The Parliamentary Archives and the 24 Hour Museum have launched a timely new website to mark the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. Some 400 years after the failure of the plot, archive material and original documents - including the signed confessions of Guy Fawkes, before and after torture - are used to build an authoritative account of the events of 1605. The National Archives, the National Portrait Gallery, Lambeth Palace Library and The British Museum have all contributed to the project, which was commissioned by the Parliamentary Archives and produced by 24 Hour Museum with expert research and support from the History of Parliament Trust.

David Prior, Assistant Clerk of the Records at the Parliamentary Archives, explained: “Most people have heard of Bonfire night and Guy Fawkes but the significance of it all is not always understood.” He added that the project had drawn on the resources held amongst the Parliamentary Archives and the Palace of Westminster collections as well as those held by other institutions. The site can be found at www.gunpowderplot.parliament.uk.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to bring valuable Chinese art treasures back to their country of origin. According to a report in the International Herald Tribune, the Chinese government is concerned at an acute art shortage in the country, which plans to build 1,000 new museums by 2015, including 32 in Beijing alone in time for the 2008 Olympics. China also wants to build 100 museums in Shanghai in advance of the opening of the World’s Fair in the city in 2010.

The PLA certainly has the financial resources to embark on an international spending spree. It has so far been buying only Chinese art, and can draw on China’s vast currency reserves, currently believed to stand at over $700 billion, to finance purchases. Those purchases may also include Western masterpieces, and the Chinese may be prepared to pay above their market value.

The Chinese are believed to be particularly keen on acquiring some of the countless imperial Chinese bronzes that are now in the West.