Forces' fire calls

THE commander of a military task force spoke of his pride today at the efforts of service personnel to provide emergency cover during a three-hour firefighters' strike in the West Midlands.

Brigadier Chris Murray, the head of 143 West Midlands Brigade, said the 380-strong force from the RAF, Army and Navy had coped well after being called to deal with 21 incidents during last night's Fire Brigades Union strike.

Vodafone payout

VODAFONE promised a 15 per cent hike in its payout to shareholders today after customer numbers grew to 171 million and underlying earnings rose 58 per cent.

The world's biggest mobile phone company described the half-year figures as strong. Shareholders will get a dividend of 2.2p a share - equivalent to £1.4bn and up 15 per cent on a year ago.

Council strike

AMICUS members working for Birmingham City Council have voted overwhelmingly to strike over plans to transfer their employment to a private company.

More than 90 per cent of Amicus members in the council's Highways services department voted to strike over plans to privatise the City's highways, street lighting, maintenance and cleansing services.

Longer jumbo

A LONGER Boeing 747 jumbo jet was officially launched today, with orders for freighter versions of the new aircraft. Seattle-based Boeing will produce a 747-8 passenger plane.

which is nearly 12ft longer than the existing 747-400 and can carry 34 more passengers.