Misc: what direction is the sahara desert expanding in by half a mile a year?

Questions

What sexually ambigious prisonmate was often dubbed "Mrs. Hitler"?

What shoe brand were all 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult wearing when they committed suicide in 1997?

What slim volume began a record 161 week stint atop the hardcover fiction best sellar list in 1993?

What space shuttle did Discovery replace?

What spy novelist was Moscow correspondent for Reuters & The Times of London?