President Donald Trump said South Korea plans to invest about $54 billion in a natural gas project in Alaska, an announcement he made in the Oval Office on Wednesday flanked by a Republican senator who has found himself in a tough reelection race in the state.

But while Trump and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan — a two-term senator and long-time advocate for the pipeline project — described it as a fait accompli, South Korean officials were more cautious, saying they needed to assess the project's commercial viability before committing to the investment.

Tropical weather that surged onshore from the Pacific soaked more of the U.S. on Wednesday while forecasters announced yet another hurricane off the coast of Mexico.

The new hurricane, Rachel, is expected to develop rapidly and could become a major one with sustained winds topping 111 mph (178 kph). The storm was far offshore, however, and posed no threat to land.

Glaciers in Switzerland – the home to the most in the Alps – lost 5.5% of their ice volume this year, the second-biggest percentage drop on record due to heat waves and low winter snowfall, experts report.

"Alpine glaciers have no chance of surviving in the long term under such conditions," the GLAMOS Swiss glacier monitoring service and Swiss Academy of Sciences said in a statement released Thursday.

A cafe in northern Serbia has unusual hosts: six alpacas.

The South American animals, of various sizes and colors, roam among the tables at the Tiganjica Ethno-Village resort near Stajicevo, north of Belgrade, happy to interact with the guests.

The identity and motive of the Omani copilot who stabbed his captain on a flight to Israel, causing the plane to plummet dangerously and forcing it to land in Saudi Arabia, remained unknown on Thursday as investigators raced to learn more.

Israeli passengers on the FlyDubai flight carrying 174 people from the United Arab Emirates to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv have described how the bloodied Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door to let them in before they grappled with the copilot and stabilized a descent so sharp that the plane's rudder was torn away.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that one of the pilots of a flydubai plane bound for Tel Aviv had planned to crash it and kill its mostly Israeli passengers, who stopped a "major disaster."

"During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Netanyahu said in a video message, calling the passengers "heroes" who "prevented a major disaster."

Lindsay Clancy's lawyer argued Tuesday that there wasn't enough evidence to prove she killed her three children, a striking turn after a lengthy trial that focused more on her mental state than on whether she took their lives.

"This entire case is based on speculation," attorney Kevin Reddington said during the first hearing since Clancy's trial ended Sept. 4 with a deadlocked jury. They were split 11 to 1 in her favor.

As former Hurricane Polo weakened over northwestern Mexico on Tuesday evening, the storm's remnants battered the U.S. Southwest, flooding roadways and forcing residents in small New Mexico towns to evacuate over concerns about a dam failing.

Polo had struck the Mexican state of Baja California Sur in the morning with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (177 kph). It crossed the Gulf of California and weakened to become a tropical storm as it moved inland to the northeast.

With the iconic No. 10 jersey unassigned, Argentina will face its first test of the post- Lionel Messi era when it hosts Bolivia in a friendly on Wednesday.

As the 39-year-old legend gets set for his farewell match with Argentina next week, coach Lionel Scaloni is already looking toward the future.

European football's search for a candidate to challenge Gianni Infantino in the FIFA presidential election will not land on clubs' leader Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, the Paris Saint-Germain boss insisted Tuesday.

Al-Khelaïfi also is chairman of the influential European Football Clubs group and so sits on the executive committee of UEFA, which is leading efforts to oust Infantino after his failed plan to sell stakes in future World Cup profits to private investors.