Activists say multiple rocket-launchers are being used by Assad forces

Syrian forces have maintained their barrage of Homs, killing at least 50 people on Monday morning, according to a senior member of the main opposition group, the Syrian National Council.

"The tally that we have received from various activists in Homs since the shelling started this morning is 50, mostly civilians. The regime is acting as if it were immune to international intervention and has a free hand to use violence against the people," Catherine al-Talli told Reuters.

The bombardment of the city where scores of people died over the weekend continued as the US sought to build an international coalition outside the auspices of the UN which could impose further sanctions against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, and China defended its decision to join Russia in vetoing a UN resolution calling on the Syrian president to resign.

The latest attacks on several districts of Homs formed the most violent bombardment in recent days, according to one Syria-based activist who had spoken to people in the city. Homs has been a centre of resistance during the 11-month uprising, in which more than 6,000 people have died.

A makeshift hospital in the neighbourhood of Baba Amr was among the targets hit by Monday's bombardment, according to the Local Co-ordinating Committees activist group.

One resident told Reuters that around 150 people had been wounded. "They want to drive the Free Syrian Army out," said Hussein Nader, referring to the rebel force of army deserters and gunmen. "Rockets are falling seconds apart on the same target."

Another local activist said multiple rocket-launchers were being used by Assad forces. Such claims have not been independently verified. Explosions could be heard and smoke could be seen rising from some buildings in live footage being broadcast by Arab satellite television stations.

In the Khalidiyeh district of the city, "we did not sleep all night", activist Majd Amer told Associated Press. "The regime is committing organised crimes." Amer said shelling had started at 3am local time, and most residents living on high floors either fled to shelters or to lower floors. Electricity was also cut.

There were also claims that a military post in the north-east of the country had destroyed over by Syrian army deserters overnight.

Three officers were killed and 19 soldiers captured in the attack, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. No deserters were killed in the attack on the village of al-Bara in the Edleb region, said the group.

Activists also said Zabadani, a town north-west of Damascus near the Lebanese border that has been largely under the control of Assad's opponents for weeks, had come under fire on Monday.

Anti-government activists say they fear that the veto will embolden Assad's regime, pushing the country into outright civil war.

Hillary Clinton said the US would work with other nations to try to tighten "regional and national" sanctions against Assad's government "to dry up the sources of funding and the arms shipments that are keeping the regime's war machine going".

"We will work to expose those who are still funding the regime and sending it weapons that are used against defenceless Syrians, including women and children," she said. "We will work with the friends of a democratic Syria around the world to support the opposition's peaceful political plans for change."

Clinton did not say what the new group would set out to achieve. But it appeared that the US might seek to help organise a "Friends of Syria" group – proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy after the veto – to advance the Arab League initiative given the inability to make headway at the UN because of Russian and Chinese opposition.

All 13 other members of the security council voted to back the resolution, which would have "fully supported" the Arab League plan for Assad to cede powers to a deputy, a withdrawal of troops from towns and a start to a transition to democracy.

Russia said the resolution was biased and would have meant taking sides in a civil war. Syria is Moscow's only big ally in the Middle East, home to a Russian naval base and client for its arms. China's veto appeared to follow Russia's lead.

China's state-run media said western intervention in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq showed the error of forced regime change. "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," the People's Daily said.

Documents show two payments were made in 2002 but there is no evidence to suggest they were made to police officers

Two suspicious payments by News of the World journalists during the Milly Dowler case are under police investigation, the police anti-corruption watchdog has revealed.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission [IPCC] said they were supervising the ongoing investigation, which resulted from paperwork handed over by the newspaper, but no evidence had surfaced so far to link the payments to corrupt officers.

The IPCC disclosure came in the course of a report published on Monday, which dismissed claims that a detective constable from Surrey police had sold information to journalists in 2002, including the missing teenager's mobile phone number. The report said the information, which came from a former Surrey police officer calling himself "Andy" , was unsubstantiated "supposition and rumour".

But the report added: "Officers from Operation Elveden, the investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service into allegations of corrupt payments by journalists to police officers, informed Surrey police they had documentation from the News of the World indicating that two payments had been made by journalists in 2002 in connection with Milly Dowler."

The report, by IPCC commissioner Mike Franklin, said: "Enquiries with Operation Elveden revealed no evidence the two payments made by the News of the World in connection to Milly Dowler were to a police officer. This investigation, which is being supervised by the IPCC, is ongoing."

On the allegations that a Surrey police officer, called Officer A, had been feeding journalists information for cash, the report found: "It is extremely likely the source of all the information that instigated this investigation is from the same person; 'Andy'. He did not provide the IPCC with any substantive or factual evidence to support the allegations and at best the information he provided can be described as supposition and rumour. "

It has been previously established that the News of the World employed a private detective, Glenn Mulcaire to hack into the missing Milly Dowler's voicemail messages in 2002, in an operation involving two senior News of the World executives, who have subsequently been arrested for questioning and bailed by police.

Full coverage as the head of the Met's phone-hacking inquiry, Daily Mail editor and former NoW showbiz editor give evidence

2.03pm: Our colleague David Leigh's story on the IPCC investigation into News of the World payments in the Milly Dowler case is now live. He writes:

Two suspicious payments by News of the World journalists during the Milly Dowler case are under police investigation, the police anti-corruption watchdog has revealed.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission [IPCC] said they were supervising the ongoing investigation, which resulted from paperwork handed over by the newspaper, but no evidence had surfaced so far to link the payments to corrupt officers.

The IPCC disclosure came in the course of a report published on Monday, which dismissed claims that a detective constable from Surrey police had sold information to journalists in 2002, including the missing teenager's mobile phone number. The report said the information, which came from a former Surrey police officer calling himself "Andy" , was unsubstantiated "supposition and rumour".

But the report added: "Officers from Operation Elveden, the investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service into allegations of corrupt payments by journalists to police officers, informed Surrey police they had documentation from the News of the World indicating that two payments had been made by journalists in 2002 in connection with Milly Dowler."

You can read the full story here.

1.54pm: Our correspondent at the Royal Courts of Justice, Lisa O'Carroll, has just tweeted that Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre has not yet arrived before his turn in the stand.

#leveson Paul dacre has not yet arrived but air of anticipation in court 73

— lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) February 6, 2012

1.51pm: The investigative journalist, Tom Bower, has been on Sky News ahead of Paul Dacre's evidence to the Leveson inquiry.

Bower described Dacre as "one of the great" newspaper editors and "the last hope to save this ridiculous inquiry from going off into the wilderness".

He is no fan of Lord Justice Leveson. "I think Leveson has failed as an operation to find out what has gone on," Bower said. "Leveson personally doesn't understand the press. I don't think a judge is the right person [to conduct this inquiry] in the first place."

