Promising "a new beginning for policing" in Northern Ireland, Mr Mandelson strengthened the powers of the new policing board and said he had "an open mind" about further changes to the bill.

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Finally, Congress and the White House stepped in, and over the next few months most of the powers of the mayor, city council and school board were handed over to the unelected control board.

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We also feel he took an unduly narrow view of the Board of Health's powers.

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He specifically attacked what he saw as the watering down of the proposed powers of a community-controlled policing board.

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The board is being given incredible powers, among them the right to paw through the financial documents of clients of any accounting firm auditing the books of publicly held companies.

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Governed by a board of supervisors, the agency has powers typically reserved for city and county governments.

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Mr Erdogan is talking of judicial reforms to blunt the board's powers.

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In March and April, three elected trustees of the APS resigned in quick succession, in protest at the stance of the trustee board, which failed to vote in favour of using its discretionary powers to stick with RPI.

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