I am a seven-letter word but if you remove four of my letters I will have one left. What word am I?

Two guards were on duty outside a barracks. One faced up the road to watch for anyone approaching from the North. The other looked down the road to see if anyone approached from the South. Suddenly one of them said to the other, "Why are you smiling?"

How did he know his companion was smiling?

A man plots the murder of his wife. His plan is full proof. Nobody saw them leaving their house. He stabbed her with a knife while driving. She died on the spot. He threw her body in a valley. He threw the knife carefully wiping his finger prints on a random garbage bin. Then he went back to his home and no one was watching him this time as well.

After an hour, he was called by the local police department who informed him that his wife was murdered. They asked him to reach the scene of crime immediately. But as soon as he arrived at the crime scene, he was arrested by them.

How did the police know that he himself is the murderer?

In order to complete the racing competition, the Mexico racetrack has to submit its top and the most famous three horses to win the competition. Due to an electrical storm, all the records are cleared and no one knows which horse holds the record. They all look identical and it becomes even more difficult to differentiate the horses. There are 25 horses in the Mexico racetrack. But there can be only five horses at a time on the track. What will the least number of races that can be conducted to find out the three fastest horses?

Three cars are driving on a track that forms a perfect circle and is wide enough that multiple cars can pass anytime. The car that is leading in the race right now is driving at 55 MPH and the car that is trailing at the last is going at 45 MPH. The car that is in the middle is somewhere between these two speeds.
Right now, you can assume that there is a distance of x miles between the leading car and the middle car and x miles between the middle car and the last car and also, x is not equal to 0 or 1.
The cars maintain their speed till the leading car catches up with the last car and then every car stops. In this scenario, do you think of any point when the distance between any two pairs will again be x miles i.e. the pairs will be x distance apart at the same time ?

How many times can you subtract the number 5 from 25?

Which part of London exists in France as well ?

Lifeless eyes on my smiling face and watch your child's sleeping place. In their dreams they hold me tight. What am I?

Two boys wish to cross a river. The only way to get to the other side is by boat, but that boat can only take one boy at a time. The boat cannot return on its own, there are no ropes or similar tricks, yet both boys manage to cross using the boat.

How?

When it's bad luck to meet a black cat?