He added: "The problems are minor. There was one terrible error but not worthwhile of this massive apparatus. The News of the World went off in a particular way – that is regrettable – but they had a different way of operating to the Daily Mail."

1.07pm: Here is Sue Akers's witness statment:

12.58pm: Here is a lunchtime summary of today's evidence so far:

• The Scotland Yard team investigating payment to police by journalists has been expanded following arrests at the Sun.

• News of the World journalists arrested under Operation Elveden were "relatively senior", DAC Sue Akers told the inquiry.

• The Former News of the World showbiz editor, Dan Wootton, said "need to protect exclusives" was justification for not pre-notifying subject of stories in some instances.

• A Sunday Mirror journalist, Nick Owens, denied he encouraged undercover film-maker Chris Atkins to disclose celebrities' confidential medical records.

• The Independent Police Complaints Commission has found no evidence to suggest that a Surrey police officer disclosed Milly Dowler's phone number to the News of the World.

12.52pm: The inquiry has now broken for lunch. It will resume at 2pm for evidence from Paul Dacre, editor-in-chief of the Daily Mail.

12.51pm: Owens has completed his evidence.

12.50pm: Owens is asked about the reaction of the Sunday Mirror editor, Tina Weaver, when told about the conversation.

Weaver thought Owens had acted unwisely and made "some clumsy comments", he says.

12.45pm: Here is Chris Atkins's record of his converation with Owens, as it appears in his witness statement:

I then gave him several fabricated operations of real celebrities:

CA: Well - one of Girls Aloud

NO: One of?

CA: One of - boobjob, consultation

NO: Oh really - OK - that's good

CA: Mr Hugh Grant - had a bit of a face tuck - that's happened a while ago

NO: Face tuck?

CA: Yeah

NO: That's OK

CA: Rhys Ifans - tummy

NO: Oh really - Rhys? Tummy tuck

CA: Yeah, again don't know how long that was

NO: He's not going back for more?

CA: I don't know - I don't know

NO: OK

CA: I don 't even know what this is - but Guy Ritchie apparently - chemical peel

CA: This is the one which is literally quite recent is Gemma Arterton... a gastric

NO: That's surprising isn't it?

NO: Girls Aloud is potential... very very good story. Depends who it is. If it's Cheryl then it is massive - with Cheryl you can expect a big pay, that makes it less dodgy for your source. It's almost worth the wait, till she had it done... Have they had it done or it is just a consultation?

CA: No - consultation.

NO: Are we talking about Cheryl

CA: No

NO: Not a problem -

CA: Nicola

NO: Nicola - that is still a good story. That is the best one ... And Gemma - the other three are like maybes.

NO: I think Rhys is funny - cos, you know Rhys Ifans wanting a tummy tuck is a very funny story - but then again - is it justified in the public interest? That's the problem. We could get away with Gemma - that's massive, good story that ... because as you see she does not need one. You have got to ask yourself why? Why is she bothering? That age as well. So that's all great.

CA: What sort of figure, this would never be ... but so I've got a ball park -

NO: Think you are looking to get over three grand minimum - that is a start. How it works is right, page lead in the paper is a grand - but the further it gets to the front of the paper - the more it is. Get a spread - well you won't get a spread out of this as it's one fact. That is the problem - unless you get some kind of... Fern made a spread cos of the issues surrounding her. This one is "Nicola's got a boob job" it is a one fact story ... there's no getting around it ... As a journalist you write that story up, there's almost a point where you put a full stop and you've finished the story. Then you have to write round it.

CA: Just rehash old stuff?

NO: Yeah you have to.

NO: [About Rhys Ifans] having a tummy tuck to get rid of his beer belly isn't it? It's a fucking good story that - but out of all of them you could do Rhys - if you wanted to do one you could probably do Rhys Sunday.

NO: If it's a boob job then that goes without saying - if you say to me that she [Nicola] has had a boob job in May - and we know about it and then we put pictures on her very early on - and we would be the first paper to fucking run that story - do the before and after pictures. Because what you do with boob job stories is "has she or hasn't she had a boob job?" And we know she has, which means I can write it quite strong. With Gemma Arterton it is slightly more tricky cos it's a consultation for a gastric band and obviously it goes without saying you can't see it. Cos then we do have to go to her - with her we might need some documents, we need to know when it happened.

NO: [about Rhys Ifans] Having a tummy tuck to get rid of his beer belly isn't it? It's a fucking good story that - but out of all of them you could do Rhys - if you wanted to do one you could probably do Rhys Sunday, but we're not gonna do that. But looking at it, Rhys you could probably get away with because it's so funny. The other two you have got to wait - Gemma and Nicola you have got to wait -

CA: Yes but which ones would she need to

NO: I don't think we would need anything more on Nicola because it would be there - in plain view for all to see

CA: But what if ... we don't want to be in a situation where they deny it- and they come back to us and say I need something tomorrow, or it's dead, do you know what I mean?

NO: Yes the thing is - with that she'll need - in my opinion is that with an operation like that - it is quite a big operation - they will normally need a couple of weeks off - so it will come when there's a gap in their thing - we'll be able to work it out- no one has seen them for a few weeks - where has she been? I think we will be fine on that - I mean I think we will be all right - and obviously fit looks like she has got bigger tits we can easily say she has had a boob job and we will be all right. Gemma Arterton we'll need if possible some documentation. The thing to say to your friend is "what can you get?" Because the more the better really. If she can't get anything then fine.

CA: She is an administrative nurse, that's the thing, so she probably can

NO: If she can, yeah get a document on everything.

12.44pm: Owens says that by the end of his conversation he had come to the view that he would not act on the information.

The meeting was not mentioned afterwards to the news desk, he says.

12.43pm: The witness statement of Sue Akers has now been published on the Leveson inquiry website.

12.42pm: Owens says that newspapers do often investigate claims and that was his aim in meeting Atkins.

He suggests that he kept open the possibility of exposing Atkins after the undercover film-maker claimed to be able to get his friend drunk to obtain information about celebrities.

"I went away thinking that there was potential to expose what he was doing," he tells the inquiry.

Barr suggests that Owens was "positively encouraging" Atkins to get his friend drunk.

Owens denies he was doing this and "alarm bells began to ring" that Atkins himself may be worth investigating.

12.33pm: Barr claims that Owens told Atkins that he was "keen to keep talking" about potential stories involving celebrities and cosmetic surgery.

Owens says: "I didn't believe it was dynamite information. I was there to find out what the information was."

