title: Merkel gets strong backing from her party after talks fail
text: BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel got the strong backing of the leadership of her Christian Democrats (CDU) during a telephone conference on Monday after coalition talks to form a new government failed late on Sunday. Armin Laschet, deputy chairman of the CDU and premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, told journalists that leading members of Merkel s party had expressed their strong support for their leader despite the talks failing. 