A muddied family photograph sits on a hallway stairwell in an apartment block on March 17, 2011 in Kensennuma, Japan. Residents were allowed back to their homes today and began the massive cleanup operation caused by a 9.0 magnitude strong earthquake that struck on March 11 off the coast of north-eastern Japan. The quake triggered a tsunami wave of up to 10 metres which engulfed large parts of north-eastern Japan. The death toll has risen past 5000 with at least 8600 people still missing. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Ziripot, a traditional figure stuffed with straw, is helped up during Carnival celebrations in the Navarran village of Lantz, on February 16, 2015. (Photo by Vincent West/Reuters)

American actress Kristen Stewart arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

3-year-old Myla Mills plays with a two day old lamb in a toy pram in her family's farmyard in Arley, Worcestershire, United Kingdom on January 28, 2023. Early lambs are produced when the ram is free to tup the ewes over winter. (Photo by Peter Lopeman/Alamy Live News)

A gallery worker poses with work by artist Elinor Stanley during a press preview of The RA Schools Show 2023 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, Britain, 08 June 2023. The RA Schools Show 2023 runs from 08 to 25 June 2023 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. (Photo by Neil Hall/EPA)

English television personality and model Sam Faiers seen attending The Box BRIT Awards 2020 afterparty on February 18, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

British singer and actress Rita Ora performs on the stage at Sporting Summer Festival in Monaco on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. (Photo by Andrew Timms/Rita Ora Instagram)

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)