Munich  - Italy striker Luca Toni scored in stopp

Stuttgart  - German car giants BMW and Mercedes Friday pledged their continued loyality to Formula One motor-racing but said savings had become unavoidable.

Both German teams told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Friday the decision by Japanese carmaker Honda to quit Formula One would have no influence on their participation in the sport.

"Our Formula One engagement is financially solid," Mercedes sports director Norbert Haug said.

McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton's victory in the 2008 F1 championships had provided an enormous marketing boost for the company, Haug said.

Berlin - A German warship warded off a suspected piracy attack on a German cruise ship in the Gulf of Aden, a defence ministry spokesman confirmed Friday.

The naval frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern chased off two suspicious speed boats on November 28 with three bursts of fire from a machine-gun, the spokesman said, confirming reports from Thursday.

A spokesman for Transocean Tours in Bremen, operators of the cruise ship, said the 492 passengers and crew on board the MS Astor had not noticed the incident. The ship also had not asked for help.

The suspicious boats disappeared quickly into Yemen's territorial waters, the tour operator said.

Berlin - Polar bear Knut celebrated his second birthday on Friday blissfully unaware that he might soon have to leave his home at Berlin Zoo.