SCOUT WILLIS GROWS ARMPIT HAIR

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Rex

Scout Willis

Scout Willis is a known advocate of the Free The Nipple campaign, and she may now be putting the spotlight on female body hair.

The daughter of action movie veteran Bruce was spotted at her London art exhibition on Thursday and seemed to have been making a statement.

The star appeared to have grown out her underarm hair, with a dark patch visible under the line of a very revealing dress.

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Scout Willis with hairy armpit

More obviously, she flaunted her body as her boobs were almost on full display in the skintight, almost see-through gown she wore for the occasion.

Scout went braless in the nude-coloured dress, which ran down to her ankles and was teamed with black booties as she stepped out at the Impossible 8x8 exhibition, which included her own work.

She has been vocal about the Free The Nipple campaign in the past, writing an article for oxjane.com last summer in which she discussed her feelings on the issue.

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Scout Willis at the 'Impossible 8x8' exhibition private view, London, Britain - 19 Feb 2015

She wrote: "I am not trying to argue for mandatory toplessness, or even bralessness.

"What I am arguing for is a woman’s right to choose how she represents her body -- and to make that choice based on personal desire and not a fear of how people will react to her or how society will judge her.

"No woman should be made to feel ashamed of her body."

She joins the likes of Chelsea Handler, who has also hit out at female censorship and protested when a photo challenging Vladimir Putin was removed from Instagram

She posted a topless snap on top of a horse, mimicking the Russian President's original - before hitting out at the social media site when it was banned, stating if men could be topless, why not women.

NEW FORMAT ON TANZANIAN EDUCATION

The newly-launched education system has abolished national examinations for primary school leavers and extended basic education to four years at secondary level—meaning students will sit their final examination after 11 years in primary and secondary school.

The policy makes Kiswahili the medium of instruction from primary school to university level, thereby ditching English —which has dominated Tanzania’s education system from secondary to tertiary level.

But it will take decades for the new system to take root because extensive preparations will have to be carried out before English is phased out. The policy, which President Jakaya Kikwete launched yesterday, also gets rid of school fees at both public primary and secondary levels and guarantees free education.

President Kikwete said the new policy was in line with Vision 2025 and takes into account global economic, social and technological changes. “In the next seven years, we will have built capacity whereby every child who starts Standard One will reach Form Four,” he said during the launch of the policy in Dar es Salaam.

But, given the timeframe, there are doubts that the new policy will yield significant results in the next decade. Critics say school fees in public schools are just a small portion of the cost of education, given that parents are required to make numerous contributions.

According to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, Prof Sifuni Mchome, the new education system will incorporate vocational education in the basic education syllabus so that students who do not make it to Form Five have skills to contribute to the development of the country.

“It’s our hope that when students complete this basic education, which is compulsory up to Form 4,” Prof Mchome said, “they will be at an age ready to contribute to the country’s development.”

Unlike the current policy, which focuses on filtering and rejecting students without skills through final exams, according to Prof Mchome, the new one raises the number of educated Tanzanians with skills.

“We need a critical mass of skilled labour for the country’s development,” he explained, “but you can’t get it through the current traditional system, which only filters and children go back home after failing Standard Seven final exams.”

Mr Kikwete declared it a significant day in the history of the education sector and said the new policy was a must so the country could proceed in line with global economic and technological changes.

The President assured the public that the new direction would take Tanzania to the next level, where the nation will have skilled people with both practical and theoretical knowledge.

Is Kiswahili a solution to education woes?

Speaking yesterday during the launch, the assistant director for policy at the ministry of education and vocational training, Mr Atetaulwa Ngatara, said it was proper that Kiswahili be the channel by which the skills are transferred to students. Language studies will then be available to enable students to communicate in English. “To think that learning in English will lead to students communicating in English is wrong,” he said. “Communicating in English is something else, which has to do with language studies.”

The document says the government will continue strengthening English in teaching along with Kiswahili during the transition period because using only Kiswahili will require a lot of resources.

Kiswahili is currently the language of instruction at primary level and English remains a subject. Thereafter, English becomes the language of instruction from secondary level to higher learning.

According to the policy, making Kiswahili the language of instruction at all levels of education is aimed at bringing sustainable efficiency in providing the skillful workforce that is needed for national development.

