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)

“Tea Hills”. Early-morning mist over the tea hills of Phu Tho province in Vietnam. (Photo by Vu Trung Huan/Royal Meteorological Society’s Weather Photographer of the Year Awards)

An injured vulture is treated at the VulPro Vulture Rehabilitation Centre in Hartebeepoortdam in the Magalisburg region on September 15, 2015. Confined to southern Africa, just under 4,000 breeding pairs of Cape Vultures remain in the wild, mostly in South Africa, Lesotho and Botswana. Unless conservation efforts are successful, Africa's largest vulture species may be facing eventual extinction. (Photo by Mujahid Safodien/AFP Photo)

Bison along the Bitterroot Valley's Eastside Highway north of Stevensville, Montana, are covered in snow following a blizzard on November 23, 2010. (Photo by Perry Backus/The Missoulian)

The Rio Tinto river in Spain crosses an ancient mining site which makes the water turn a variety of bright colours. Copper, silver and gold are mined here, as well as iron, which turns the water red. An ochre mix is responsible for the yellow tint of the rest of the river. (Photo by Olivier Jarry-Lancombe/Solent News)

A man makes traditional candy “Matang” in preparation for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year in Yuqing County, Zunyi, Guizhou Province, China, January 18, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Russian soldiers from 34th motorized infantry mountain brigade, 58th Army, prepare to evacuate a fellow soldier acting as an injured person during a drill at the Darial range outside Russia's city of Vladikavkaz, July 28, 2010. (Photo by Kazbek Basayev/Reuters)

Russia's Maria Sharapova carries the torch during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Friday, February 7, 2014. (Photo by Matt Dunham/Associated Press)