12.24pm: Barr continues to press Owens on what he meant by certain exchanges in the transcript of the recording. He asks about Atkins's suggestions that he could obtain information about a member of Girls Aloud, Hugh Grant, Rhys Ifans and Guy Ritchie

Barr suggests that Owens had come to conclusions about the value of certain stories to be obtained from Atkins.

Owens denies he had reached final conclusions and says he was going along with Atkins just to "keep his interest".

12.20pm: The Independent Police Complaints Commission has said there is no evidence that a Surrey police officer gave Milly Dowler's telephone number to the News of the World.

In a statement, the IPCC said:

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has concluded that there is no evidence to support allegations that a Surrey police officer subject to an IPCC investigation, gave information to journalists during Operation Ruby, the investigation into the disappearance of Amanda (Milly) Dowler in 2002.

The matter was referred to the IPCC by Surrey police in August 2011 after they received information from three newspaper journalists that they were going to publish the allegations.

IPCC commissioner Mike Franklin said:

"The allegations that a Surrey police officer provided information to journalists during Operation Ruby, and may have been paid for doing so, can only have added to the terrible loss endured by Milly Dowler's family. Surrey police, quite rightly, came under a great deal of scrutiny over this issue - the allegations are serious and required independent examination.

"I hope our finding that there was no substantive or factual evidence to support the allegations will provide some reassurance to the Dowler family on this issue at least.

"It appears from this investigation that unsubstantiated information, perhaps not surprisingly, quickly gained currency in a climate where the relationships between the police and the media are under intense public scrutiny.

"A police officer was criminally interviewed and remained under suspicion for some months, as our investigators sought to establish the facts,. We have provided Surrey police with our report and indicated we see no need for further action.

"The terms of this investigation were specific to these allegations and this officer."

The Dowler family has seen the IPCC report into the specific officer. They are conscious of the fact that other investigations not involving the IPCC are ongoing and have no further comment to make.

12.19pm: Owens denies he was coordinating a strategy to publish stories based on the claimed medical records.

He says that "nothing happened" after the meeting, proving that there was no "strategy".

12.16pm: Barr suggests that the transcript suggests Owens had a "wish list" of what cosmetic surgery pocedures he wanted information on, and that gastric bands were the best story.

Owens denies this.

12.13pm: Barr says it is "self-evident" that Owens told Atkins that the Sunday Mirror would be interested in the stories even if it could not obtain confidential medical records to back up the claims.

Owens again contests this, saying he wanted to establish what hard evidence might be available if asked by his newsdesk.

Barr suggests that the phrase in the transcript "just ask her what she can get hold of" were active encouragement to obtain documents from a source.

Owens denies this.

12.06pm: Owens says that the conversation is "not reflective" of the Sunday Mirror because he was having an informal one-to-one conversation.

Pressed on the exchanges about Fern Britton, Owens tells the inquiry he is being candid and was simply attempting to establish what information Atkins was claiming to be able to obtain.

This would have helped Owens explain to his news desk what evidence might be available, he says.

12.03pm: For Chris Atkins's version of events, you can read his witness statement on the Leveson inquiry website.

11.59am: Owens is asked whether it was "ethically appropriate" to meet Atkins in this context.

Owens says it was because he was just listening what Atkins had to say. "The key is what you do," he adds, pointing out again that no story was published by the Sunday Mirror based on this information.

11.56am: Owens says he made it clear to Atkins that there need to be a strong public interest justification if it was to run a story about Fern Britton having a gastric band operation.

He points out that this was "an informal" meeting and the information discussed "did not lead to any information being published".

11.52am: Owens felt that Atkins had some information that would be interesting to hear, and cannot remember what was going through his mind at the time of the 2009 conversation.

According to the transcript as read by Barr, Owens said "great" when Atkins said that he knew someone who could get private information on celebrities.

"I certainly wasn't delighted to hear that," he says. "I couldn't tell you why I said that word three years ago."

11.48am: Owens is asked about Chris Atkins's Starsuckers film.

Barr reads aloud parts of the transcript of the undercover recording. Owens says that he made clear early in the conversation that they were discussing a "very sensitive" issue, namely medical records of celebrities.

Owens says that as a journalist "we have a duty to engage with people and hear them out" and that is what he was doing.

11.43am: Owens says that the Sunday Mirror has a lawyer in the office at all times, unlike at the Lancashire Evening Post.

Lord Justice Leveson asks about his undercover report into a Bernard Matthews turkey factory.

Owens says the newspaper found it justified to go undercover as an employee to investigate the factory.

11.40am: Leveson asks Owens what "protective measures" are taken before any undercover investigation by Owens.

He says news editors would be involved at all stages. Owens talks about an undercover report into traffic wardens while he was at the Lancashire Evening Post.

Readers of the paper had expressed concerns about wardens and so "probably the only way" to investigate the potential story.

He says that being "economical with the truth" was justified because of the level of concern expressed from readers.

11.37am: Owens says that he deals with stories on a case-by-case basis.

Asked about Chris Atkins, the filmmaker behind the Starsuckers undercover sting, Owens confirms he only told his newsdesk he was going to meet someone – not who he was meeting.

11.32am: Owens says that in March 2009 he was very familiar with the PCC code.

This is the time when Owens was filmed apparently suggesting the Sunday Mirror would pay for celebrities' medical information.

11.31am: David Barr, counsel to the inquiry, is leading the questioning of Owens.

Owens joined the Sunday Mirror in 2006 from the Lancashire Evening Post.

11.29am: The inquiry has resumed and Sunday Mirror reporter Nick Owens has taken the stand.

Owens was covertly filmed for the Starsuckers film suggesting he would pay for private information about celebrities. Owens later apologised for his remarks.

The Sunday Mirror editor, Tina Weaver, defended Owens when she gave evidence to the inquiry last month.

"He realised it wasn't in the public interest at some stage and didn't even report his meeting to the news desk," she said. "I would like to say that this story would never have been published ... Apart from this incident, he's a very good and honest reporter."

11.20am: Wootton has completed his evidence and the inquiry is taking a short break.

11.19am: Lord Justice Leveson asks Wootton about newspapers in his native New Zealand.

Wootton says that there is a self-regulatory body that is not made up of serving editors. Newspapers in New Zealand are compelled to publish findings of the regulator in full if they are found against, he says.

11.15am: Wootton is now working for the Daily Mail, a magazine and a TV programme.

He is asked about Hugh Grant and stories last year about the birth of his daughter.

"I was very concerned and disappointed when I heard one aspect of Hugh Grant's evidence," he says.

He suggests that Grant's publicists in the US have a policy of not speaking to British tabloids and describes this as "frustrating" when a journalist is attempting to give right of reply. "I definitely think there needs to be a two-way street."

11.11am: Wootton says he would not write about Hugh Grant, for example, because "he didn't seem to enjoy being a celebrity".

