German president rebuffs calls to quit

Public support for German president Christian Wulff has slipped from 63 percent to 47 percent percent, according to a poll by one German broadcaster.

It came after Wulff, a member of the ruling Christian Democrat party, appeared on television in a bid to defuse a home loan scandal.

Newspapers across Germany called on Wulff to step down on Thursday after it emerged that he had threatened the Bild tabloid upon learning it planned to publish a story about the affair.

While Wulff acknowledged that calling Bild’s editor was a mistake, he said he would not quit because he had not committed a criminal offence.

The scandal erupted last month when it emerged the 52-year-old had borrowed half a million euros from the wife of a wealthy businessman three years ago while prime minister of Lower Saxony state.

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