paul is no more. Does anyone else sense a mawkish Tupac-esque posthumous cult, the likes of which the hip-hop caucus specialises in, in the making?

Too cynical? Perhaps. But it doesn't matter – F&F is completely irony-proof, which is good because my love for them lacks any irony anyway.

The two-cars-tethered-to-a-bank-safe sequence in Fast Five is a masterpiece of destructive action choreography. The decoy-streetcar scramble at the end of No 2 is like a souped-up sequence from a golden-age Hollywood musical. The series trafficks the unrefined ingredients of why the movies were created: physical beauty, and watching objects move at high speed and then hopefully, spectacularly, not. It's pure spiritual contraband. They're the hip-hop Dukes of Hazzard – what's not to like? I'm sorry about all the booty, but I can't pretend I wasn't looking. I say all this as a man who can't even drive.

South Korea ferry disaster: footage shows crew being rescued

Footage of the captain and crew being hauled to safety from the sinking ferry Sewol was released on Monday as South Korean investigators expanded their inquiries into the rescue operation.

In the video clips released by the South Korean coastguard, the captain, wearing only a sweater and underpants, is shown leaping on to a rescue boat from the sinking ferry, which is tilting at about 45 degrees.

Others, who appear to be crew members, slide down from the bridge to the coastguard boat holding ropes. The video also shows about half a dozen people, apparently passengers, wearing lifejackets in the water near the stern of the ship.

According to Kim Kyung-il, a coastguard official, the ship's crew members did not tell rescuers that they were crew and those on the first rescue boat to arrive said the situation was so urgent that they could not check.

Victims' relatives have claimed that the government did not do enough to protect or rescue their loved ones and South Korea's prime minister on Sunday resigned over the handling of the disaster, blaming "deep-rooted evils" in society. Most of the dead and missing were secondary school students on a school trip.

The senior prosecutor Ahn Sang-don told reporters on Monday that documents and recordings were seized from a coastguard office in Mokpo, and the same would be done at an emergency call centre that received a call from a student on the ship reporting the sinking. The emergency service centre official connected a coastguard official with the student, who local media reports said was later found dead.

Prosecutors have questioned the captain, third mate and helmsman, who were on the bridge when the ship began listing, as well as another captain of the ferry who was on holiday on the day of the accident.

Ahn said that while all 15 crew members responsible for the ship's navigation had been arrested, they have not been formally charged. The seven surviving crew members who have not been arrested held non-marine jobs, such as chef or steward.

The arrested crew members are accused of negligence and of failing to help passengers in need. Captain Lee Joon-seok initially told passengers to stay in their rooms and took half an hour to issue an evacuation order, by which time the ship was tilting too severely for many people to get out. Lee told reporters after his arrest that he withheld the evacuation order because rescuers had yet to arrive and he feared for passengers' safety in the cold water.

The number of dead from the 16 April sinking is 188, with 114 people believed missing. Only 174 people survived, including 22 of the 29 crew members.

Divers on Monday renewed their search for more than 100 bodies still trapped after weekend recovery efforts were hindered by bad weather, strong currents and floating debris. Divers recovered only one body on Sunday.

Ko Myung-seok, an official with the emergency taskforce, said the government was planning to salvage the ferry once search efforts ended but that details would not be available until officials had talked to families of the victims.

The ferry was carrying an estimated 3,608 tons of cargo, according to an executive of the company that loaded it. That far exceeds what the captain claimed in paperwork – 150 cars and 657 tons of other cargo, according to the coastguard – and is more than three times what an inspector who examined the vessel during a redesign last year said it could safely carry.

Senior prosecutor Yang Jung-jin said the cause of the sinking could be due to excessive veering, improper stowage of cargo, modifications made to the ship and tidal influence. He said investigators would determine the cause by consulting with experts and using simulations.

Pfizer preparing £60bn bid for AstraZeneca

Pfizer has confirmed details of a multi-billion pound takeover approach for UK company AstraZeneca. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/PA

Pfizer has set the stage for a battle to buy Britain's AstraZeneca after the US drugs group said it was willing to pay almost £60bn to secure the biggest foreign takeover of a UK company.

