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According to the FTC, Skechers agreed to pay a hefty $40 million fine to settle charges the California-based company deceived consumers by making “unfounded claims that Shape-ups would help people lose weight, and strengthen and tone their buttocks, legs and abdominal muscles.”

The company enlisted high profile celebrities Kim Kardashian and Brooke Burke to sell the shoes.

Besides Shape-ups, Skechers also made deceptive claims about other products including Resistance Runner, Toners and Tone-up shoes, the FTC alleges.

“Skechers’ unfounded claims went beyond stronger and more toned muscles. The company even made claims about weight loss and cardiovascular health,” said David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

As part of the settlement, customers who bought Skechers “toning” shoes will be eligible for refunds either directly from the FTC or through a court-approved class action lawsuit, officials said.

Wednesday’s announcement was the culmination of a months-long investigation involving the FTC and attorneys general from 44 states and the District of Columbia.

FTC officials highlighted a Skechers television ad featuring the endorsement of chiropractor Dr. Steven Gautreau. In the ad Gautreau cited an “independent” clinical study he conducted testing the shoes’ benefits.

The FTC said the study results Gautreau promoted weren’t factual, and alleged the company hid the fact that Gautreau is married to a Skechers marketing executive. The FTC also said Gautreau was compensated for his endorsement, which wasn’t made clear in the commercial.

Skechers introduced Shape-ups in 2009, and sales peaked a year later. The FTC called Skechers an industry leader in the booming business of toning footwear. Estimated sales were close to $1 billion industrywide in 2010, the FTC said. The toning shoes Skechers sold cost between $60 and $100 a pair.

As part of an expensive campaign to promote the fitness benefits of Shape-ups, the company unveiled a scantly dressed Kim Kardashian peddling the shoes during the Super Bowl in 2011.

Brooke Burke’s ads claimed the shoes would help improve her cousin’s posture, mother’s legs and give her brother a tighter core. Additionally, Burke’s ad told consumers “the newest way to burn calories and tone and strengthen muscles was to tie their Shape-up shoe laces,” the FTC said.

“The FTC’s message, for Skechers and other national advertisers, is to shape up your substantiation or tone down your claims,” Vladeck said.

Under the FTC’s settlement, the company is barred from any advertising making similar claims unless it’s backed up by scientific evidence.

What Skechers plans to do with the Shape-ups brand remains to be seen. An ad featuring Burke touting “the next generation of Shape-ups” remained on the company’s website Wednesday morning.

According to the FTC, the commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated. The FTC says despite Skechers agreement to pay a fine, the complaint is not a court ruling or an admission that the company violated any law.

Since the late 1980s Uganda has rebounded from the abyss of civil war and economic catastrophe to become relatively peaceful, stable and prosperous.

In addition, Western-backed economic reforms produced solid growth and falls in inflation in the 1990s. However, Mr Museveni has bemoaned his country's failure to industrialise.

The discovery of oil and gas in the west of the country have boosted confidence in the economy.

The president came under fire for Uganda's military involvement, along with five other countries, in neighbouring DR Congo's 1998-2003 civil war. DR Congo accuses Uganda of maintaining its influence in the mineral-rich east of the country. Uganda says DR Congo has failed to disarm Ugandan rebels on its soil.

The cult-like Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has rampaged across northern Uganda for the past two decades and has in recent years spread to neighbouring countries, abducting and killng tens of thousands as well as displacing more than 1.5 million. It has been described as one of the most effective guerrilla armies in Africa.

Its leader Joseph Kony says he wants to run the country along the lines of the biblical Ten Commandments, and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Some critics have wondered why the conflict has gone on for so long, and others have questioned Mr Museveni's commitment to ending the insurgency.

Uganda has won praise for its vigorous campaign against HIV/Aids. This has helped to reduce the prevalence of the virus – which reached 30% in the 1990s – to single-digit figures.

Published May 16th, 2012 – 03:36 GMT

Niece of Lebanese diva Sabah, Clauda Abi Aqil, said that Sabah’s health condition is gradually improving and that she has left the hospital after suffering a minor brain stroke.

