The beard of a skater, one out of some 1,100 athletes, is covered with ice and snow during the 200 km (124 miles) speed skating race in the Carinthian village of Techendorf January 30, 2015. Techendorf is hosting the Alternatieve Elfstedentocht Weissensee (Alternative Eleven City Races Weissensee) races, a traditional Dutch series of speed skating events for both professionals and amateurs with some 5,000 participants, until January 31, 2015. (Photo by Leonhard Foeger/Reuters)

A worker puts the final touches to a replica of a Beijing opera mask made with lemons and oranges during the 82th Lemon festival in Menton February 12, 2015. Over 20,000 hours work for teams to set up the festival and some 145 metric tons of lemons and oranges are used to make displays during the 82th festival, which is themed “Tribulations of a lemon in China”, and runs from February 14 through March 4. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

People jump off a bridge, which has a height of 30 meters (98ft), in Hortolandia, Brazil, April 10, 2016. According to organizers, 149 people were attempting set a new world record for “rope jumping”, in which people, tied to a safety cord, jump off a bridge. Rope-jumping, an extreme sport, consists in jumping from impressive heights while tied to a nylon rope. Unlike those used in bungee jumping, the rope has no bounce and participants just slow down at the end of the fall. (Photo by Paulo Whitaker/Reuters)

Indian Hindu devotees wait to take part in an event to mark Pongal in Mumbai on January 15, 2016. Pongal, which coincides with the Hindu festival Makara Sankranthi, is a thanksgiving and harvest celebrated throughout India and specifically by those from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. (Photo by Indranil Mukherjee/AFP Photo)

The northeastern United States sweltered this week in a scorching summer heat wave, complete with stagnant, sticky air and no winds for relief, forecasters said. Even in a summer already filled with stretches of very hot weather, this week will be stubbornly brutal, with no relief in sight until the weekend brings thunderstorms to the region, they said. "Plain and simple, this week may feel the worst of any week for this summer in the Northeast," said Accuweather.com meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. (Reuters)

A boy holds his mother's leg as he cries in front of their damaged house after a strong 6.6 magnitude earthquake at Longmen village, Lushan county in Ya'an, Sichuan province. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

Residents observe a police officer take up position during an operation at the Mare slums complex in Rio de Janeiro March 25, 2014. The federal troops have taken control of security operations in Mare slums complex to help quell a surge in violent crime following attacks by drug traffickers on police posts in three slums on the north side of the city, government officials said. (Photo by Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)