World Tour - Tour De France crash

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Ohikere.

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Apple Daily News closes » We begin today in Asia.

AUDIO: [Customers buying papers]

Hong Kongers stood in a long line last week, braving rain to buy the last edition of the city’s pro-democracy newspaper. For 26 years, Apple Daily provided a mix of tabloid-style gossip, local news, and political reporting.

In recent years, the paper had become especially critical of Communist party leaders calling for the city to hold on to democracy.

Under pressure from Beijing, last week, Hong Kong police froze the newspaper's assets, so it could no longer pay its employees and continue producing a paper. Then they seized journalists’ computers.

Now, police have also arrested seven Apple Daily employees on national security charges.

AUDIO: [Carrie Lam speaking]

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam defended the crackdown … saying everything the government does is in accordance with the law and is quote “not attacking the freedom of the press.”

But for pro-democracy supporters, losing the paper is a major blow.

Ethiopia declares ceasefire in Tigray » Next, we come here to Africa where Ethiopia’s government declared a cease-fire on Monday in its northern Tigray region.

The truce comes after more than eight months of deadly fighting between government forces and rebel Tigray militias.

International pressure for a ceasefire spiked last week after a government airstrike on a Tigray market killed 64 people and injured another 180.

The attack added to accusations that government troops have committed atrocities against civilians in the region.

SOUND: [Ethiopian military spokesman]

An Ethiopian military spokesman denied the accusations and said only enemy soldiers had been hit.

The government says the ceasefire will last until Tigray’s planting season ends in September, to ward off a looming famine in the region.

The conflict has already led to thousands of deaths and has displaced nearly two million people.

French authorities Investigate Tour De France crash » Now, we go to Europe. Over the weekend, the top cyclists in the world embarked on the Tour de France—a 21-day race across France.

But day one got off to a rough start.

Crowds gathered in Brest, France to watch the 23 teams set off. But one spectator got too eager, stepping into the road with a sign and causing a massive pileup that shocked event announcers.

ANNOUNCER: Ohh! A massive crash there. What has happened? Right on the side of the road there. Look at this!

The pileup took out about half of the cyclists and covered the road, delaying the race for several minutes. Three riders had to drop out completely due to injuries.

Now, French authorities have opened an investigation and are asking for witnesses who can help them find the overeager fan.

Still, Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, who got tangled up in the mess, managed to pull out a victory in stage one.

AUDIO: My team did a great job today, they were in control all day, they kept believing in me, they protected me the whole time, even when I got caught up in a crash just before the end.

The race will end in Paris next month.

Notre Dame Reconstruction continues » Finally, we will end today still in France.

AUDIO: [Trucks beeping, driving]

Crews work to load massive oak trees onto trucks that will transport the giants to a sawmill 60 miles away.

These trees are destined to rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral spire, replacing the one that burned in 2019.

Crews cut down the 200-year-old oaks in March, but getting them out of the forest has proved to be a slow and daunting process.

The oaks weigh 10 to 15 tons each. And the largest log is 85 feet long—much longer than most trucks.

So crews have had to use a special rig: Two cranes, a custom-made trailer, and an escort to accompany the logs along the highway to a sawmill and eventually, Paris, where crews plan to mimic the building technique of the original cathedral as closely as possible.

That’s this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

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