News in Brief

Straw 'gossiped' with Sun editor

Leveson: Former Labour cabinet minister Jack Straw has told the Leveson inquiry how he used to "gossip" with former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks on the train every week.

Mr Straw said he "made arrangements" with the then Sun editor to commute into London together from Oxfordshire, where they both had homes.

He also admitted that Tony Blair's government had been too close to the press.

Sailor sentenced for groping

Navy: A sailor who groped a female colleague during a deployment to Bahrain was sentenced to 11-and-a-half months in military detention today.

Logistician Sheldon Bailey pleaded guilty at Portsmouth Naval Base court martial centre to the offence of sexual assault.

The court heard that the 29-year-old had been on a night out with the victim and other colleagues on March 25 last year while serving as part of the UK maritime Component Command in Bahrain.

North Sea gas leak sealed

Scotland: A gas leak on a North Sea oil platform has been sealed, its operators said today.

Work to "kill" the leak started on Tuesday on Total's Elgin platform, around 150 miles from Aberdeen, with heavy mud being pumped into the well.

Total said the operation lasted 12 hours.

The leak was detected in March leading to the evacuation of all 238 staff from the platform.