Performers dressed as Ded Moroz, the equivalent of Santa Claus, and his granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow Maiden) take on shoe covers as they visit the Republican Scientific and Practical Centre of Pediatric Surgery in Minsk, Belarus, December 28, 2016. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

An undated handout picture made available on 29 April 2016 by the Toronga Zoo shows a baby echidna making a remarkable recovery after being attacked by chickens in a family's backyard at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by EPA/Taronga Zoo)

Couples kiss during a kissing contest in Wuhan, Hubei province, November 23, 2014. Some 20 couples attended the contest and the winners have been awarded an iPhone 6, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Migrant Haya from Artoz, Syria, shows a picture of her town as she waits to cross the Slovenia-Austria border in Sentilj, Slovenia October 25, 2015. (Photo by Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters)

A dog swims as a resident navigates his boat in a neighbourhood flooded by the Purus river, which continues to rise from days of heavy rainfall in the region, in Boca do Acre, Amazonas state March 14, 2015. According the state civil defense, more than 20,000 people have been left homeless along the Purus river, where incessant rains have flooded the area and caused the river to burst their banks. (Photo by Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

View of a damaged bridge at the Iguacu Falls on June 12, 2014, in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, following the overflowing of the Parana river. In neighbouring Paraguay flooding has forced the evacuation of about 150,000 people in Paraguay's capital city Asuncion, authorities said. (Photo by Norberto Duarte/AFP Photo)

“The National Portrait Gallery, London's annual photographic portrait prize was established in 2003 as the Schweppes Photographic Portrait Prize. In the years 2006 and 2007 it was referred to simply as the Photographic Portrait Prize, while from 2008 new sponsors have resulted in the name, Taylor Wessing Photographic Portait Prize”. – Wikipedia. Photo: “Tic Tac and Tootsie (twin sisters Carrol and Shelly McKean)”. Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize 2010. (Photo by Jeffrey Stockbridge)

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)