prelude  Wish You a Merry Christmas The Papal States comprise the territory of Italy formerly under direct temporal rule of the Pope. They were also known as the States of the Church or Pontifical States. The Popes became de facto rulers of the City of Rome and the surrounding area by the 6th century AD. This territory was formally granted to Pope Stephen II by Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, in 754 AD. Additions were made by gifts, purchases, and conquests until the Papal States included nearly the whole of central Italy, reaching their greatest extent in the 16th century. The acquisitions of the Papacy were for the most part retained until 1797, when French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte seized much of the territory. In 1801, Pope Pius VII regained some power, and in 1815 the Congress of Vienna restored nearly all the territory of the States, placing them under Austrian protection. The final dissolution of the Papal States came in 1870, when nearly all the territory, including Rome, was annexed to a united Italy by its king, Victor Emmanuel II. The jurisdiction of the Pope was confined to the Vatican, in which, as a protest against the Italian occupation, each succeeding Pope remained a voluntary prisoner until 1929, when the Lateran Treaty recognised the full and independent sovereignty of the Holy See in Vatican City. In the next edition of THE COLOSEUM, the result of The Colosseum Annual Awards, 2009 will be announced. Hold your breath till next week!!! E-mail your questions with answers at: only4_pol@yahoo.co.uk or post at: THE COLOSSEUM, Mosaic, Friday Supplement, The Assam Tribune, Guwahati-781003 or SMS at: 9864102417. Send your name in each SMS.

side screen   1) Picture Clue: She acted as Eva Peron in the 1996 Alan Parker directed movie Evita. Who is she? (Usha Das, Birubari, Guwahati).

harmonisers  From Prosenjit ‘Piklu’ Dutta, Tezpur – 2) Which weekly journal was started in 1904 with Mansukhlal Nazar as its first editor? 3) Which English word is a combination of the Greek words for “drawing” and “life”? 4) In Kerela cuisine, what is a pancake of rice edged with a crisp lacy frill, eaten with stew, called? 5) Which fictional sleuth made her debut by solving Colonel Protheroe’s murder in the local clergyman’s house?

unities  6) Opened for the first time on December 27, 1904, the Abbey Theatre served as a nursery for many of the leading stalwarts of the 20th century, including William Butler Yeats, Lady Gregory Augusta, Sean O'Casey and John Millington Synge. In which European city is this Theatre located? 7) Which actor (former US President) made his last movie appearance in the 1964 movie The Killers? 8) … and on whose story was The Killers based?

do-re-me  9) Name the art style that was evolved by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. (Pranjal Dey, Hatigarh Chariali, Guwahati) 10) It was established in 1996, when the Amir of Qatar, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, hired most of the BBC Arabic staff. It means ‘Peninsula’ in Arabic and boasts of having 50 correspondents in 31 countries. What is it? (Dhrubajyoti Das, Nalbari) 11) Which fictional character is known as Ha-li-po-te in Chinese? (Pranjal Kishore Sharmah, Moscow, Russian Federation) 12) In Varaha Avatar, Vishnu lifted Bhoomi Devi from the depths of the ocean, soon after which who was born? (Deepjyoti Deka, Nalbari) 13) Who is the third generation Beat poet who also holds an honorary doctorate degree and is still alive? (Debashish Bora, Senior Lecturer, Deptt. of English, BBS College, Shillong) 14) Which common animal’s scientific name is Mus Musculus? (Bhargav Kumar Das, Borihat)

crescendo  15) Which fruit got its name because its flowers are said to resemble the crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ? (Amiya Kumar Baruah, Phulaguri, Nagaon)

answers  1) Madonna 2) Indian Opinion 3) Biography 4) Appam 5) Jane Marple 6) Dublin 7) Ronald Reagan 8) Ernest Hemingway 9) Cubism 10) Al-Jazeera 11) Harry Potter 12) Narakasur 13) Bob Dylan 14) Mouse 15) Passion Fruit.