Marionettes backstage before a performance at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater in Los Angeles, California October 17, 2014. The playhouse started in 1960, has 2,000 marionettes and is the oldest continually running marionette theater in the U.S. It was recently bought by a developer who wants to turn the historic landmark into a 104-unit apartment complex. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

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)

“March 19, 2012 was the first rehearsal for the Victory Day Parade at the training ground in Alabino (near Moscow, Moscow Military District). Since the end of February troops and vehicles from various units and formations of the Armed Forces began arriving to Alabino training ground. The first rehearsal included only military vehicles. During the ride the average speed of vehicles is 12 km/h, the distance depending on the type of vehicle from 12 to 15 meters”. – Vitaly Kuzmin

James Spears takes his 1964 German built Amphicar for a drive on Lake Mead in Nevada May 6, 2015. Its a journey many drivers dream of, rather than travelling round a lake simply driving through it. But for James Spears it may be time to make the most of the waters in Lake Mead in Nevada, as water levels are plunging as California struggles to cope with a fourthsuccessive year of droughts. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

Romanian soldiers take part in a joint military exercise with NATO members, called “Agile Spirit 2015” at the Vaziani military base outside Tbilisi, Georgia, July 21, 2015. Georgian soldiers along with U.S. marines and platoon-size units from Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania are taking part in the exercises at the Vaziani military base outside Tbilisi. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)

These stunning photographs may look like alien planets, but they are actually satellite images of planet Earth. Commercial satellite company DigitalGlobe recently released the images as a way of highlighting the incredible detail of their imagery – the highest-resolution commercial satellite imagery in the world. Some of the images – taken above Afghanistan, Algeria, Peru, Russia and the United States – look more like abstract works by Mondrian than segments of the globe. DigitalGlobe, based in Westminster, Colo., launched its first satellite in 1999 and currently has four in operation. Here: Trementina, New Mexico. (Photo by DigitalGlobe/Caters News)