The world's biggest drug company went public with its interest in AstraZeneca after the UK company rejected a second bid approach at the weekend. Its hostile move piles pressure on AstraZeneca's board to enter talks on a deal that threatens big job cuts.

The news of Pfizer's interest sent AstraZeneca's shares soaring by 15%, to £46.91, adding almost £8bn to the company's market value. While trade unions warned on the consequences for AstraZeneca's 7,200 UK employees and a product line that accounts for 2.3% of UK goods exports, Downing Street said it had no objection to a deal and a top ten shareholder in AstraZeneca described Pfizer's interest as a "credible approach."

David Cameron's official spokesman said the government was not against takeovers of British companies by foreign firms.

"The fact that Britain has an open trade-based economy which is open both to investment but also British firms investing overseas, that is a strength to the UK. In terms of measures that the UK government takes to attract investment to the UK, in R&D [research and development] and the like, what we have done in the pharmaceutical sector... we have a range of policies that make us a very attractive place to do business."

In a statement to the stock exchange, Pfizer said it had approached AstraZeneca in January and again on Saturday.

In January Pfizer, which produces Viagra, indicated it was willing to pay £46.61 a share for AstraZeneca in cash and shares, valuing AstraZeneca at £58.8bn. The companies discussed a potential deal but AstraZeneca broke off talks on 12 January.

The US company contacted AstraZeneca on Saturday but AstraZeneca refused to hold talks without a specific proposal for an attractive offer.

A fund manager at one of AstraZeneca's top 10 investors said he was unhappy that details of January's approach were forced out by Pfizer's statement and that AstraZeneca should talk to Pfizer.

"I think what Pfizer is attempting to do is to put pressure on AstraZeneca's board to engage. I would have thought the board would be under increased pressure to think seriously about the correct valuation of this business.

"This is important news and it is potentially unwise for boards not to disclose this sort of information. This is a credible approach from another of the world's biggest companies."

AstraZeneca said Pfizer's overture undervalued the company and only offered shareholders 30% of the price in cash. It also raised concerns about risks involved in Pfizer's proposal to move its headquarters to the UK for tax purposes.

Under Pfizer's plan, the combined company would be incorporated in the UK with shares listed in New York and management in Britain and the US. The arrangement would mean Pfizer would not pay US tax on its non-US earnings.

Ian Read, Pfizer's Scottish-born chief executive, said the tax structure would protect AstraZeneca's revenues from the 38% rate of corporation tax in the US. UK corporation tax is 21% and will fall to 20% next year.

A deal would raise concerns about job losses among AstraZeneca's 7,200 employees in the UK and 50,000-strong workforce worldwide.

Pfizer recently closed its main UK research and development centre at Sandwich in Kent with the loss of 2,400 jobs. The closure was a blow to the local economy and the government's ambition to increase high-skill jobs.

Read said the proposed deal would let Pfizer eliminate "redundant functions" and overlapping operations and refused to pledge that manufacturing would stay in the UK.

"I can't make any firm commitments. We see the UK as an attractive place to do science and manufacturing. Jobs and investment tend to follow incentives.

"You need to look at this restructuring in the context of an industry responding to society's request for increases in efficiency and productivity."

A takeover of AstraZeneca, which is one of the biggest employers in Chancellor George Osborne's Tatton constituency, would be by far the largest foreign acquisition of a UK company, dwarfing Kraft's £12bn buy-up of Cadbury in 2010 and Telefonica of Spain's £17bn takeover of O2 in 2005.

Osborne said last week that a bid by Pfizer was "a commercial matter" for the two companies.

Allan Black, the GMB union's national officer for the chemicals industry, said: "What we face here is a hostile approach by this US company to eventually migrate these well paid UK-based manufacturing and research and development jobs to the Far East."