He says it is "naive" to say you can be a Hollywood celebrity and bemoan the press attention that comes with the role.

"All celebrities have a right to privacy," Wootton says, adding that in particular areas – sexuality, health issues, children – this is sacrosanct.

11.08am: Wootton is asked about the public interest.

He gives the example of one celebrity who was employed by a supermarket brand and had spoken publicly about her family life amid allegations of drug abuse. He suggests this was in the public interest because it showed hypocrisy.

He contrasts this with another celebrity who had not spoken about their private life so the NoW could not mount a public interest defence on grounds of hypocrisy.

"It could go both ways," he tells the inquiry.

11.02am: There were no complaints made to the PCC about Wootton's stories in the final three years of his time at the News of the World, he says.

Wootton was named showbiz reporter of the year at the British Press Awards in 2010. One of the pieces that won him the prize was on the death of Boyzone member, Stephen Gately.

11.00am: Wootton says that he was once bylined on a story that he had not worked on at all.

He points out that his showbiz column, headed with his name, ran 52 weeks a year – and he did not work all year.

"There are certain accepted tabloid conventions," he says.

10.58am: Wootton says that he would sometimes inquire about the source of information from freelance contributors.

He believes he would sometimes take a more cautious approach than other journalists at the NoW.

10.56am: Wootton tells the inquiry that "there is a need to protect exclusives" and on a small number of occasions there would be a "commercial decision" not to pre-notify on a showbiz story because of a fear of leaks.

He says that right of reply would only not be given if the editor was 100% confident of the facts of the article; it was more likely to happen on positive stories.

It was Wootton's policy to give right of reply on 99% of his stories, he says.

10.52am: Wootton says there was "probably" times when his opinion was overruled as to whether the NoW would run a story.

He recalls one occasion when a senior executive at the paper had been told that a celebrity was going to take a certain job.

Wootton says his gut feeling was that the story should be checked, but the executive did not and requested that Wootton also did not check the story.

10.50am: Wootton says the job of showbiz editor is "definitely walking a tightrope" by being fair to celebrities and not becoming a stooge.

"Because the News of the World was coming from a position of weakness, it was felt that that was particularly important," he says.

10.47am: Jay asks whether Wootton felt he was "colluding" with celebrities to put stories with a certain angle out.

Wootton denies this. "I was always conscious not to become a stooge to celebrities," he says. His stories were built on trust that the celebrities would be treated fairly.

"One of my jobs was to make sure celebrities felt confident to give interviews and stories to the News of the World," he says, adding that the paper had to work on rebuilding trust in 2007, following the convictions of Goodman and Mulcaire.

10.45am: Wootton says that there was a fear that "secret squirrel" stories could be leaked. He says these were one-fact stories, such as celebrity A had split from celebrity B. They were kept within a small group of about five people.

"The News of the World was particularly conscious that stories could be leaked, because they had in the past," he says.

Wootton says that none of his stories were obtained by subterfuge and about half came from celebrities themselves.

10.45am: Wootton denies there was a bullying culture at the News of the World.

He adds that individual desks in the newsroom "very much ran as separate entities".

Wootton operated on the features desk and would have "very very minimal" contact with the news desk, he says.

Wootton spoke to the head of news about twice in his four years at the paper, he says.

10.44am: Wootton says that he joined on a day when the News of the World was holding its first regular PCC seminar. He was given a pocket-sized PCC guidebook which he carried "at all times".

He says that every story – including "the most trivial" – would be read by at least four people in the newsroom before publication.

Wootton says he felt the News of the World was in competition with its sister title, the Sun.

10.40am: Wootton says that he was assured following the conviction of News of the World royal correspondent Clive Goodman in early 2007 that that was an "individual incident".

"When I started it was made absolutely clear that that behaviour would not be tolerated in any way by [then editor] Colin Myler," he tells the inquiry.

10.37am: Wootton joined the News of the World in 2007 and was at the paper until its closure in July last year.

There is an interview with Wootton shortly after the paper's closure on the BBC website.

10.34am: Dan Wootton, the former News of the World showbiz editor, has taken the stand.

10.33am: Akers has completed her evidence.

10.33am: Akers is asked about Operation Kalmyk. It is a scoping exercise that arose from Operation Tuleta evidence of at least one person being involved in illegally accessing computers for financial gain.

Operation Kalmyk was the subject of a recent BBC Panorama programme, Akers confirms.

One person has been arrested under Operation Kalmyk and are on bail until March.

Leveson says "my train isn't stopping" in terms of pushing ahead with his inquiry.

10.31am: Akers says that the Met is examining 4 terabytes – a vast amount – of information under Operation Tuleta.

She describes it as a "huge amount, vast" when asked what it would look like if printed out.

10.29am: Jay asks about Operation Tuleta.

Akers says that about 20 police officers are looking into 57 claims of "data intrusion" on behalf of journalists.

Most of these claims relate to computer hacking, medical records and phone hacking.

Some of these claims go back to as long ago as the late 1980s, Akers says. "Some of these are connected to very historic investigations that the Met has undertaken," she adds.

10.27am: Akers is asked about timing of Operation Elveden.

She says she is "less confident in saying we're nearer the end than the beginning" with Elveden, unlike Operation Weeting.

Akers says because News International is giving "voluntary disclosure" to police, the Met is not obtaining evidence via a production order. Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, the police are not entitled to seek a warrant where there is co-operation.

10.25am: Akers says that information from News Corp's MSC led to the arrest of a journalist at the Sun in November last year.

The further arrests at the Sun last month came from disclosures from the MSC "as well as our own analysis" of material handed over, Akers confirms.

The police want to question one further journalist who is abroad, she adds.

10.23am: Akers says that the Met police has a "co-operative working relationship" with News Corp's internal investigation unit, the management and standards committee (MSC).

Akers says that "reasonably senior" News of the World journalists have been arrested under Operation Elveden between June and December.

No police officers have been identified as suspects in relation to the News of the World, Akers confirms. The material has come from the newspapers and so the sources are not identified.

10.19am: Akers is asked about Operation Elveden, the investigation into payments to police officers by journalists.

Akers says there is a "very legitimate public interest" in investigating this.

She adds that 40 police officers and staff are currently working on Elveden, but that team will be expanded to 61 officers in light of the investigation into the Sun.

Fourteen people have been arrested so far under Elveden.

10.18am: Jay asks if Akers "is nearer the finishing line than the starting gun". She agrees.

Akers adds that a total of 90 police officers are working on Operation Weeting, including 35 who are "dedicated to the victims, which has been quite time consuming".

10.17am: Akers says that "a number of key witnesses" have come forward but the police want to see more. "That process is ongoing. It will take a few more months," Akers tells the inquiry.

