内容摘要：Pea- to marble-sized hail pelted parts of Faribault County in southern Minnesota, and rain was heavy, Sheriff Scott Adams said.

Pea- to marble-sized hail pelted parts of Faribault County in southern Minnesota, and rain was heavy, Sheriff Scott Adams said.

“Seeing the trees die, it’s like losing one of your babies,” said Keybani, whose family runs a nursery dedicated to preserving the species.Known for their mushroom-shaped canopies and the blood-red sap that courses through their wood, the trees once stood in great numbers. But increasingly severe cyclones, grazing by invasive goats, and

— which is one of the world’s poorest countries and beset by a decade-long civil war — have pushed the species, and the unique ecosystem it supports, toward collapse.Dragon’s blood trees are seen from the highest peak on the Yemeni island of Socotra, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)Dragon’s blood trees are seen from the highest peak on the Yemeni island of Socotra, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

Often compared to the Galapagos Islands, Socotra floats in splendid isolation some 240 kilometers (150 miles) off the Horn of Africa. Its biological riches — including 825 plant species, of which more than a third exist nowhere else on Earth — have earned it UNESCO World Heritage status. Among them are bottle trees, whose swollen trunks jut from rock like sculptures, and frankincense, their gnarled limbs twisting skywards.But it’s the dragon’s blood tree that has long captured imaginations, its otherworldly form seeming to belong more to the pages of Dr. Seuss than to any terrestrial forest. The island receives about 5,000 tourists annually, many drawn by the surreal sight of the dragon’s blood forests.

A dragon blood’s tree sits above a canyon on the Yemeni island of Socotra on Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

A dragon blood’s tree sits above a canyon on the Yemeni island of Socotra on Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)Work on Phnom Penh’s new airport, officially known as the Techo International Airport, began in 2019, covering an area of 2,600 hectares (6,425 acres) located at the border of Kandal and Takeo provinces, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of the capital.

“I think the TIA airport here is going to be launched in the soft opening in July 2025, and we believe that so many passengers are waiting and they really want to come in to see this new airport,” said Charles Vann, director of the airport’s project steering committee, during a media tour.The new airport is a $1.5 billion joint venture between the Cambodian government and the Overseas Cambodian Investment Corp. It’s being built by the China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Group Co., Ltd.

The architects for the airport are the British firm Foster + Partners, whose website says its “design embodies a strong sense of place” and is “responsive to the tropical climate.” The terminal building sits under what is described as a single overarching roof canopy that is a lightweight steel grid shell, “with an innovative screen that filters daylight and illuminates the vast terminal space.”Construction is being undertaken in three phases. Initially, the airport is expected to be capable of handling up to 13 million passengers a year, with capacity increased up to 30 million passengers after 2030, and then up to 50 million passengers in 2050.