Pfizer said it was was considering an offer at a "significant premium" to AstraZeneca's share price. Under takeover rules it has until 26 May to make a firm offer unless an extension is granted.

Pfizer said an offer for AstraZeneca would give the UK group's shareholders a payout worth much more than the "undisturbed" share price on 17 April, before bid speculation started. The shares closed that day at £37.83 but after Pfizer's announcement jumped to £47.07 – above Pfizer's earlier mooted offer and valuing AstraZeneca at £59.5bn.

Speculation about a possible bid from Pfizer has sent AstraZeneca's shares up since Easter. The UK company's chief executive, Pascal Soriot, said last week a takeover at a standard premium would undervalue the company and the progress it was making in developing new products, for example cancer drugs.

Pfizer is said to be keen to put to use some of its £40bn cash pile obtained from its foreign subsidiaries, which would trigger big tax bills if it was repatriated to the US to be paid in dividends.

Alex Salmond insists independent Scotland would remain in EU

Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond prepares to make his speech at the College of Europe in Bruges. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/Reuters

Alex Salmond has put himself on a collision course with Westminster and the European Union by insisting that an independent Scotland would automatically remain in the EU while still enjoying the UK's key opt-outs from the EU regime.

In a set-piece speech on Scotland's place in Europe, delivered in Bruges to echo Margaret Thatcher's bravura 1988 performance, the Scottish first minister dismissed as absurd statements in Brussels and London that a secessionist Scotland would need to re-apply to join the EU.

Contrasting English Euroscepticism with Scottish Europhilia, Salmond argued that the bigger threat to Scotland's future in the EU stemmed not from the September independence referendum, but from David Cameron's pledge to allow a UK vote in 2017 on whether to remain an EU member.

"Because of the rising influence of a virulent strain – not just of Euroscepticism, but of Europhobia – at Westminster, it now poses a real threat to Scotland's place in Europe," he said. "Today Britain sits at the margins of European influence, and if Scotland remains governed from London we face the prospect of an in/out referendum on whether to be part of the European Union at all. It is conceivable that unless we choose to change our circumstances this September we could be dragged out of the European Union against our will."

There is a settled legal view among policymakers in Brussels that an independent Scotland will not automatically be an EU member, but will have to apply to join and face the prospect of lengthy and tough negotiations. That view has been eagerly seized upon by unionists and the no campaign.

In a letter to Salmond on Monday, William Hague, the foreign secretary, wrote: "Scotland's negotiations to join the EU are likely to be complex and long and the outcome would certainly prove less advantageous than the status quo … your desire for Scotland to become an independent state which is a member of the EU within 18 months of a yes vote has been presented to voters in Scotland as a certainty. The truth is that this is far from certain."

Salmond's visit to Bruges and Brussels was aimed at refuting this notion. He asserted that a separate Scottish state would remain an EU member.

"The Scottish government recognises that continued membership of the EU will require negotiations on the specific terms. That is only right and proper. But these negotiations will be completed within the 18-month period between a yes vote in September and achieving independence in March 2016," Salmond said. "Scotland will ask for continued membership on the basis of 'continuity of effect'".

He said it was absurd to deny the correctness of his argument.

"Five and a quarter million people ceasing to be EU citizens against their will … is more than absurd. There is simply no legal basis in the EU treaties for any such proposition. And it is against the founding principles of the European Union."

Salmond also insisted that the new Scotland would retain the sterling currency and remain, like the rest of Britain, outside the EU's Schengen travel zone. If he is right, Scotland would be afforded special treatment that has been denied all new member states joining over the last decade.

The assertion was challenged by Hague. "How will you convince all 28 member states to unanimously agree to grant special opt-outs to Scotland (on the euro, or membership of the Schengen area) which all recent member states have had to adopt themselves?"

The first minister and foreign secretary also clashed over how best to represent Scottish interests in Europe.

"Scotland benefits from the UK's strong voice in Europe and the UK has a proven track record in delivering for Scottish interests in the EU," Hague said.

