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)

Elementary school sumo wrestlers compete in the sumo ring during the Wanpaku sumo-wrestling tournament in Tokyo, Japan July 30, 2017. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

A child dressed in a Santa Claus costume reacts, on the day Palestinian Christians attend an Orthodox Christmas Mass at the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City on January 7, 2025. (Photo by Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)

A Fulani woman fixes her head scalf on the street of Dapchi, Yobe state, Nigeria on February 27, 2018. (Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)

An Afghan evacuee plays at a holding centre run by the Italian Red Cross, where she carries out a quarantine with others, in Avezzano, Italy, August 30, 2021. (Photo by Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)

A family of refugees shelters under a truck carrying plastic lota, kettles used to perform Muslim ablutions in Muna Garage, Maiduguri, Nigeria February 16, 2017. (Photo by Paul Carsten/Reuters)

Lukas Michul, a member of the “dream walker” group jumps from atop the rugged rocks overlooking the azure waters of Navagio beach, one of the Greece's most renowned leisure spots on the popular tourist island of Zakynthos on June 23, 2014. This is rope jumping – part diving, part rock climbing, with a touch of engineering. The aim of the project is to dream jump in 80 places with most ravishing nature and architecture all over the world .They plan to stage their next leaps at a cave complex in Croatia, a French viaduct, skyscrapers in Las Vegas and Johannesburg, and the Grand Canyon. (Photo by Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP Photo)

Maya Goldstein, 7 marches in the Capital Pride Parade in Washington, D.C. on June 10, 2023. (Photo by Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)