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There is a new landmark at the home of the Chicago White SoxSection 140, Row 19, Seat 2.That’s where Father Bobthe future Pope Leo XIVsat for Game 1 of the 2005 World Series.The White Sox unveiled a graphic installation Monday that pays tribute to the new pontiff and that moment during their last championship run. The pillar artwork features a waving Pope Leo XIV, along with a picture from the TV broadcast of the future pope sitting with good friend Ed Schmit and his grandson, Eddie.The team also is planning to do something to commemorate the Rate Field seat the pope occupied during the 2005 World Series opener.“When people come into the ballpark, it’s an interesting piece of our history and they’re going to want to see it,” said Brooks Boyer, the chief executive and marketing officer for the White Sox. “So we’re going to be able to put something on that seat.”Robert Prevost became the first pope from the U.S. in the history of the Catholic Church when he was elected on May 8. The Chicago-born missionary, who took the name Leo XIV, is a White Sox fan, according to his friends and family.Prevost attended the World Series opener with Schmit, a longtime season-ticket holder who died in 2020. The White Sox beat the Houston Astros 5-3 on their way to a four-game sweep for the title.Eddie Schmit, 25, who works in the family’s day-care business, described the future pope as a great guy and kindhearted.“A lot of this is about the White Sox. It should be more about what kind of guy the pope is,” Schmit said. “You look at some of the things he’s done with his missions, I mean it’s incredible. He’s been in places that are so poor, just trying to help other people.”Prevost and Schmit knew each other through their work at a Catholic high school on Chicago’s South Side, and Schmit’s son, Nick, remains the account holder for the pope’s World Series seat.Ed Schmit used to tell Father Bob he was going to be the next pope, Schmit’s daughter, Heidi Skokal, said.“Right around when my dad was passing, Father Bob made sure, he couldn’t be there, but made sure he spoke with him and everything,” an emotional Skokal said. “And he said, ‘Father Bob, Father Bob, I know you’re going to be the next pope. I may not be here to see it.’ And he goes, ‘But I’ll be definitely looking down.’ And I’m sure he is today.”The White Sox, who have struggled on the field in recent years, and their fans have embraced their connection to the new pope since he was elected. The team said it sent a jersey and a hat to the Vatican after the announcement.Some fans have been dressing as the pope for White Sox games, and there are several different T-shirts that celebrate the team’s most famous fan.“The pope absolutely has an open invite to come back,” Boyer said. “To come sit in Section 140, to throw out a first pitch. Heck, maybe we’ll let him get an at-bat.” AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb Jay Cohen, AP Baseball Writer
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On a windswept plateau high above the Arabian Sea, Sena Keybani cradles a sapling that barely reaches her ankle. The young plant, protected by a makeshift fence of wood and wire, is a kind of dragons blood treea species found only on the Yemeni island of Socotra that is now struggling to survive intensifying threats from climate change. Seeing the trees die, its 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 persistent turmoil in Yemenwhich is one of the worlds poorest countries and beset by a decade-long civil warhave pushed the species, and the unique ecosystem it supports, toward collapse. Often compared to the Galapagos Islands, Socotra floats in splendid isolation some 240 kilometers (150 miles) off the Horn of Africa. Its biological richesincluding 825 plant species, of which more than a third exist nowhere else on Earthhave 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 its the dragons 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 dragons blood forests. Visitors are required to hire local guides and stay in campsites run by Socotran families to ensure tourist dollars are distributed locally. If the trees were to disappear, the industry that sustains many islanders could vanish with them. With the income we receive from tourism, we live better than those on the mainland, said Mubarak Kopi, Socotras head of tourism. But the tree is more than a botanical curiosity: Its a pillar of Socotras ecosystem. The umbrella-like canopies capture fog and rain, which they channel into the soil below, allowing neighboring plants to thrive in the arid climate. When you lose the trees, you lose everythingthe soil, the water, the entire ecosystem, said Kay Van Damme, a Belgian conservation biologist who has worked on Socotra since 1999. Without intervention, scientists like Van Damme warn these trees could disappear within a few centuriesand with them many other species. Weve succeeded, as humans, to destroy huge amounts of nature on most of the worlds islands, he said. Socotra is a place where we can actually really do something. But if we dont, this one is on us. Increasingly intense cyclones uproot trees Across the rugged expanse of Socotras Firmihin plateau, the largest remaining dragons blood forest unfolds against the backdrop of jagged mountains. Thousands of wide canopies balance atop slender trunks. Socotra starlings dart among the dense crowns while Egyptian vultures bank against the relentless gusts. Below, goats weave through the rocky undergrowth. The frequency of severe cyclones has increased dramatically across the Arabian Sea in recent decades, according to a 2017 study in the journal Nature Climate Change, and Socotras dragons blood trees are paying the price. In 2015, a devastating one-two punch of cyclonesunprecedented in their intensitytore across the island. Centuries-old specimens, some over 500 years old, which had weathered countless previous storms, were uprooted