Salmond, by contrast, argued that Scotland's interests in Europe had been persistently damaged by conservative governments with no mandate in Scotland.

"For more than half of my life, Scotland has been governed by parties from Westminster which could not command a majority in Scotland. That's a profound democratic deficit. It affects all areas of Scottish life," he said.

"Not being at the top table in Europe has harmed Scotland's interests for four decades. Within the UK, we are occasionally consulted. With independence, we would contribute as equals."

Waxing lyrical: artist finds portraying North Korea's leaders a tall order

A waxwork of Kim Il-sung, grandfather of the current North Korean leader. 'People cry when they see the statues,' Zhang said. Photograph: Zhang Molei

The special allure of waxworks, says Zhang Molei, China's foremost exponent of the art, is the opportunity to pose alongside the great and good.

Even leaders cannot resist being captured beside their predecessors. A photograph in the Great Man Wax Museum of China's office shows Li Yuanchao, China's vice-president, with a model of Zhou Enlai.

But in North Korea, the figures made by Zhang's team are an object of reverence. Even the most senior officials cannot be photographed with the models of the late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, displayed just outside Pyongyang.

"People cry when they see the statues," Zhang told the Guardian.

"For North Korean people it's like being close to a god. They respect the figures in the way they would respect the actual person; it's not just a piece of art. Even senior officials keep a distance of at least 1.5 metres. No one would touch their clothes or hair."

People can take pictures from only one spot, chosen to show each figure to its best advantage, and must capture the whole of the image, as when photographing sculptures or paintings.

Zhang's work with Pyongyang began in 1994, after Kim Il-sung's death, when the North's ambassador to China said it would like a figure of its late leader.

The briefings from officials were "detailed to a degree you cannot imagine", he said, with even Kim Jong-il weighing in. The finished product was escorted to Pyongyang with ceremony by a black-suited, white-gloved team of guards.

Later a high-ranking official suggested there should be a model of Kim's wife, the mother of Kim Jong-il. Since few photographs existed, and those that did were small and blurry, the artists relied on a sculpture of her.

"We tried to make it like the image of her in people's hearts," said Zhang.They had only just presented the waxwork when Kim Jong-il died, in December 2011. His son Kim Jong-un decided that his father too should be rendered in wax.

But a lengthy debate over Kim Jong-il's liver spots threatened to derail the project until it was referred to the very top.

Kim Jong-il's model, with some liver spots. Photograph: Zhang Molei

"He had quite a lot when he got older. The North Koreans thought the waxwork should not have any at all, and I thought we could reduce them but should have a few. So we had several rounds of debate about this and couldn't reach agreement. In the end, Kim Jong-un said it was not good to erase all of the marks and we could keep some. He made the decision," Zhang said.

A special United Nations commission reported last month that the North was guilty of gross and systematic human rights violations. But Zhang dismissed critics who ask why he works for the North, saying people did not understand the country.

"Some people say that North Korea is a dictatorship and violent regime, so why do it?" he said. "Actually it's a lovable country … People are very genuine and work hard."

He said that giving people another leadership system "would be like trying to persuade them to change to a new god."

The former documentary maker turned to waxworks after visiting Madame Tussauds and judging its models of Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders inadequate. He decided it would take Chinese artists to capture their spirit.

Chinese vice-president Li Yuanchao, left, with a model of Zhou Enlai, the first Chinese premier. Photograph: Zhang Molei

It took six years to set up the Great Man Waxwork Museum, until recently housed in the National Museum, because of the complicated negotiations with various party bodies, government departments and other agencies – all with their own, sometimes contradictory, opinions.

"Once a waxwork is related to politics, the artistic features become secondary," he said.

"You might decide to depict someone in his 70s and one leader would say 'Maybe in his 80s would be better'. Maybe he looked better in his 70s. But you'd change it and then the next leader would say 'In his 70s would be better'," he recalled.

"That was 20 years ago and the political environment now is much better, but it still takes a long time to arrange an exhibition."

