An employee dressed in a Santa Claus costume plays with cats at the Catgarden in Seoul, South Korea, December 14, 2020. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

Indian men sleep in the shadow of an overflowing cloth container of hay, to be used as animal fodder, on a truck on a hot summer day in Ajmer in the western state of Rajasthan on May 30, 2018. (Photo by Shaukat Ahmed/AFP Photo)

Sad woman standing near car with scratch on parking and talking by the phone. (Photo by Vera Petrunina/Getty Images)

A person looks out at Midtown Manhattan in the haze from the Top of the Rock NYC Observation Deck at Rockefeller Center on June 7, 2023. Smoke from Canada’s wildfires has engulfed the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the US, raising concerns over the harms of persistent poor air quality. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

Tony the Tiger poses for a photo prior to the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl Game on Tuesday, December 31, 2024 in El Paso, TX. (Photo by Jorge Salgado/AP Content Services for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes)

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 mahout guards the elephants during the annual Vrischikolsavam festival, which features a colourful procession of decorated elephants along with drum concerts, at a temple in Kochi, India, November 18, 2017. (Photo by Sivaram V/Reuters)

Men dressed as Hindu deities from the epic Ramayan wear face masks before going on a public awareness campaign against the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, on the occasion of the Hindu festival “Ram Navami”, in Bangalore on April 21, 2021. (Photo by Manjunath Kiran/AFP Photo)