by the thousands. The destruction continued in 2018 with yet another cyclone. As greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, so too will the intensity of the storms, warned Hiroyuki Murakami, a climate scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the studys lead author. Climate models all over the world robustly project more favorable conditions for tropical cyclones. Invasive goats endanger young trees But storms arent the only threat. Unlike pine or oak trees, which grow 60 to 90 centimeters (25 to 35 inches) per year, dragons blood trees creep along at just 2 to 3 centimeters (about 1 inch) annually. By the time they reach maturity, many have already succumbed to an insidious danger: goats. An invasive species on Socotra, free-roaming goats devour saplings before they have a chance to grow. Outside of hard-to-reach cliffs, the only place young dragons blood trees can survive is within protected nurseries. The majority of forests that have been surveyed are what we call over-maturethere are no young trees, there are no seedlings, said Alan Forrest, a biodiversity scientist at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburghs Centre for Middle Eastern Plants. So youve got old trees coming down and dying, and theres not a lot of regeneration going on. Keybanis family’s nursery is one of several critical enclosures that keep out goats and allow saplings to grow undisturbed. Within those nurseries and enclosures, the reproduction and age structure of the vegetation is much better, Forrest said. And therefore, it will be more resilient to climate change. Conflict threatens conservation But such conservation efforts are complicated by Yemens stalemated civil war. As the Saudi Arabia-backed, internationally recognized government battles Houthi rebelsa Shiite group backed by Iranthe conflict has spilled beyond the countrys borders. Houthi attacks on Israel and commercial shipping in the Red Sea have drawn retaliation from Israeli and Western forces, further destabilizing the region. The Yemeni government has 99 problems right now, said Abdulrahman Al-Eryani, an advisor with Gulf State Analytics, a Washington-based risk consulting firm. Policymakers are focused on stabilizing the country and ensuring essential services like electricity and water remain functional. Addressing climate issues would be a luxury. With little national support, conservation efforts are left largely up to Socotrans. But local resources are scarce, said Sami Mubarak, an ecotourism guide on the island. Mubarak gestures toward the Keybani family nursery’s slanting fence posts, strung together with flimsy wire. The enclosures only last a few years before the wind and rain break them down. Funding for sturdier nurseries with cement fence posts would go a long way, he said. Right now, there are only a few small environmental projectsits not enough, he said. We need the local authority and national government of Yemen to make conservation a priority. ___ The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Famly Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of APs environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment Annika Hammerschlag, Associated Press
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Home Depot’s revenue climbed in the first quarter as customers spent slightly more as they tackled smaller projects.A number of U.S. companies have lowered or pulled financial guidance for investors as tariffs launched by the the Trump administration scramble world trade but on Tuesday, Home Depot stuck by earlier projections of sales growth at around 2.8%.Shares of the Atlanta company rose more than 3% before the opening bell on Tuesday.Revenue rose to $39.86 billion from $36.42 billion a year earlier, beating the $39.3 billion that analysts polled by FactSet expected.Sales at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retailer’s health, edged down 0.3%. In the U.S., comparable store sales climbed 0.2%.Wall Street anticipated a 0.1% decline in same-store sales.Customer transactions rose 2.1% in the quarter. The amount shoppers spent climbed to $90.71 per average ticket from $90.68 in the prior-year period.“Our first quarter results were in line with our expectations as we saw continued customer engagement across smaller projects and in our spring events,” Home Depot Chair and CEO Ted Decker said in a statement on Tuesday.Home improvement retailers like Home Depot have been dealing with homeowners putting off bigger projects because of increased borrowing costs and lingering concerns about inflation.The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows.Sales of previously occupied homes dropped last month as elevated mortgage rates and rising prices discouraged home shoppers.Existing home sales fell 5.9% in March from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million units, the National Association of Realtors said. The March sales decline was the largest monthly drop since November 2022, when sales slid 6.7% from the previous month, and marks the slowest sales pace for the month of March going back to 2009.Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years.“One of the central problems for Home Depot is the skittish housing market,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in a statement. “While last quarter was robust, home sales declined by 3.1% year-over-year this quarter as consumers were deterred from moving by continued high interest rates and growing economic uncertainty. This lack of recovery makes it difficult to drive home improvement spending.”For the three months ended May 4, Home Depot Inc. earned $3.43 billion, or $3.45 per share. A year earlier the Atlanta-based company earned $3.6 billion, or $3.63 per share.Stripping out certain items, earnings were $3.56 per share. Wall Street was calling for earnings of $3.60 per share. Michelle Chapman, AP Business Writer
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