I am soft and cuddly that soothe your heart. But, If you pick my last name I am going to tear you all apart. Who am I?

Alex is stranded on an island covered in forest.
One day, when the wind is blowing from the west, lightning strikes the west end of the island and sets fire to the forest. The fire is very violent, burning everything in its path, and without intervention the fire will burn the whole island, killing the man in the process.

There are cliffs around the island, so he cannot jump off.

How can the Alex survive the fire? (There are no buckets or any other means to put out the fire)

Complete the series by replacing "?" with the correct number.

ST ND RD TH '?'

If a shopkeeper can only place the weights on one side of the common balance. For example, if he has weights 1 and 3 then he can measure 1, 3 and 4 only. Now the question is how many minimum weights and names of the weights you will need to measure all weights from 1 to 1000? This is a fairly simple problem and very easy to prove also.

What can you catch but never throw?

Mr Black, Mr Gray, and Mr White are fighting in a truel. They each get a gun and take turns shooting at each other until only one person is left. Mr Black, who hits his shot 1/3 of the time, gets to shoot first. Mr Gray, who hits his shot 2/3 of the time, gets to shoot next, assuming he is still alive. Mr White, who hits his shot all the time, shoots next, assuming he is also alive. The cycle repeats. If you are Mr Black, where should you shoot first for the highest chance of survival?

There are people and strange monkeys on this island, and you can not tell who is who (Edit: until you understand what they said - see below). They speak either only the truth or only lies.
Who are the following two guys?
A: B is a lying monkey. I am human.
B: A is telling the truth.

If all the below statements are true

1. Gianni was either in Italy or France in 1997.
2. If Gianni did not kill Versace, Hilton must have killed him.
3. If Versace died of suffocation, then either Gianni killed him or Versace committed suicide.
4. If Gianni was in Italy in 1997, then Gianni did not kill Versace.
5. Versace died of suffocation, but he did not kill himself.

Who killed Versace and where was Gianni in 1997?

A tree doubled in height each year until it reached its maximum height over the course of ten years. How many years did it take for the tree to reach half its maximum height?

They are the five precious gems of an everyday sort and all can be found on a Tennis Court. Who are they?