MADRID: Spanish prosecutors have tabled another sex crime charge against four men calling themselves “The Wolf Pack” who assaulted a young woman at the Pamplona bull-running festival in 2016.
In a controversial ruling, a Spanish court last year gave nine-year prison sentences to the men for sexually assaulting the 18-year-old in a doorway, but cleared them of rape because of a lack of physical violence.
The case gained notoriety amid the global #MeToo movement and brought calls for changes to Spain’s rape law.
In the new case, the Andalusia regional prosecutor’s office said it was seeking a seven-year prison sentence for sexual assault and other crimes suspected to have been committed in Pozoblanco, in southern Spain, two months earlier.
Evidence for that was found against four of the five men in total being investigated over the case at the San Fermin festival in the northern city of Pamplona.
Investigators found a video on the cellphone of one of the accused, in which a woman appeared unconscious while men were abusing her inside a car after a night of partying.
The woman was notified about the video and the new case opened, the prosecutor’s office said.
Despite the original ruling against them, the men were released on bail in June last year on a legal technicality that says no one can be held for more than two years without a definitive sentence.
A rape charge in Spain requires a plaintiff to present evidence of specific violence such as being threatened with a knife or dealt physical blows. The government has said it plans to change the penal code to make rape convictions easier.
The annual bull-running festival in the Navarran capital Pamplona is famed for its drunken revelry. But concern has grown over increased reports of sex attacks and harassment at the event as well mistreatment of women in general in Spain.
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Spain charges ‘Wolf Pack’ with another sexual assault
Spain charges ‘Wolf Pack’ with another sexual assault
- Despite the original ruling against them, the men were released on bail in June last year on a legal technicality that says no one can be held for more than two years without a definitive sentence
Hong Kong rings in 2026 without fireworks after deadliest blaze in decades
HONG KONG: Fireworks are typically a celebratory centerpiece of Hong Kong’s New Year celebrations. Not this year.
The territory will ring in 2026 without spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor after a massive fire in November that killed at least 161 people.
The city’s tourism board will instead host a music show Wednesday night featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district that also is home to the famous nightlife hub Lan Kwai Fong. The facades of eight landmarks will turn into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.
Fireworks have long been part of the city’s celebrations for the New Year, Lunar New Year and National Day. The pyrotechnic displays against Hong Kong’s world-famous skyline of skyscrapers typically draw hundreds of thousands of people including many tourists to both sides of the promenade.
Hotels and restaurants likely affected
Rosanna Law, the territory’s secretary for culture, sports and tourism, acknowledged Tuesday that having no fireworks would affect some hotel and restaurant businesses.
Annie Wang, a tourist from Shanghai, said that although she had planned to watch the fireworks show, she understood the city’s decision because she found news of the blaze heart-wrenching.
“It’s quite regretful. But there’s no way around it after the fire,” said Wang, a university student.
Wang Miao, a teacher from the neighboring economic hub of Guangzhou, planned to join the official countdown activities in Central despite the absence of fireworks. She said it was a pity that she could not see pyrotechnics, but she could understand why.
“It doesn’t affect our experience in Hong Kong,” Wang said.
By early Wednesday evening, crowds of revelers had already gathered near the performance stage in Central, hoping to secure the best views of the musical performance.
Worst fire since the 1940s for Hong Kong
The financial hub’s worst blaze since 1948 broke out at Wang Fuk Court, in the northern suburban district of Tai Po, in late November. The apartment complex was undergoing a monthslong renovation project with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.
Authorities have pointed to the substandard netting and foam boards installed on windows as contributing factors in the fire’s rapid spread. Thousands of affected residents have moved to transitional homes, hotels and youth hostels, struggling to recover from the loss of lives and homes that took them years to buy. The casualties pained many residents across the city.
Past tragedies in Hong Kong have forced similar cancelations of fireworks. They include the 2013 National Day festivities following a vessel collision that killed 39 people on Oct. 1, 2012, and the 2018 Lunar New Year celebration after a bus crash that left 19 dead. During the 2019 anti-government protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple displays also were scrapped.
The origin of fireworks is believed to date to China in the second century B.C., when someone discovered bamboo stalks exploded with loud bangs when thrown into fire, creating the first natural “firecrackers,” according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, a US trade group.
The Guinness World Records organization says the first accurately documented firework, the Chinese firecracker, was created by Li Tian, a monk from China’s Tang dynasty dating to around 618 to 907 C.E. Li discovered that putting gunpowder in enclosed hollow bamboo stems created loud explosions and bound crackers together to create the traditional New Year firecrackers to drive out evil spirits, Guinness said.
The territory will ring in 2026 without spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor after a massive fire in November that killed at least 161 people.
The city’s tourism board will instead host a music show Wednesday night featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district that also is home to the famous nightlife hub Lan Kwai Fong. The facades of eight landmarks will turn into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.
Fireworks have long been part of the city’s celebrations for the New Year, Lunar New Year and National Day. The pyrotechnic displays against Hong Kong’s world-famous skyline of skyscrapers typically draw hundreds of thousands of people including many tourists to both sides of the promenade.
Hotels and restaurants likely affected
Rosanna Law, the territory’s secretary for culture, sports and tourism, acknowledged Tuesday that having no fireworks would affect some hotel and restaurant businesses.
Annie Wang, a tourist from Shanghai, said that although she had planned to watch the fireworks show, she understood the city’s decision because she found news of the blaze heart-wrenching.
“It’s quite regretful. But there’s no way around it after the fire,” said Wang, a university student.
Wang Miao, a teacher from the neighboring economic hub of Guangzhou, planned to join the official countdown activities in Central despite the absence of fireworks. She said it was a pity that she could not see pyrotechnics, but she could understand why.
“It doesn’t affect our experience in Hong Kong,” Wang said.
By early Wednesday evening, crowds of revelers had already gathered near the performance stage in Central, hoping to secure the best views of the musical performance.
Worst fire since the 1940s for Hong Kong
The financial hub’s worst blaze since 1948 broke out at Wang Fuk Court, in the northern suburban district of Tai Po, in late November. The apartment complex was undergoing a monthslong renovation project with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.
Authorities have pointed to the substandard netting and foam boards installed on windows as contributing factors in the fire’s rapid spread. Thousands of affected residents have moved to transitional homes, hotels and youth hostels, struggling to recover from the loss of lives and homes that took them years to buy. The casualties pained many residents across the city.
Past tragedies in Hong Kong have forced similar cancelations of fireworks. They include the 2013 National Day festivities following a vessel collision that killed 39 people on Oct. 1, 2012, and the 2018 Lunar New Year celebration after a bus crash that left 19 dead. During the 2019 anti-government protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple displays also were scrapped.
The origin of fireworks is believed to date to China in the second century B.C., when someone discovered bamboo stalks exploded with loud bangs when thrown into fire, creating the first natural “firecrackers,” according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, a US trade group.
The Guinness World Records organization says the first accurately documented firework, the Chinese firecracker, was created by Li Tian, a monk from China’s Tang dynasty dating to around 618 to 907 C.E. Li discovered that putting gunpowder in enclosed hollow bamboo stems created loud explosions and bound crackers together to create the traditional New Year firecrackers to drive out evil spirits, Guinness said.
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