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 member of the “Avocadoo” club performs a pole dance on a street sign pole in Lodz, central Poland on June 27, 2013. Talk about a traffic stopper: three pole dancers in central Poland have been honing their skills out in the streets, throwing their legs around signposts to the surprise and delight of many a passerby. (Photo by Janek Skarzynski/AFP Photo)

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)

People watch dragon dance performance in front of a business establishment in celebration of Chinese New Year at Manila's Chinatown district of Binondo, Philippines, Friday, January 31, 2014. (Photo by Bullit Marquez/AP Photo)

Monks dressed as Tibetan Buddhism characters attend a religious ceremony, known as “Da Gui” or beating ghost, to celebrate the upcoming Tibetan New Year which starts on March 1 at Yonghegong Lama Temple, in Beijing February 28, 2014. This Tibetan ceremony is held annually at the end of the first lunar month with mask dancing to expel ghosts, according to a press release. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

Ukrainian state emblem is seen on a gun's holster as soldiers guard naval base in the village of Novoozernoye, some 91 km west of Crimean capital Simferopol, Ukraine, on Monday, March 3, 2014. Ukraine says Russian forces controlling the strategic region of Crimea are demanding that the crew of two Ukrainian warships in Sevastopol's harbor must surrender. (Photo by Ivan Sekretarev/AP Photo)

Daniel Ricciardo performs alongside Michael Kneightley in an RAAF F/A-18 Hornet at RAAF Base in East Sale, Victoria, Australia on March 12th, 2014. (Photo by Andy Green/Red Bull Content Pool)

In this Thursday, May 8, 2014 photo, guests look down from the Tilt!, a new tourist attraction that provides guests a unique view of the downtown area from the 94th floor of the John Hancock Building, after it was unveiled in Chicago. People hold onto handrails as the glass and steel facade tilts forward 30 degrees. (Photo by Ashlee Rezin/AP Photo/Sun-Times Media)