Italian police make arrests to foil terror attack in Venice

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Italian police make arrests to foil a terror attack in Venice | The Italian police announced yesterday that they have arrested four people suspected of plotting to blow up the Rialto Bridge in Venice. The New York Times reports that three suspects are still being held. The police have also conducted raids in Venice and the surrounding area. The suspects, all men from Kosovo living in Italy, were heard discussing a plot in wiretapped conversations. It is not yet known whether they had the means to carry out their plans.

Arts advocates march in Boston | Hundreds of arts sector workers and advocates from the Massachusetts area marched in Boston this week in protest at government plans that could put arts funding in jeopardy. Advocates are campaigning for the state to allocate $16m to the Massachusetts Cultural Council in 2018, representing a significant rise on current funding levels. ‘The news coming out of Washington, D.C., has a lot of people thinking about their core values,’ said arts advocate Matthew Wilson.

Artists clash with police in Beijing | ArtAsiaPacific magazine reports that an altercation involving around 200 people took place this week between artists and local security personnel in Beijing. The violence erupted after activists rallied to prevent the forced demolition of a studio belonging to artists Shen Jingdong and Cao Zhiwen, located in the Chinese capital’s Songzhuang district. According to reports, the demolition went ahead regardless, with many protestors injured and two arrested.

Iron Age chariot discovered in Yorkshire | The remains of an Iron Age chariot have been discovered during preliminary digging for a housing development in Pocklington, East Yorkshire. According to the Times (£), the find is the first such chariot discovered in the British Isles in 200 years. Other objects unearthed by the dig include the remains of a warrior buried with his weapons. Work on the housing development has now been halted while archaeologists examine the site further.

Suspect in Isabella Stewart Gardner heist pleads guilty over unrelated charge | A Connecticut man alleged to have ties to the Mafia has agreed to plea guilty to a weapons charge, reports the Boston Globe. Robert Gentile, 80, is the last surviving individual suspected of involvement with the 1990 theft of 13 works from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner museum. Though he has repeatedly denied knowing anything about the robbery, prosecutors believe Gentile has information that may shed light on the case.

Recommended reading | Louis Menand visits an exhibition at the Grey Art Galley exploring downtown scene in New York and declares it ‘revelatory’ in the New Yorker. In the FT, Anjana Ahuja discusses likenesses of Jane Austen and wonders whether a portrait she bought at auction may shed light on some of the mysteries surrounding the writer.