Stockholm - A Swedish pilot boat averted a potential accident in the busy waters between Sweden and Denmark when it detected a drifting freighter, reports said Friday.

The Swedish pilot boat was on a routine mission late Thursday in the Oresund straits when the crew detected a Dutch freighter apparently heading for shoals in Swedish waters, the Helsingborgs Dagblad newspaper reported.

Copenhagen  - A Danish air force jet fighter was scrambled Friday in connection with the emergency landing of a charter plane at Copenhagen's Kastrup airport.

The plane, operated by charter company Jet Time, had departed from Billund airport in western Denmark when airport staff noticed traces of rubber on the runway.

The F-16 fighter was scrambled to inspect the plane.

Copenhagen - A Danish appeals court Thursday sentenced six people to jail for supporting terrorist groups by selling T-shirts.

Two of the six were sentenced to six-month jail terms, the others received suspended prison sentences ranging from four months to 60 days, the Eastern High Court said.

A seventh suspect was freed of the charges under anti-terrorism laws of using proceeds from the T-shirt sales to fund the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Copenhagen - Danish archaeologists say they have discovered a well-preserved Viking era shield, reports said Wednesday.

The wooden shield had a circumference of 0.80 metres and was believed to be from the end of the 900s.

The find was described as for the first of its kind in Denmark, archaeologists told the online site Sjaellandske medier.

The shield was found Tuesday near Trelleborg, site of a so-called Viking ring castle near the town of Slagelse about 100 kilometres south-west of Copenhagen.

The ring castle at Trelleborg dates from around 980.

Copenhagen - Amid extremely tight security measures, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday visited Danish military units in Afghanistan, reports said.

The premier met with Danish soldiers and was close to one of the areas in the restive Helmand province where NATO-led ISAF forces have engaged Taliban forces.

Rasmussen was quoted as telling Danish news agency Ritzau that he had wanted to visit the zone "where soldiers are conducting the most dangerous part of their mission."

Copenhagen - Heirs to the sculptor who made The Little Mermaid statue, one of Copenhagen's best known symbols, were Friday reported to be opposed to moving the statue to the 2010 World Exhibition in Shanghai.

A majority of city politicians including Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard were said to favour the temporary move proposed by the group designing the Danish pavilion, but sculptor Edvard Eriksen's heirs opposed the plans, the Politiken newspaper said.

"I am really sad. It is Copenhagen's landmark. It should remain in Copenhagen and not be in China," Eriksen's grandson Erling Eriksen was quoted as telling the newspaper.