Copenhagen - The crew of a Danish-registered freighter Friday repelled a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden, reports said.

The crew of the M/V Puma detected a small boat and tried to shake it off by tracking a zigzag course, Danish media reported.

The smaller boat however caught up with the freighter, and the crew deployed emergency flares to deter the attack while alerting international forces deployed to protect shipping lanes.

Copenhagen/Nuuk, Greenland  - Voters in Greenland are to vote for a new home rule government June 2, the leader of the current home rule government said Wednesday.

The island territory is on June 21 set to gain more autonomy within Denmark under an agreement that coincides with the 30th anniversary of the existing home rule bill.

"I feel it is right to ask the people who should rule during the new era," Hans Enoksen of the ruling Siumut party said, according to the Sermitsiaq newspaper.

Copenhagen - Share prices for Danish audio and multimedia products maker Bang & Olufsen dipped Tuesday after the group announced a lower profit outlook in its nine-month report for 2008/2009. Known for its sleek design of audio and other equipment, the group has been struggling recently but in the third quarter signed deals to deliver sound systems to car makers Audi and Aston Martin.

The share price dropped over 8 per cent but recovered some ground and was down some 1.5 per cent at noon on the Copenhagen bourse.

Copenhagen  - Denmark's new prime minister made his first cabinet appointments Tuesday, designating among others a new finance and labour minister.

Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen formally took over the reins of Denmark's government this weekend after his predecessor, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, accepted a position as NATO secretary general.

Claus Hjort Frederiksen, until now the labour minister, will take over the finance portfolio. Karin Ellemann was named interior minister, while Karin Stjberg is to take over the labour portfolio.

Copenhagen  - Newly-designated NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen formally handed in his resignation Sunday as prime minister to Danish Queen Margrethe II.

Rasmussen, 56, is to be succeeded by his namesake, 44-year-old Finance Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, as head of the government.

The formal resignation comes a day after the NATO summit in Strasbourg chose Rasmussen as alliance's next secretary general to succeed outgoing NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Rasmussen would take over his NATO post on August 1.