Romania's ruling party strongman begins jail sentence

Romania's ruling party strongman Liviu Dragnea was jailed on Monday, Romanian media reported, hours after his appeal against a corruption conviction failed.Dragnea, 56, was seen being driven in a police car into the Rahova prison on the outskirts of Bucharest, in images carried live on Romanian television late on Monday afternoon.The verdict will almost certainly remove from public life a man who was widely seen as the puppet master behind the Social Democrats (PSD) and the government they lead.