German President Resigns

Angela Merkel's hand-picked choice for German President Christian Wulff resigned on Friday, admitting that he had lost the trust of the German people. The post of President is a ceremonial position in Germany, unlike the United States, but this will still come as a setback for Merkel. "For this reason it is no longer possible for me to exercise the office of president at home and abroad as required," Wulff said to journalists. The last thing Merkel needs at this point, as she tries to get a handle on the euro debt crisis, is to have to search for a Presidential successor to Wulff, but that is the position that she finds herself in. In fact, Merkel was forced to postpone a trip to Rome on Friday, where she was planning to discuss the debt crisis with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. "This won't be without consequences for Merkel, her reputation will suffer from it," said Gerd Langguth, political scientist at Bonn University, to Reuters.