4.20pm BST

Here's a roundup of the main developments today:

• Turkey's deputy prime minister, Bulent Arinc, has apologized for the excessive force used by police against the protesters and agreed to meet protest leaders. But Arinc also urged the protest movement not to be led astray by extremists.

• Largely peaceful anti-government rallies have continued across Turkey as a coalition of public sector unions began a two-day strike in support of the protests. Hundreds of people have been allowed to continue to occupy Istanbul's Taksim Square.

• The Foreign Office has urged Britons to avoid demonstrations in Turkey. In update advice it said: "Following recent demonstrations in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya, Adana and other cities across Turkey in which police have used tear gas and water cannon, further violent protests remain possible."

• Mobile internet users in Turkey are routing around suspected censorship by its government by downloading software that encrypts and hides their connections to the outside world, as the unrest in the country grows. People there are also downloading communications apps such as Twitter and Ustream, which can broadcast live video, and Zello, which works like a walkie-talkie, so they can record events and avoid surveillance, as protests continued.

• The US has called for an investigation into the political violence in Turkey and urged restraint on all sides. In remarks that are likely to provoke prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the US secretary of state, John Kerry, said: "We are concerned by the reports of excessive use of force by police. We obviously hope that there will be a full investigation of those incidents and full restraint from the police force."