Jay says that 300m emails have been retrieved from News International, including material that the police thought had been lost.

Akers says the search of that material is in a relatively advanced stage. The Met police has found hard archives of some material.

10.15am: The police have contacted 581 of those 829 likely phone hacking victims, Akers says. A further 231 are uncontactable, but are identified in Mulcaire's notes. Seventeen people have not been contacted for "operational reasons".

Two of the 17 people arrested under Operation Weeting have had no further action taken against them and 15 are on bail.

10.13am: The number of people contacted by police or writing in to police asking if they were hacked is 2,900, Akers confirms. Of those, 1,578 actually appeared in Mulcaire's notes.

Akers says there are 829 "likely" victims – those who have detail around their names that make it likely they were hacked or had potential to be hacked.

10.08am: Jay confirms that there are 6,349 potential victims – identifiable names of people in information held under Operation Weeting – of phone hacking. There are 11,000 pages in the seized notes of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. The number of names with phone numbers alongside is 4,375.

10.05am: Akers is the police chief in charge of the Operation Weeting investigation into phone hacking; the Operation Tuleta investigation into computer hacking to procure information on behalf of newspapers; and Operating Elveden, the police investigation into inappropriate payments to police officers by journalists.

10.02am: Sue Akers, the detective assistant commissioner of the Met police, has taken the stand.

Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, is leading the questioning.

9.59am: Our correspondent at the Royal Courts of Justice, Lisa O'Carroll, has just tweeted that Sue Akers, the deputy assistant commissioner of the Met police, will be the first witness of the day. Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre is expected to appear this afternoon.

#leveson order for today Akers, Owens, wooton, then dacre in the afternoon

— lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) February 6, 2012

9.41am: Former News of the World showbiz correspondent Dan Wootton has revealed his pre-Leveson preparation: an uplifting dose of the Canadian singer Alanis Morissette.

Big morning ahead so I'm listening to Alanis. Obv.

— Dan Wootton (@danwootton) February 6, 2012

9.40am: Good morning and welcome to the Leveson inquiry live blog.

Paul Dacre, editor-in-chief of the Daily Mail, and Sue Akers, the Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner in charge of three major investigations into alleged press illegality, will give evidence to the inquiry today.

Fleet Street's longest-serving newspaper editor is likely to be asked about the Daily Mail's use of the private investigator Steve Whittamore, as uncovered in the information commissioner's report What Price Privacy Now? in 2006. Dacre is also expected to be asked about Associated Newspapers' accusation of "mendacious smears" against Hugh Grant after the actor gave evidence to the inquiry last year.

Akers will become the first serving police officer to be quizzed by the Leveson inquiry.

Two journalists, the Sunday Mirror reporter Nick Owens and the former News of the World showbiz correspondent Dan Wootton, will also appear.

Follow the inquiry live from 10am.

Other wealthy individuals have also funded a series of reports into the future use of technologies to geoengineer the climate

• What is geo-engineering?
• Scientists criticise handling of geoengineering pilot project

A small group of leading climate scientists, financially supported by billionaires including Bill Gates, are lobbying governments and international bodies to back experiments into manipulating the climate on a global scale to avoid catastrophic climate change.

The scientists, who advocate geoengineering methods such as spraying millions of tonnes of reflective particles of sulphur dioxide 30 miles above earth, argue that a "plan B" for climate change will be needed if the UN and politicians cannot agree to making the necessary cuts in greenhouse gases, and say the US government and others should pay for a major programme of international research.

Solar geoengineering techniques are highly controversial: while some climate scientists believe they may prove a quick and relatively cheap way to slow global warming, others fear that when conducted in the upper atmosphere, they could irrevocably alter rainfall patterns and interfere with the earth's climate.

Geoengineering is opposed by many environmentalists, who say the technology could undermine efforts to reduce emissions, and by developing countries who fear it could be used as a weapon or by rich countries to their advantage. In 2010, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity declared a moratorium on experiments in the sea and space, except for small-scale scientific studies.

Concern is now growing that the small but influential group of scientists, and their backers, may have a disproportionate effect on major decisions about geoengineering research and policy.

"We will need to protect ourselves from vested interests [and] be sure that choices are not influenced by parties who might make significant amounts of money through a choice to modify climate, especially using proprietary intellectual property," said Jane Long, director at large for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US, in a paper delivered to a recent geoengineering conference on ethics.

"The stakes are very high and scientists are not the best people to deal with the social, ethical or political issues that geoengineering raises," said Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace. "The idea that a self-selected group should have so much influence is bizarre."

Pressure to find a quick technological fix to climate change is growing as politicians fail to reach an agreement to significantly reduce emissions. In 2009-2010, the US government received requests for over $2bn(£1.2bn) of grants for geoengineering research, but spent around $100m.

As well as Gates, other wealthy individuals including Sir Richard Branson, tar sands magnate Murray Edwards and the co-founder of Skype, Niklas Zennström, have funded a series of official reports into future use of the technology. Branson, who has frequently called for geoengineering to combat climate change, helped fund the Royal Society's inquiry into solar radiation management last year through his Carbon War Room charity. It is not known how much he contributed.

Professors David Keith, of Harvard University, and Ken Caldeira of Stanford, are the world's two leading advocates of major research into geoengineering the upper atmosphere to provide earth with a reflective shield. They have so far received over $4.6m from Gates to run the Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research (Ficer). Nearly half Ficer's money, which comes directly from Gates's personal funds, has so far been used for their own research, but the rest is disbursed by them to fund the work of other advocates of large-scale interventions.

According to statements of financial interests, Keith receives an undisclosed sum from Bill Gates each year, and is the president and majority owner of the geoengineering company Carbon Engineering, in which both Gates and Edwards have major stakes – believed to be together worth over $10m.

Another Edwards company, Canadian Natural Resources, has plans to spend $25bn to turn the bitumen-bearing sand found in northern Alberta into barrels of crude oil. Caldeira says he receives $375,000 a year from Gates, holds a carbon capture patent and works for Intellectual Ventures, a private geoegineering research company part-owned by Gates and run by Nathan Myhrvold, former head of technology at Microsoft.

According to the latest Ficer accounts, the two scientists have so far given $300,000 of Gates money to part-fund three prominent reviews and assessments of geoengineering – the UK Royal Society report on Solar Radiation Management, the US Taskforce on Geoengineering and a 2009 report by Novin a science thinktank based in Santa Barbara, California. Keith and Caldeira either sat on the panels that produced the reports or contributed evidence. All three reports strongly recommended more research into solar radiation management.

The fund also gave $600,000 to Phil Rasch, chief climate scientist for the Pacific Northwest national laboratory, one of 10 research institutions funded by the US energy department.

