A fitness trainer puts her class through their paces at a gym in Arizona. They perform swan dives, connected to the ceiling by thick bungee cords (write Will Pavia and Boer Deng).
Amanda Paige, 37, a Broadway dancer by training, is the leader of this elasticated revolution and learnt her new art from teachers in Thailand. People come to her gym in a suburb of Phoenix from all over the US in the hope of building their core strength.
“You think it’s going to be so easy but you are dripping with sweat,” she said. “You are constantly resisting the bungee.”
Korean spies tried to rig presidential poll
Seoul South Korea’s spy agency has admitted trying to influence a presidential election with an online campaign. Park Geun-hye narrowly won in 2012 after the National Intelligence Service (NIS) flooded social media with positive messages about her. Ms Park, 65, has since been forced from office and faces a trial on charges of abuse of power and corruption. She became the first female president when she beat her liberal rival Moon Jae-in. The agency, headed by Won Sei-hoon, recruited housewives and students for an operation that also involved smears against Mr Moon, 64. He won office in May and has vowed to reform the NIS.
Pistorius out of hospital
Johannesburg Oscar Pistorius has returned to prison after being discharged from hospital, where he had spent a night under observation for chest pains. The athlete, who is 30, is serving a six-year term for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, at his house in Pretoria in 2013. At London 2012 the Paralympic gold medallist became the first double amputee to compete in a full Olympic event. (AFP)
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Netanyahu aide to talk
Jerusalem Ari Harow, the former chief of staff to Binyamin Netanyahu, will testify on behalf of state prosecutors in two corruption cases in which the Israeli prime minister has been questioned as a suspect. The move by Mr Harow, who resigned amid allegations of impropriety in 2015, adds a further dimension to the long-running investigation. Mr Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing. (Reuters)
Monkeys go on attack
Jakarta Armed police and soldiers have been sent to the Indonesian island of Java to protect people from long-tailed macaques that have been stealing food and attacking elderly residents and a child. The monkeys, which are struggling to feed themselves as their habitat is being destroyed, will be shot if they pose a threat to people but otherwise they are caught in traps and returned to the forest. (Reuters)
Militia’s ‘magic powers’
Geneva A militia group blamed for atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo is largely composed of children as young as seven and one formed to defeat it is suspected of carrying out ethnically based massacres and rapes, UN investigators said. Their inquiry found 251 killings in three months and said that people fleeing the violence believed that the Kamuina Nsapu militia had magical powers. (Reuters)
Il vino miracoloso
Rome The grape harvest has started about ten days early in Italy, which produces more wine than France, because of a heatwave and months of drought. The fruit are small and yields are low, but producers believe that they could make great wines. “The intensity of the heat and lack of water means the vines have almost gone into survival mode,” said Manfred Ing, of the Querciabella estate. (AFP)