But in a globalised economy where English dominates almost everything—from trade to politics—it is not clear which way Tanzania wants to go in the next five decades.

After years of being driven by market forces, private schools in Tanzania will have a regulator to ensure that the cost of education is realistic and provides value for money. The idea is to make sure that school owners do not overcharge parents who shun public schools in search of quality education in the mushrooming private schools.

President Kikwete said the policy would set indicative fees for private schools and put an end to the exploitative fees some unscrupulous school owners charge. Consistency in text books

The policy also provides consistency in both text and reference books used to teach in both public and private schools, contrary to the current situation where every school chooses what it considers suitable. This will eliminate the trend where schools use different books for the same subjects, which has been blamed for the poor performance of students.

“It’s impossible that every school uses its own reference book when the final examinations are the same,” the President said. “How do we expect children to pass in these conditions?”

No national examination for Standard Seven

According to the assistant director for policy in the ministry of education and vocational training, Mr Atetaulwa Ngatara, students will be tested to check their level of understanding at each level before they get to Form 4. “Let’s say there will be a test at standard three,” he explained. “Teachers will arrange special programmes to help those who fail to get over their weaknesses and they can then proceed to another class.”

But judging by the fact that the reading culture has almost died off, dropping national examinations for primary school leavers will likely have negative consequences in terms of the quality of graduates.

The new policy further declares that the government will make nursery education compulsory for not less than a year for children aged between three and five.

Basic education—from Standard One to Form Four—will take 10 years. Standard One pupils should be aged four to six, depending on ability of the child, and the government will ensure that education at this level is free.

According to Mr Kalistus Chonya, an economist in the policy department of the ministry, implementing the new policy will not happen immediately as the policy must go through several more stages.

The document President Kikwete launched was a national policy that will produce an executive policy. It will then lead to a Bill that will be tabled in the National Assembly.

Mr Chonya, who was not in position to say when the new policy will take off, said there were still other stages to be worked on, including preparing strategies and an action plan.

GOVERNMENT SEEK FOR SOLUTION TO ROW ON TOURIST VAN

East African Cooperation minister Harrison Mwakyembe speaks in Dar es Salaam yesterday.  Left is  Permanent Secretary Joyce Mapunjo.  PHOTO | EMMANUEL HERMAN 

Tanzania will not hit back at Kenya for banning its registered tour vans from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, according to Minister for East African Cooperation Harrison Mwakyembe.

Even as he described it as an undiplomatic move, Dr Mwakyembe told a press conference in his office yesterday that his ministry would pursue the issue diplomatically chiefly because of the friendly relations between the two countries over the years.

His ministry is coordinating a multi-sectoral meeting that will develop the country’s common stand on the 1985 agreement with Kenya on safeguarding tourism attractions in the two countries. The agreement bars operators in one country from directly sending tourists to the other’s attractions. Dr Mwakyembe wondered why Kenya considered JKIA a tourist attraction and added that Tanzania would not retaliate.

“We are not going to do what our neighbour has,” he said. “Tanzania will continue to allow vehicles registered in any of the countries to receive and send tourists to all our airports because they (airports) are not part of our tourist attractions.”

In the meantime, Tanzania will respect the decision of Kenyan authorities, even though the neighbouring country was contravening the 1985 bilateral agreement, which did not list airports as tourist destinations and, therefore, restricted areas.

The ban came in December. Tourism and Natural Resources Minister Lazaro Nyalandu reportedly approached his Kenyan counterpart, Ms Phyllis Kandie, in mid-January and they resolved to temporarily lift the ban to make room for negotiations within three weeks. According to Mr Nyalandu, he then asked the EAC ministry to organise the meeting. On Friday, though, Ms Kandie announced that her government was reinstating the ban since the agreed period passed without word from Tanzanian authorities.

Asked why Tanzania had not used the three weeks to find a lasting solution, Dr Mwakyembe replied: “This is not a matter to be resolved by two ministers alone and giving each other ultimatums. The 1985 agreement has been maintaining sanity in the tourism industry between our two countries, which share almost the same nature of attractions.”

Given the importance and history of the matter, the ministry reportedly reached out to the ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industries, Finance, Home Affairs, Defence, Parliamentary Committee on Lands, Natural Resources and Tourism  and players in the private sector to help arrive at a national decision about the matter before facing the Kenyan authorities.