His new project will capture the likeness of 100 famous Chinese figures including more political leaders, novelist Lu Xun and propaganda role models such as Lei Feng, a humble soldier held up as a paragon of selflessness. The show, named China Dream – Chinese Soul, will debut in Beijing before touring the country.

He is also planning commercial exhibitions of celebrities and would like to create a Winston Churchill waxwork for donation to the British Museum.

Despite Zhang's commitment to verisimilitude, all his models diverge from their originals in one regard: they are considerably taller. He said that viewers would otherwise think the figures too short, because they are seen at a distance.

The double of the famously short Deng Xiaoping, who in real life measured about 150cm (4ft 11ins), stands 178cm tall

London tube strikes: first wave of industrial action to begin as talks end

Most tube lines will see fewer trains running, and only certain sections and intermittent stations likely to remain open. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The first of two planned tube strikes in London over the next fortnight is set to go ahead from Monday night after talks ended without agreement.

Members of the RMT union working on the capital's underground network will strike for 48 hours from 9.30pm over plans to close ticket offices.

Tube bosses accused the union leadership of holding a pointless strike and "simply making it up as they go along", but the RMT said tube managers were "hell-bent on confrontation". A two-hour meeting at the arbitration service Acas gave no sign of a breakthrough.

Services will be severely affected in places. Transport for London (TfL) vowed to keep the capital moving but appealed to commuters to plan their journeys and where possible walk or cycle.

Most tube lines will see fewer trains running, and only certain sections and intermittent stations likely to remain open. Some of the greatest disruption will be on the Piccadilly and Central lines, both closed in central London, while other lines will close for stretches in outer zones – full details are published on the TfL website.

Passengers at Britain's biggest airport, Heathrow, face particular disruption in reaching central London with the RMT calling a separate strike on the Heathrow Express service. A reduced, half-hourly service is expected to run. The Piccadilly line will not be stopping at terminals four and five and a vastly reduced service from the airport's other services will only run as far as Acton Town.

The industrial action will be followed next week by another, 72-hour strike after the bank holiday weekend.

Across the tube network, trains are expected to only start after 7am on Tuesday and Wednesday and services likely to end by 11pm.

But more tube services are expected to remain in action than during the February strike – when about 70% of services were affected – as TSSA staff are not taking part in the action.

Extra buses and river boat services will run, and TfL backroom staff will work at stations as "ambassadors" to provide travel information. The Docklands Light Railway and London's overground network will not be directly affected but likely to be extremely busy with extra demand.

The congestion charge will not be lifted, with TfL unwilling to see more drivers clog the capital's streets. Traffic analysts Inrix warned motorists to expect delays of up to an hour on a typical 60-minute rush-hour journey.

Mike Brown, managing director of London Underground, said the RMT appeared "implacably opposed to the modernisation of the tube".

He said safety and security would not be compromised by plans to close ticket offices and that there would be no compulsory redundancies, although around 900 jobs will be cut. He said: "However, the RMT leadership continues to say no to everything. They are simply making it up as they go along.

"Only the RMT leadership know the real motivations behind their actions, but it is infuriating that London's commuters and businesses are the ones who are being forced to pay the price with five days of utterly pointless and disruptive strikes."

The proposed changes, which have been given extra urgency for tube bosses by cuts in the TfL budget, will see the axing of hundreds of station office jobs that TfL believes have been made redundant by technology and cashless payment.

Three other unions are still discussing the proposals, including the TSSA union, which took action alongside the RMT in February. The RMT was believed to be unofficially attending talks with tube management and other unions last week.

But RMT negotiators are taking a hardline stance, with an impending vote to elect the leader of the union after the sudden death of its general secretary, Bob Crow, in March. A rally in memory of Crow and the late Labour politician Tony Benn will be held on Thursday, between the two planned strikes.

London Underground says its plans will see more staff available in public areas of stations. The RMT claims job losses will rise and ordinary staff could face heavy pay cuts while senior management pay levels increase.