Rasch gave evidence at the first Royal Society report on geoengineering 2009 and was a panel member on the 2011 report. He has testified to the US Congress about the need for government funding of large-scale geoengineering and, according to a financial statement he gave the Royal Society, also works for Intellectual Ventures. In addition, Caldeira and Keith gave a further $240,000 to geoengineering advocates to travel and attend workshops and meetings and $100,000 to Jay Apt, a prominent advocate of geoengineering as a last resort, and professor of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Apt worked with Keith and Aurora Flight Sciences, a US company that develops drone aircraft technology for the US military, to study the costs of sending 1m tonnes of sulphate particles into the upper atmosphere a year.

Analysis of the eight major national and international inquiries into geoengineering over the past three years shows that Keith and Caldeira, Rasch and Prof Granger Morgan the head of department of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University where Keith works, have sat on seven panels, including one set up by the UN. Three other strong advocates of solar radiation geoengineering, including Rasch, have sat on national inquiries part-funded by Ficer.

"There are clear conflicts of interest between many of the people involved in the debate," said Diana Bronson, a researcher with Montreal-based geoengineering watchdog ETC.

"What is really worrying is that the same small group working on high-risk technologies that will geoengineer the planet is also trying to engineer the discussion around international rules and regulations. We cannot put the fox in charge of the chicken coop."

"The eco-clique are lobbying for a huge injection of public funds into geoengineering research. They dominate virtually every inquiry into geoengineering. They are present in almost all of the expert deliberations. They have been the leading advisers to parliamentary and congressional inquiries and their views will, in all likelihood, dominate the deliberations of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as it grapples for the first time with the scientific and ethical tangle that is climate engineering," said Clive Hamilton, professor of Public Ethics at the Australian National University, in a Guardian blog.

The scientists involved reject this notion. "Even the perception that [a small group of people has] illegitimate influence [is] very unhealthy for a technology which has extreme power over the world. The concerns that a small group [is] dominating the debate are legitimate, but things are not as they were," said Keith. "It's changing as countries like India and China become involved. The era when my voice or that of a few was dominant is over. We need a very broad debate."

"Every scientist has some conflict of interest, because we would all like to see more resources going to study things that we find interesting," said Caldeira. "Do I have too much influence? I feel like I have too little. I have been calling for making CO2 emissions illegal for many years, but no one is listening to me. People who disagree with me might feel I have too much influence. The best way to reduce my influence is to have more public research funds available, so that our funds are in the noise. If the federal government played the role it should in this area, there would be no need for money from Gates.

"Regarding my own patents, I have repeatedly stated that if any patent that I am on is ever used for the purposes of altering climate, then any proceeds that accrue to me for this use will be donated to nonprofit NGOs and charities. I have no expectation or interest in developing a personal revenue stream based upon the use of these patents for climate modification.".

Rasch added: "I don't feel there is any conflict of interest. I don't lobby, work with patents or intellectual property, do classified research or work with for-profit companies. The research I do on geoengineering involves computer simulations and thinking about possible consequences. The Ficer foundation that has funded my research tries to be transparent in their activities, as do I."

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Maria Miller blames unemployment on people's unwillingness to apply for work

A government minister has insisted there is "no shortage of jobs", blaming unemployment on people's unwillingness to apply for the work available.

Maria Miller, the minister for disabled people in the Department for Work and Pensions, said on Sunday night she believed the unemployment problem was down to a lack of "appetite" for the jobs on offer.

Her comments are likely to provoke anger among those desperately seeking work with little success. The latest official count of unemployed people stands at 2.68 million, while the figures show the number of new workers being sought by employers in the last quarter of 2011 at 463,000. This is equivalent to around six people for every vacancy in the country.

Recent analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research found wide variations across the country. In Hartlepool there are 16 jobseekers for every vacancy, while in Middlesbrough there are 12.

But Miller appeared confident the problem lay with people's unwillingness to take jobs and making sure they know "where those jobs are".

Asked about unemployment on BBC Radio 5's Pienaar's Politics, the minister said: "If you actually look at the facts and the figures, there's 400,000 jobs at any one point in jobcentres. I was up in the Wirral on Friday talking to one of our local jobcentres there and there isn't a shortage of jobs. What there can be is a lack of an appetite for some of jobs that are available, so we've got to make sure people have got the right skills, that they don't see a risk in moving into employment and that this is actually not just a choice but it's actually the route they are going to take. So I don't think it's a lack of jobs at the moment, I think it really is making sure that we've got people knowing where those jobs are."

She continued: "Every family should be a working family. I think it's not so much workshy as have people got the right skills? Can we overcome their fear of the risk of going into work, or indeed, some of the fear of the problems that it will create for the rest of their family … it's not just about that individual, it's about their family as well, and it's not just about skills, it's getting them to be not afraid of taking on that job."

When those classed as "economically inactive" – not looking for work for a variety of reasons – are factored in, the figure for those out of work and below the age of retirement swells to 9.29 million. This includes those claiming out-of-work disability benefits.

Miller said it was important for the government to reform the welfare system to ensure those who wished to work could. She said the benefit cap was vital to reduce the unsustainable level of benefit payments, but that measures would be introduced to ensure vulnerable people were protected.

"It's absolutely right that we have to be sure that all of the reforms we put in place are fair and there are some very clear exemptions when it comes to the benefit cap for anybody who's in receipt of disability living allowance or the successor the personal dependence payment. What's important is that we also recognise that many disabled people do want to be able to get back into work. Half of disabled people do work at the moment; many more would like to. So it's absolutely right that we should be structuring our welfare system to support people to be able to do that.

"So whether it's through the universal credit, which will remove that cliff-edge – an immense risk that disabled people face at the moment when they go back into work, putting in place the work programme, or indeed work choice which gives specialist support, all of that can help remove disabled people from that feeling of being trapped into welfare dependency."

Monarch reminds Britain of 'spirit of togetherness' as Republic group prepare to demonstrate against 60th anniversary pageant

The Queen is issuing a message of thanks to the public on Monday morning on the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne.

In a statement from Buckingham Palace, the 85-year-old monarch promises to dedicate herself anew to the service of the country, and echoes a call that she made in her Christmas message for the restoration of a national spirit of togetherness.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will spend the day at Sandringham, the Norfolk mansion where her father, George VI, died in his sleep on 6 February 1952.

The couple were out in the snow on Sunday, for a service at West Newton church, on the estate and being greeted with flowers from well-wishers. They visited the local Sunday school in the village hall, but a 90th anniversary parade by the Royal British Legion, in King's Lynn, which the duke had planned to attend, was cancelled due to the weather.