But the government, he said, was saddened to see the Kenyans use the ban to force Tanzania to the negotiation table. He assured Tanzanians that they would not make decisions that were not in their interest and did not favour it.  According to Dr Mwakyembe, the consultation aims at coming up with grounds for reviewing the 1985 agreement. Judging by his statement, though, the government might be digging in for a long tussle with the Kenyan authorities. “While we are abiding with the ban,” he said, “we will inform all those who wish to visit Tanzania of the situation and advise them to use alternative airports and, preferably, local airports to avoid the disturbance and unnecessary additional costs.” 

He also referred to the ban as a “small matter” in the vast industry and said it would not give the country a “heart attack”.

According to the permanent secretary in the ministry, Ms Joyce Mapunjo, the matter is already being resolved by a team of experts from both countries. The team met on January 13 and 14 and recommended that the permanent/principal secretaries on both sides initiate the process of reviewing the bilateral agreement and co-operation in tourism.

The team also suggested that since Tanzania is the chair of the East African Community, the country should host the meeting before March 31. Ms Mapunjo added: “We are doing our own analysis of the matter. We are now in February and the question here is why they are trying to force things now, 30 years after the agreement was signed, and the trend shows that our market is growing.”

Chikawe and IGP in focus over brutality

The minister for Home Affairs, Mr Mathias Chikawe, and Inspector General of Police Earnest Mangu are likely to come under fire in Parliament today as MPs push for debate on what they see as growing police brutality targeting members of Opposition.


Signs that the two top state officials were in the MPs’ crosshairs became evident yesterday when the group, comprised largely of opposition legislators, accused the state of sponsoring terror targeting their leaders and supporters.


Trouble reared its head immediately after the question-and-answer session in the morning, with the MPs staging a protest. They paralysed the day’s business over Tuesday’s arrest of the national chairman of the CUF, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, and numerous Opposition supporters.


The MPs were pressing for adjournment of other business to give the House an opportunity to debate the assault and arrest of the opposition leader. They disrupted the morning session and also succeeded in scuttling the afternoon session, declaring they would not transact any business until the matter was debated.


Speaker Anne Makinda called off the House business in the afternoon on the grounds that they had not reached a consensus on the debate on the state of policing—which Mr James Mbatia (Nominated–NCCR-Mageuzi) sought.


Mr Mbatia presented the motion to shelve other activities and debate the dramatic arrest of Prof Lipumba in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday but the Speaker would not hear of it.


She directed the government to prepare a statement to be tabled today—and only then would she allow the House to debate the matter. Opposition MPs were not amused by her ruling and promptly demanded that police assaults on the opposition politicians and ordinary citizen be debated there and then.


Believing that the opposition MPs were planning to storm out of the chamber, Ms Makinda asked them to leave quickly so Parliament could continue with its business.


But they started shouting instead, clearly with no intention of walking out. Her attempts to convince them to continue with the session with a pledge that the issue would be discussed the next day (today) did not soften the hearts of the opposition lawmakers, though.


“Perhaps you are not aware how serious and sensitive this issue is,” Ms Makinda said even as the agitated MPs did their best to cut short her remarks. “That is why I have decided that we debate this tomorrow after we have heard from the government.”


Mr Rajab Mbarouk Mohamed (Ole-CUF) retorted: “We know how serious this issue is...It is the seriousness and sensitivity of the matter which forces us to demand that we debate this issue immediately.”


Another CUF lawmaker was heard shouting that they would not sit until the brutal handling of their national chairman was debated and resolved. “This is not fair...the CCM secretary general is touring the country holding rallies and the police guard him,” he claimed, “but when Prof Lipumba wants the same, he is blocked.”

Top Kenyan official announces peace-boosting moves measures

Nairobi. Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery has announced measures aimed at improving security in counties that border Somalia.


The measures include mopping up of illegal arms and increasing the numbers of police stations in the Wajir, Mandera and Garissa counties. Kenya Defence Forces will also be deployed to man the regions bordering Somalia.


Mr Nkaissery, his principal secretary Monica Juma met Senators, Governors and MPs from Wajir, Garissa, Mandera and Tana River counties in Nairobi over insecurity in their areas.


