Hamburg - Mercedes and BMW have both come out strongly in support of Germany continuing to host a Formula One grand prix in the wake of reports at the weekend that the country could be without a F1 race in 2010 for financial reasons.

Hockenheim GmbH, the cash-strapped company that runs the Hockenheim circuit, is considering withdrawing from the 2010 German Grand Prix and officials from the Nuerburgring have already said they would be unable to stage the event, which would leave the country without a F1 race for the first time in nearly half a century.

Stuttgart - Supporters of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives remained divided Tuesday over whether to accelerate tax cuts to stimulate the flagging economy.

Her own Christian Democratic Union (CDU) toed the Merkel line that cuts funded by borrowing would not help. Merkel told the CDU annual conference the previous day that she would invest in highways and schools instead.

But the Christian Social Union, the CDU's counterpart in Bavaria state, re-iterated its call for instant reductions in income tax.

Berlin - Two leading German politicians welcomed Tuesday the new security team nominated by the US president-elect, Barack Obama, but both said they expected Berlin to keep standing up for its own interests.

Karsten Voigt, an official attached to the Foreign Ministry to promote non-diplomatic relations with the United States, said Obama's choices showed the United States wanted to restore its global leadership.

Speaking on RBB radio, he said Berlin would need to demonstrate self-assurance if Obama pressed Germany to send troops into battle against the Taliban.

Munich - Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann wants striker Lukas Podolski to stay and fight for his place rather than leave the German champions.

Klinsmann told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa the 23-year-old striker had it easier with the German national side than at Bayern where he has failed to establish himself in his third season at the club.

"The difference is that he has recently been a first choice with the national team which has allowed him to take things in a more relaxed way," Klinsmann said.

Mainz, Germany - A paedophile priest in Germany has applied to Pope Benedict XVI to resign from the priesthood after admitting that he molested boarding-school boys in the 1970s, his order said Tuesday.

At least 16 men have come forward to say they were forced into sexual acts as boys at the school, near Bad Neustadt an der Saale, 110 kilometres east of Frankfurt.

The incidents happened too long ago, between 1972 and 1976, to be prosecuted as crimes. The school closed in 1978.

The Missionaries of the Holy Family expressed regret to the victims and said the man, 71, would cease to be a priest, but would remain with the order as a brother.