Clauda said that Sabah has suffered a few minor strokes in the past.Clauda denied rumors that Sabah’s health has seriously deteriorated and that Sabah gave an interview to a Lebanese newspaper from inside the hospital.

According to the London based Elaph, Sabah’s niece said that the singer is not giving any interviews to the media upon her children’s request. Sabah is spending time at home surrounded by her family, and as always, she is enjoying her life.

Sharjah: The city of Kalba in Sharjah emirate is expected to partially open a nature reserve to the public by October as part of efforts to educate residents and visitors about local wildlife and their habitat.

The announcement was made during the inauguration of the Kalba Eco-tourism Project on Friday which witnessed the release of 21 falcon species, including the Al Hur, Shaheen, Al Wakri, hawk falcon, and the eagle owl.

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Releasing the endangered wild animals in Al Hafiya was to rehabilitate nature, which once was home to rare animal species but was damaged as a result of overfishing and human wrongdoing

Hana Saif Al Suwaidi

His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, released 18 gazelles of the endangered Damani species into the Al Hafiya nature reserve in Kalba to signal the first phase of the project.

Ecosystem awareness

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Sharjah: Delegates from 35 countries will come together to discuss initiatives to promote employment opportunities in the region at the Arab International Women’s Forum (AIWF).

The forum, which will take place tomorrow and Thursday at the American University of Sharjah, will focus on driving the economic role that can be played by youth and women. Delegates from 18 countries are participating.

The forum brings together government leaders and leading professionals from the private sector and civil society from around the world, as well as experts from academia and the media. Student delegates will also participate.

AIWF, which was established in London in 2001, helps connect Arab women with their international counterparts through conferences and forums all over the world, with the motto "building bridges, building business", Haifa Fahoum Al Kaylani, founder and chairperson of AIWF, said during a press conference yesterday.

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"We are proud of our Arab women and we want them to be their own best ambassadors and to fully engage in the economy and in Arab society," Al Kaylani said.

The forum, titled "Emerging Economies, Emerging Leaderships: Arab Women and Youth As Drivers Of Change", will focus on education and how to tackle the huge rate of youth unemployment in the Arab world.

Al Kaylani said, "According to the IMF report mentioned last week, the region must create 50 to 75 million jobs in the next decade,"

Al Kaylani added that the AIWF will discuss how to empower the Arab private sector and support the youth to create small and medium businesses.

"Small and medium sized businesses activate the economy and create jobs," she added.

She emphasised that they do not focus only on businesswomen or women in government, but all women in society and also youth and men. "We are not a feminist organisation, we are a development, non-profit, non-government organisation that wants to see women participating in public life."

The conference is divided into seven sessions spread across the two days, excluding the inaugural session and keynote speeches. Registration will start at 8am tomorrow and 8:30am on Thursday.

Topics on the agenda

What: Arab International Women’s Forum (AIWF)
Where: The American University of Sharjah
When: May 16-17
Timing: Registration starts a 8:00am

Important topics: How Are Students and Young Entrepreneurs Leveraging Technology and Social Media to Promote a Sustainable Future?; Women’s Contribution to Public Life; Linking Education and Stable, Sustainable Socio-Economic Development; Hidden Potential: New Perspectives on the Role of Women and Youth.

A foul smell emanating from sewage in a toilet in India's upper house of parliament, the Rajya Sabha, forced it to adjourn twice on Thursday.

Congress party lawmaker Rama Chandra Khuntia first complained of the smell when a minister was replying to a question in the House.

The first adjournment lasted for 15 minutes. But the continuing stink forced lawmakers to exit again.

Mr Khuntia told the BBC the smell was due to "poor maintenance".

"Everyone in the Rajya Sabha, panicked. Initially, we thought it was a gas leak. But then we realised the stench emanated from the toilet."

"We were told the smell from a toilet adjacent to a canteen found its way inside the House through air-conditioning ducts," Mr Khuntia said.

The incident comes three days after brief power cuts interrupted parliament proceedings.

Television news channel NDTV quoted the main opposition party BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad as saying: "We talk of nuclear safety, we should at least ensure safety of smell in the House."

Al Sanousi: All-round communicator

Mohammad Nasser Al Sanousi, former Kuwaiti information minister, was born in Kuwait in 1938. He graduated from the University of Southern California and was one of the founders of Kuwait TV.