“We want to bring peace and security in the Northern eastern region and the resolutions we have made are the first step. Our next step will be the implementation by my ministry,” Mr Nkaissery told a news briefing after a five-hour meeting with the leaders.


Other proposals include reinforcing patrol of international boundaries and having all the foreigners coming tin undergo thoroughly checks.


“We also want to check on movement of goods at the borders, curb corruption to also ensure that we facilitate tax collections,” said Ms Juma who read the resolutions.


Clannism was singled out as one of the causes of insecurity in the region.


Last year, several people were killed and others displaced in inter-clan conflict between the Degodia and Garre communities in Wajir and Mandera counties.


Mr Nkaissery asked leaders to start peace campaigns in the region.


“Adan Duale and Yusuf Haji will spear head the anti-clannism campaign,” said Ms Juma and added that the negative perception of Kenyan Somalis would also be addressed.


Mr Juma reported that her ministry would also request for more funds from the National Treasury for the Presidential Peace Task Force. (NMG)

General Election on a knife edge: Our exclusive poll shows Labour just ONE per cent behind Tories with 101 days to go

The race to Downing Street remains on a knife edge, with an exclusive Mirror poll putting the Tories just one point ahead of Labour.

With 101 days to go to the May 7 general election, the Tories are on 31%, Labour 30%, UKIP 23% and the Lib Dems 7%, according to our first monthly survey with pollster Survation.

But Ed Miliband faces a battle to prove he is the right candidate to run the country with fewer than two out of ten people saying he would make the best Prime Minister.

The survey, conducted on Sunday, shows Nigel Farage has not been damaged by a string of embarrassing stories including the defection of MEP Amjad Bashir to the Tories and his reported support for a paid-for health system.

Our poll puts the anti-European party up three points since last month, with the Tories up two, Labour down two and the Lib Dems down four.

Report uncovers misuse of funds at EAC

A report on the East African Community (EAC) financial statements has uncovered rampant misuse of funds in the regional organisation and its affiliates.


The anomalies singled out include poor accountability for imprests by the staff and what it termed “unnecessary expenditure of resources”.


It was found out that the Arusha-based secretariat spent about $ 3.4 million during the 2012/2013 financial year on procurement of air tickets alone, an expenditure seen as unjustifiable.


The report, which was tabled before the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) on Thursday, called on the EAC Council of Ministers — the policy organ of the community — to urgently intervene to curb misuse of the tax payers' money.


"The EAC management should tighten loopholes and rid anomalies in accountabilities for imprest advances," the chairperson of Eala's Accounts Committee, Jeremie Ngendakumana, said during the report presentation.


The report reviewed the EAC financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2013. It is expected to be debated by Eala next week. The regional parliament is currently holding sessions in Arusha.


CONSTRUCTION WORK


The construction works under the EAC were not spared either.


The report found out that "inadequate descriptions" in the Bill of Quantities. It was proposed EAC should have a building policy and procurement manual for the same.


At the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), one of the key organs of the community, a total of $116,000 was paid out as daily subsistence allowance (DSA) during a meeting held outside Arusha.


It is the view of the Eala committee members that the said strategic plan meeting of the court should have been held "in an alternative place that does not require the payment of DSA".


At Eala itself, the committee notes that there were irregular payment of per diems amounting to $ 9,084 to facilitate attendance of funeral committees. The report recommends guidelines on death-related expenditures.


Under the projects, the HIV/Aids project, is reported to have “poorly utilised” budgeted funds, only managing to spend 47 per cent of total funds earmarked for the programme.


INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW


The legislators partly attributed the financial mess at EAC to delays in finalisation of an institutional review of the regional body, which has a dozen organs and institutions under it.


The delay in completion of the review is unnecessary, they observed, noting that it had led to increased expenditure as well as implementing EAC projects and programmes.


The EAC institutional review, aimed to streamline its activities more efficiently and effectively, has been on cards for the last three to four years but not implemented.


"EAC has several unfilled staff positions and to bridge the gap, the management has often been forced to offer short term renewable contracts which has several disadvantages to both the staff and the organisation", the report reads in part.


The Parliamentary Accounts Committee is recommending the filling of the various vacant positions to enable the community to perform according to its expectations.