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Naguib Mahfouz, who became the first Arab writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature for his novels depicting Egyptian life in Cairo, died Wednesday at age 94. Mahfouz was known for moderation and religious tolerance. In 1994, an attacker inspired by a militant cleric's ruling that a Mahfouz novel was blasphemous stabbed the author. Mahfouz survived and maintained a busy schedule well into his 90s. His health declined after he suffered a head injury last month.

DEFINITION: (adjective) Unkempt; slovenly. SYNONYMS: slovenly, frowsy. USAGE: Between his frowzy clothes and late arrival, he made a decidedly bad first impression.

Ranked the second richest man in the world, with an estimated net worth of about US$46 billion, this "Oracle of Omaha" has amassed a fortune from astute investments through his company, Berkshire Hathaway. In June 2006, he made the commitment to give away his fortune, with 85% of it going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffett's donation represents the largest act of charitable giving in US history. What is his annual salary from Berkshire Hathaway?

Fanny Kaplan was a political revolutionary who was executed for attempting to assassinate Vladimir Lenin. She became disillusioned with Lenin as a result of the conflict between the Socialist Revolutionaries and the Bolshevik party and decided to take action, shooting Lenin three times as he exited a Moscow factory. Though she confessed to the shooting, it has been suggested that Kaplan could not have been responsible for the assassination attempt. Why not?

The Weeping Willow belongs to the Salicaceae family of deciduous trees and shrubs that are especially abundant in the cooler zones of the Northern Hemisphere. Willow cuttings and broken branches take root very easily. In fact, legend has it that all of England's Weeping Willows are descendents of a twig sent to Lady Suffolk from Spain. Salicylic acid, originally derived from the active extract of willow bark, is the basis of what extensively used class of drugs?