The union's acting general secretary, Mick Cash, said: "London Underground have dug themselves into an entrenched position and have refused to move one inch from their stance of closing every ticket office, in breach of the agreement reached previously through Acas which enabled us to suspend the previous round of action.

"Despite the spin from LU, nothing that they are proposing is about modernisation. The current plans, closing every ticket office and axing nearly a thousand safety-critical jobs, is solely about massive austerity cuts driven centrally by David Cameron and his government and implemented by Mayor Boris Johnson."

Cash claimed that if a proper public consultation was offered, the union would call off its strike, but the idea was "rejected wholesale by tube managers who seem hell-bent on confrontation".

An Acas spokesman said: "The meeting between RMT and London Underground this morning has now finished. Our services remain available to the parties and we will continue to maintain close contact with the parties."

Johnson urged the union to call off its "pointless strike". He said: "Commuters and businesses will suffer because a few narrow-minded union barons are currently flexing their muscles in a fight for the leadership of a union where just 30% of members support a strike."

Israel risks becoming apartheid state if peace talks fail, says John Kerry

John Kerry, the US secretary of state. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, has warned in a closed-door meeting that Israel risks becoming an "apartheid state" if US-sponsored efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement fail.

In an apparent sign of Kerry's deep frustration over the almost certain collapse of the current nine-month round of peace talks – due to conclude on Tuesday – he blamed both sides for the lack of progress and said failure could lead to a resumption of Palestinian violence against Israeli citizens.

The remarks were made on Friday at the Trilateral Commission, a non-governmental organisation of experts and officials from the US, western Europe, Russia and Japan. A recording was acquired by the Daily Beastwebsite.

Kerry also suggested that a change of either Israeli or Palestinian leadership might create more favourable conditions for peace and the final, long-delayed agreement on the shape of a Palestinian state.

Kerry's remarks represent a significant departure, as senior US officials historically have avoided the word "apartheid" relating to Israeli policies. It is believed to be the first time a US official of Kerry's standing has used the contentious term in the context of Israel, even if only as a warning for the future.

Although the danger to Israel of a failure to move towards a two-state solution has been framed by Israeli politicians in similar terms, US officials have long been wary of following suit. When the former president Jimmy Carter used it for the tile of his 2006 book Palestine: Peace or Apartheid, it caused controversy.

Kerry's comments reflect similar recent warnings to Israel from western diplomats that the collapse of the peace talks might lead to the country's increasing isolation.

Kerry said: "A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative. Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens – or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state.

"Once you put that frame in your mind, that reality, which is the bottom line, you understand how imperative it is to get to the two-state solution, which both leaders, even yesterday, said they remain deeply committed to."

Kerry has had a sometimes strained relationship with some senior Israeli officials as the peace talks have become gridlocked. In January Israel's defence minister, Moshe Ya'alon, described Kerry as "obsessive and messianic".

In 2008 in an interview during his election campaign, Barack Obama explicitly rejected "injecting a term like apartheid" into the discussion over Israel and Palestine. "It's emotionally loaded, historically inaccurate, and it's not what I believe," he said.

Attempting to defuse the row, Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the US state department, said: "Secretary Kerry, like justice minister Livni and previous Israeli prime ministers Olmert and Barak, was reiterating why there's no such thing as a one-state solution if you believe, as he does, in the principle of a Jewish state.

"[Kerry] was talking about the kind of future Israel wants and the kind of future both Israelis and Palestinians would want to envision. The only way to have two nations and two peoples living side by side in peace and security is through a two-state solution. And without a two-state solution, the level of prosperity and security the Israeli and Palestinian people deserve isn't possible."

The Emergency Committee for Israel, whose chairman is the prominent neo-conservative William Kristol, said: "On Friday, secretary of state John Kerry raised the spectre of Israel as an 'apartheid state'. Even Barack Obama condemned the use of this term when running for president in 2008. It is no longer enough for the White House to clean up after the messes John Kerry has made. It is time for John Kerry to step down as secretary of state, or for President Obama to fire him."