The Queen's message says: "Today, as I mark 60 years as your Queen, I am writing to thank you for the wonderful support and encouragement that you have given to me and Prince Philip over these years and to tell you how deeply moved we have been to receive so many kind messages about the diamond jubilee.

"In this special year, as I dedicate myself anew to your service, I hope that we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family friendship and good neighbourliness, examples of which I have been fortunate to see throughout my reign and which my family and I look forward to seeing in many forms as we travel throughout the UK and the wider Commonwealth.

"I hope also that this jubilee year will be a time to give thanks for the great advances that have been made since 1952 and to look forward to the future with clear heads and warm hearts as we join together in our celebrations. I send my sincere good wishes to you all."

Responding, David Cameron praised the Queen's dignity and authority, guiding and uniting Britain and the Commonwealth over six decades. To view her as a glittering ornament was to "misunderstand" the constitution. "Always dedicated, always resolute and always respected, she is a source of wisdom and continuity," he said.

Cameron, the 12th PM of the reign, who was not even born until she had been on the throne for more than 14 years, added: "All my life and for the lives of most people in this country she has always been there for us. Today and this year we have the chance to say thank you."

The main focus of the celebrations will be the first weekend in June, extended by two successive bank holidays, when there will be a riverboat pageant of 1,000 vessels sailing down the Thames through London, expected to be attended by a million spectators, an open-air concert at Buckingham Palace, and a service at St Paul's Cathedral.

anti-monarchy group Republic, which said its members would demonstrate peacefully against the pageant, argued that schools and the BBC should not be overly enthusiastic about the celebrations.

The Queen and duke are due to visit many areas of Britain and Northern Ireland in the summer, and other members of the royal family are visiting Commonwealth nations, starting in March with Prince Harry in his first official solo tour, to the Caribbean and Latin America.

On Mondaya jubilee website, is being launched with news about events during the year and two newly commissioned photographs of the Queen. There will also be commemorative postage stamps and a charitable diamond jubilee trust, led by Sir John Major, to raise money for medical research and education across the Commonwealth.

The former prime minister said the trust would "identify charitable projects that would enrich the lives and opportunities of all its citizens to provide a lasting legacy".

The anniversary was not met entirely with unalloyed joy however as some economists said the June holiday could dent GDP by 0.5% in the second quarter as firms closed and people took extra leave, though they conceded this could be made up by sales of jubilee souvenirs, food and drink purchases for street parties, and tourist revenue.

Justice secretary says overhaul of family justice system will put emphasis on children's need for relationship with both parents

Ken Clarke, the justice secretary, is to publish proposals to give divorced and separated fathers stronger rights to see their children as part of an overhaul of the family justice system.

Grandparents are also expected to see their influence increased amid plans to consider how "parenting agreements" could be used to emphasise the need for parents to consider how the child can maintain a relationship with other close family members.

Other reforms include a six-month time limit for care and adoption cases in the courts, though Clarke insisted that flexibility would remain to ensure a time extension for complex cases where this was in the children's interest.

The key change in the process is the introduction of rules making clearer that it is vital youngsters enjoy "an ongoing relationship with both parents". Ministers have signalled that they will not offer the guarantee of equal access demanded by some fathers' rights groups but want to ensure no loving parent is "pushed out".

In a bid to prevent custody cases reaching the courts in the first place, the government will promise an extra £10m for mediation services.

Where parents do end up resorting to the law, it will examine ways to amend legislation to ensure no parents are excluded unless they pose a safety or welfare risk.

Clarke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday: "We want to put back confidence that the courts will have proper regard to the position of fathers and the right of the child to have contact with the father, but of course in the end the interests of the child must be uppermost and it isn't always possible."

The change forms part of the government's response to a review led by former Whitehall mandarin David Norgrove – but is directly at odds with one of his main findings.

Norgrove voiced his "regret" last week that a legal right would be included despite his report warning it could cause "confusion, misinterpretation and false expectations". Similar changes in Australia led to delays in resolving custody disputes, he cautioned.

Clarke said Norgrove had initially recommended the move in his interim report but withdrew it following a visit to Australia. The justice secretary said the working group would have the "difficult task" of drafting a statement in the law of the "undoubted joint responsibilities of children, and the joint entitlements of children, without getting into the Australian problem, which was a disaster, because it led to a great increase in litigation with everybody arguing about shared time, and they didn't draft it very well. We have to draft it with care."

Clarke said: "We are stating what I think is the view of most people, that both parents have responsibilities and rights towards their children and the children are entitled to try to maintain contact with both parents if it's at all possible. But what we are doing is going to state that principle in the law, because there are far too many people who still think it's not being applied – though I do think the courts do apply it and try to apply it in most cases. But we are also going to have to draft what we do to avoid all the undoubted dangers in Australia which caused David Norgrove and his colleagues to be hesitant."

Clarke said one thing that needed to be addressed was what could be done where one parent, usually the mother, refused to comply with the order of the court allowing the father contact.

Asked whether, in the case of a non-complying parent, he would rather the child were removed so that the father had more rights, Clarke said such cases represented a small minority. "The hardcore ones require the judge to exercise the judgment of Solomon. What we are suggesting is that at an early stage the judge makes it clear he or she does have powers to transfer custody."

He added: "Of course it's right that the interests of the child will finally determine it, but I think at an earlier stage in the case it should be made perfectly clear that the court like any other court will expect to enforce its judgments. These are all very difficult areas. They are not capable of simple solutions."

Clarke denied there was an inconsistency between plans to increase the rights of parents in private law while, where care proceedings were concerned, the government was taking less account of parents' rights by imposing a six-month limit on care proceedings that could mean a child being taken into care sooner.

Clarke cited the "intolerable" delays in care proceedings that can lead to a child being taken into care and eventually sometimes to adoption. He said the six-month limit was recommended by Norgrove and was designed to speed up the process, but he said there would be cases where the judge would be under a duty to explain why it would have to take longer.

"If they can't sort it out within six months then the judge has to give reasons for the delay and the continued delay has to be tackled. Of course there will be some cases where it can't be done but at the moment there is far too much delay in the court … in the interest of the child you cannot leave the child either exposed to risk or in an uncertain situation, delay adoption as much as we do."

Ministers will also signal a desire to address complaints from grandparents' groups that their needs are often ignored when children's futures are being discussed.

Guidance will make clear that they should be formally considered when voluntary parenting agreements are being negotiated in an effort to avoid court action.

A working group involving five ministers to review the 1989 Children's Act will be unveiled on Monday.

Mahmoud Abbas to lead government in West Bank and Gaza, following reconciliation talks between rival groups

The rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have agreed to form a new unity government in the West Bank and Gaza, which will be headed by Mahmoud Abbas, it was announced on Monday.

