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)

Members of the Bolivarian National Guard who joined Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido fire into the air to repel forces loyal to President Nicolas Maduro who arrived to disperse a demonstration near La Carlota military base in Caracas on April 30, 2019. Guaido – accused by the government of attempting a coup Tuesday – said there was “no turning back” in his attempt to oust President Nicolas Maduro from power. (Photo by Federico Parra/AFP Photo)

A towel with a print of the Nigerian naira is displayed for sale at a street market in the central business district in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos February 4, 2016. (Photo by Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

A U.S. President Donald Trump mask is seen for sale in a market in Hong Kong, China on December 23, 2019. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

A woman jumps into water from the roof of Murru prison, an abandoned Soviet prison, in Rummu quarry, Estonia, during hot weather July 4, 2015. During the Soviet time, Rummu quarry was used as a mining site for Vasalemma marble and most of the workforce came from among the detainees of Murru prison. When the prison closed after 1991, pumps that once kept the quarry and the prison dry were shut down, causing water to fill the quarry. It has become an unofficial and unguarded swimming and diving spot, attracting locals and tourists. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

Emma Sees, Valor Christian, #6, accidentally grabs Windsor's Alexa Kopren's hair while both were chasing after the ball in the second half of the Colorado State girls 4A soccer championship at Dick's Sporting Goods Park May 23, 2018. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

A Syrian refugee girl covers herself with a blanket as she stands outside tents at a makeshift settlement in Bar Elias in the Bekaa valley January 5, 2015. Lebanon enforced new immigration controls at the Syrian border on Monday in a move to gain control of the steady stream of refugees from its much larger neighbour. (Photo by Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

A staff member of Sony Computer Entertainment tries out PlayStation 4's virtual reality headset Project Morpheus at its booth in Tokyo Game Show 2014 in Makuhari, east of Tokyo September 18, 2014. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)