He held many important positions in the government of Kuwait, aside from playing a pioneering role in the development of diverse fields in Kuwait such as tourism, information technology, the arts, cinema and the media.

Al Sanousi worked as an executive, programme coordinator, director, producer and editor in the state television of Kuwait, which was formally launched in 1960. He was well-known for hosting talk shows about reformative and controversial issues in Kuwait, and was known for his keenness to develop and improve the society. He educated the viewers about health, social habits, personal hygiene and housekeeping among other topics.

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Dubai: Motorists using Al Khail Road will have smooth run from the beginning of next year as all the major interchanges and bridges being built to replace the roundabouts will open by the end of this year.

"Some 88 to 96 per cent of the work on various interchanges and bridges has been completed and they will be opened to traffic by the end of this year," said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

The RTA is carrying out the Al Khail Road Widening and Improvement Project at the cost of Dh1.925billion replacing the roundabouts and increasing the number of lanes. Al Khail Road runs parallel to Shaikh Zayed Road linking the Business Bay Bridge and the Emirates Road near Jabel Ali. It is a Salik free (no toll gate) road and is a vital link between various new commercial and residential communities.

Al Tayer said that construction work would be fully completed by the first half of 2013 with the opening of some auxiliary bridges. The project is being carried out in four phases.

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LYNCHBURG, Virginia (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney sought on Saturday to calm fears that his Mormon faith would be an obstacle to evangelical Christian voters, stressing shared conservative values while acknowledging religious differences.

In a speech at conservative Christian Liberty University – where it is taught that Mormonism is a cult – Romney stressed their common goal of service to God and declared his opposition to gay marriage, a position essential for winning the majority of evangelicals in November.

“People of different faiths like yours and mine, sometimes wonder where we can meet in common purpose, when there are so many differences in creed and theology,” the presumptive Republican nominee said in a commencement speech, addressing his Mormon faith.

“Surely the answer is that we can meet in service, in shared moral convictions about our nation stemming from a common worldview,” said Romney to warm applause. Mormons, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, view themselves as Christians.

Romney went right at the latest hot-button issue, bringing much of the audience to its feet in cheers by declaring: “Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman.”

Many students and parents said that while they are wary of Romney’s religion, they would rather he occupy the White House than President Barack Obama who announced his support for same-sex marriage this week.

When Romney was announced as speaker, a shout from the crowd of “Beat Obama!” rang out.

The address was a test for Romney of support among evangelicals, particularly in a swing state like Virginia, and came after a difficult week in which he was accused of being a bully at high school in the 1960s.

The announcement last month that Romney would speak at Liberty, founded by the late preacher Jerry Falwell, caused an uproar.

LARGE CROWD

Liberty teaches that Mormonism is a cult, and university officials took down a commencement Facebook page after it was flooded with hundreds of posts objecting to Romney’s appearance.

But some in the large crowd of 34,000 people on Saturday said they were prepared to look past his Mormonism and see Romney as the candidate with the best message on jobs as well as family values.

“I don’t believe in the Latter-Day Saints, but I don’t have a problem voting for Mitt Romney,” said John Gambrino, of Stafford, Virginia, who watched his son graduate.

Current Liberty chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. told parents, staff and students that “we are electing a commander-in-chief, not a pastor-in-chief.”

Romney encouraged students to stand by their faith. “Culture – what you believe, what you value, how you live – matters,” he said.

Often derided by conservatives as too moderate, Romney would generate enthusiasm from those on the right of his party if they become convinced he can defeat Obama.

Romney will need Christian groups’ votes – and organizational heft – with polls pointing toward a close contest with Obama in November. He can get them if he keeps to a socially conservative message, and does not take their vote for granted, strategists say.

Josh Gonzalez, a biblical studies major from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said he was concerned when Romney was announced as the speaker at Liberty.

Gonzalez praised the speech, saying it was “very classy of (Romney) recognizing we have two different beliefs.”

So did Romney earn Gonzalez’s vote?

“In all honesty, I’ll have to pray about it,” he said.

(Editing by Alistair Bell and Jackie Frank)