What mathematical symbol can be put between 5 and 9, to get a number bigger than 5 and smaller than 9?

Thomas has missed an excessive number of days of school, so he must meet with Principal Davis. Mr. Davis asks him "Why on Earth have you missed so many days?" Thomas replies "There just isn't enough time for school. I need 8 hours of sleep a day, which adds up to about 122 days a year. Weekends off is 104 days a year. Summer vacation is about 60 days. If I spend about an hour on each meal, that's 3 hours a day or 45 days a year. I need at least 2 hours of exercise and relaxation time each day to stay physically and mentally fit, adding another 30 days. Add all of that up and you get about 361 days. That only leaves 4 days for school." The principal knows Thomas is full of it, but can't figure out why. Where is Thomas going wrong?

It's a 7-letter word.
If we remove 1 letter from it, it remains the same.
If we remove 2 letters from it, it remains the same.
If we remove 3 letters from it, it remains the same.
If we remove all the letters from it, still it remains the same.
What is it?

A bomb goes off.
Carnage.
One person, only a few feet away, survives! How can this be?

In a boat, the father of a sailor's son is sitting with the son of the sailor. However, the sailor is not present on the boat.

Can this even be possible?

If 5 cats catch 5 mice in 5 minutes, how long will it take one cat to catch a mouse?

A man fell off a smuggling boat into deep water. He could not swim and he was not wearing anything to keep him afloat. It took 30 minutes for the people on the boat to realize someone was missing. The missing man was rescued two hours later on the return trip. Why didn't he drown? Note:- He didn't know swimming, the sea was deep, and He wasn't holding anything

I can be made.
I can be cracked.
I can be told.
I can be played.

Who am I?

You are a thief and you are being punished for your crime. People have tied your head down on a tree with a rope that has been anchored in the ground. A candle is burning below the rope which is slowly burning it away. Just below your head, a Lion has been left loose and is waiting for you to drop down on the ground so he can have you as his lunch.

You have to survive the scenario. How will you do it?

One day, all the courtiers from Akbar's court were gathered in the assembly hall when one of them told the Emperor that all his valuables had been stolen by a thief the previous night.
This shocked the Emperor to his core as the place where that courter stayed was the most secured in the kingdom. The Emperor thought that it is not at all possible for an outsider to enter into the courtier's house and steal the valuables. Only another courtier could commit this crime. He quickly called Birbal to identify the thief.
Birbal thought for a while and successfully solved the mystery by identifying the thief in just one statement.
What did Birbal say?