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• Civil rights leaders said his order stripped minorities, women, disabled people and veterans of equal access protections for state government jobs and replaced them with broad guidelines. They complained Romney hadn't consulted them before making such drastic changes, snubbing the very kind of inclusion he professed to support.
• "It was done under the radar and there was a big backlash," said Michael Curry, president of the Boston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "It was clear Romney really did not have an appreciation for the affirmative action policies long in place."
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• TROMSO, Norway (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is trekking north of the Arctic Circle, a region that could become a new international battleground for resources.
• Clinton's trip Saturday to the northern Norwegian city of Tromso is her second to the area in a year. She is bringing a message of cooperation to one of the world's last frontiers of unexplored oil, gas and mineral deposits and underscoring the region's rising significance as melting icecaps accelerate the opening of new shipping routes, fishing stocks and drilling opportunities.
• To safely exploit the riches, the U.S. and other countries near the North Pole are trying to work together to combat harmful climate change, settle territorial disputes and prevent oil spills.
• "From a strategic standpoint, the Arctic has an increasing geopolitical importance as countries vie to protect their rights and extend their influence," Clinton said Friday in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. Governments should "agree on what would be, in effect, the rules of the road in the Arctic, so new developments are economically sustainable and environmentally responsible toward future generations."
• At the least, the U.S. and the other Arctic nations hope to avoid a confrontational race for resources. Officials say the picture looks more promising than five years ago when Russia staked its claim to supremacy in the Arctic and its $9 trillion in estimated oil reserves by planting a titanium flag on the ocean floor.
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