Reconciliation talks between the two factions have struggled to make progress since an agreement in principle was signed last spring. A major issue has been who would lead the government. Hamas insisted on the removal of the present prime minister, Salam Fayyad, who has strong western backing for the progress he has made on building the institutions of a future Palestinian state.

Abbas and the exiled Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal, who has been pushing for reconciliation, agreed at a meeting in Qatar on the formation of the new government of independent technocrats, led by Abbas, which will be in place until elections can be held.

Meshaal said: "We are serious, both Fatah and Hamas, in healing the wounds and ending the chapter of division and reinforcing and accomplishing reconciliation." Rapprochement was necessary "to resist the enemy and achieve our national goals", he added.

The agreement would be "implemented in the shortest time possible", Abbas said.

Fayyad "warmly welcomed" Monday's agreement, a Palestinian spokesman told the Associated Press. It was unclear whether he would remain in the government after stepping down as prime minister.

There was no immediate response from Ismail Haniyeh, the de facto Hamas prime minister of Gaza. Over recent months, a rift has opened between the Gaza-based leadership of the Islamist organisation and its external leadership on the group's future strategy.

Israel and the United States have voiced concern about a closer relationship between Fatah and Hamas, and are opposed to any unity government that includes Hamas. Despite Meshaal's efforts to turn Hamas towards a strategy of popular resistance, it has not formally renounced violence and accepted Israel's right to exist.

Under the reconciliation agreement, elections were due to be held by May but few observers believe they will take place this year. The Palestinian election commission has said more time is needed to organise polling. It is also thought Israel will not permit Palestinians in East Jerusalem to participate in elections.

Hamas could emerge from elections as the majority party again following its success in the last polls, in 2006. That led to increasing strife between the two factions, culminating in a bloody battle in Gaza in June 2007 when Hamas took control of the territory. Since then, the West Bank and Gaza have operated as separate political entities.

Abbas has said that talks with Israel have run into the ground, providing impetus for him to pursue internal Palestinian reconciliation. He is also expected to reactivate the Palestinian bid for recognition of a state at the United Nations.

As threat of more snow recedes, widespread ice prompts Met Office to issue appeal for people to take extra care when driving

Accidents on ice have closed the A1 Great North Road in Yorkshire, while trains and flights have suffered delays as the UK's weekend snow takes its time to thaw.

Fears of further downfalls have receded but temperatures are expected to remain low in many areas with a gradual north-west/south-east divide expected for much of February, according to forecasters.

Milder but more unsettled weather is settling in across the north-west, where Atlantic weather has driven back the icy easterlies coming from Scandinavia and Russia. By contrast, a cold but clear pattern has developed in the east and south, where most of the transport trouble has been experienced.

The meeting of the two fronts helped to account for particular problems on 25 miles (40km) of the A1 between Allerton Park and Dishforth, where rain from the west encountered very low temperatures from the east overnight. Rapid freezing turned parts of the dual carriageway into an ice-rink in both directions, according to North Yorkshire police, as lorries jack-knifed and bands of freezing fog added to the problems.

No one was seriously hurt but the road was closed north and south at 2.15am, and police have asked drivers to find alternatives. Further south, the stretch of the A1 near Church Fenton, south-east of Leeds, saw lows of -8C (16.5F) and visibility down to less than 100m after 15cm of snow at the weekend.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire police said: "Traffic conditions on the A1 northbound from Dishforth and all the way to Leeming and beyond are treacherous. There have been a serious of accidents which have resulted in the A1 northbound being shut while emergency services clear the scene."

Nine other severe weather alerts are in force in areas where the variable thaw is proving slower, with ice the factor in all cases. The Meteorological Office issued a general appeal for extra care when driving, with patches of ice likely to have escaped the generally successful gritting operations.

Trains and flights are getting back to schedule after many delays and cancellations over the weekend but operators warned a return to normal services might take some time. A broken-down train and electrical supply problems hit South West Trains, with buses laid on for Portsmouth and serious delays for trains to London Waterloo.

Southeastern has also suffered delays to commuter services and a spokesman said: "Low temperatures are set to continue for several days. Please take care when travelling and allow additional time for your journeys."

Heathrow airport's cancellation of half of 1,300 scheduled flights on Sunday was criticised by travellers camped on terminal floors as an over-reaction, with runways getting only 6cm of snow at the weekend. But a spokeswoman said the measures had avoided worse disruption and the transport secretary, Justine Greening, called the action "the right decision".

The spokeswoman said: "We took the decision with airlines and air traffic control to reduce the flight schedule in advance. This allowed airlines to rebook some people on to flights that are departing, and passengers have had better quality information about whether they can fly or not."

Sledgers, skaters and snowballers enjoyed a grand weekend but not without casualties, who include a 55-year-old father flung from his sledge at high speed on a family outing at Terrington in North Yorkshire. He is being treated for spinal injuries at James Cook university hospital in Middlesbrough.

The weather will improve slowly, according to forecasters, with temperatures on Monday likely to reach 10C (50F) along the western seaboard but remaining much lower in the east, at a predicted 1C (33.8F) in East Anglia and 2C (35.6F) further south-east.

The Meteorological Office suggested the north/south divide will settle down this week and for the rest of the month, with milder weather slowly gaining the upper hand. It warned this could lead to more snow as the easterlies reluctantly retreat, but by late February there should be "a gradual trend toward less cold and more changeable conditions in many areas".

Boc said he was resigning 'to ease the social situation', after weeks of protests over austerity measures

The Romanian prime minister has announced he and his government will resign immediately to protect the stability of the country.

Emil Boc said on Monday he was resigning "to ease the social situation" – referring to weeks of protests in Romania over austerity measures he introduced in 2010.

Boc, who became prime minister in 2008, urged Romania's feuding politicians to be mature and rapidly vote for a new government.

He defended his record, saying he had taken "difficult decisions thinking about the future of Romania, not because I wanted to, but because I had to".

He added that the International Monetary Fund had forecast growth of up to 2% this year – lower than expected, but higher than the European Union average.

Romania signed up for a $26bn (£16bn) loan with the IMF, the EU and the World Bank in 2009 to help pay salaries and pensions, after the economy shrank by more than 7%.

In 2010, the government increased sales tax from 19% to 24% and cut public workers' salaries by a quarter to reduce the budget deficit.

In January, Romanians staged weeks of protests to express anger at cronyism and a perception that the government was not interested in the problems of ordinary people in this country with a population of 22 million.

They protested against low living standards, widespread corruption and the passage of some laws without a parliamentary debate.

"I know that I made difficult decisions, but the fruits have begun to appear," Boc said in a statement. "The most important thing is the economic stability of the country," he said, adding, "In times of crisis, the government is not in a popularity contest, but is saving the country."