50 States of the USA. These are the 50 states of the United States of America, making the 327 million population, 9.834 million km2 land area and US$19 trillion GDP of the USA.
The Largest States. Alaska, with a total area of 1,723,337km2, of which 245,384 km2 (14%) is the total area of water bodies (rivers, lakes) in Alaska. Next largest state is Texas at 695,662km2 of which 2.7% are water areas and California at 423,967km2 with 4.8% of water areas.
The Most Populated States. California, with a population of 39,536,653. Followed by Texas, the Lone Star State, with a population of 28,304,596 and Sunshine State, Florida with 20,984,400 people.
These are the deepest lakes in the North America by surface area. Among these, are the Great Lakes of North America - Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total area. They have a combined volume of 22,671 km³, a shade less than the volume of Lake Baikal (23,615 km³).
However, the Great Lakes do not claim the title of the deepest and second deepest lakes in North America. The Great Slave Lake of Canada is the deepest lake in North America and reaches a maximum depth of 614m. Further north in the Northwest Territories of Canada, the Great Bear Lake goes as deep as 446m. In the third, Lake Superior, the largest and deepest of the Great Lakes of North America, dips at 406.3m.
These are the largest office buildings in North America. In fact, the top eight largest office buildings in North America are also the largest offices in the world.
The largest of them all - the Pentagon - has 620,000 m2 of floor area, despite having only 7 floors. Well, we are know who works at the Pentagon - we just can't talk about it.
At second, with 490,000 m2 of floor area, is the FCA US LLC Headquarters and Technology Center - also the North American HQ and main research and development facility of Chrysler ( FCA stands for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ).
In close third, at 462,636 m2, is the Place du Portage building of Canada. The Place du Portage (made up of Place du Portage I, II, III, IV and Place d'Accueil) is a commercial office building can accommodate approximately 10,000 office workers.
The top ten women marathon runners complete the 26.219 miles or 42.195 km marathon race in less than 2 hours 20 minutes. Compare this to the average finishing time for women at around 4 hours 47 minutes, so you can imagine these super runners blazing ahead of you at twice your speed.
Paula Radcliffe (UK)'s world-record performance of 2 hours 15 minutes 25 seconds was set at the London Marathon 2003. Till today, fifteen years later, this solid world record has yet to be broken, although several women runners have come close in recent marathons, including Mary Keitany of Kenya ( 2 hours 17 minutes 1 second at London Marathon 2017 ) and Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia ( 2 hours 17 minutes 56 seconds at London Marathon 2017 as well ).
A tuna is a saltwater fish that can maintain a body temperature higher than that of the surrounding water. (the other species of fish which can do that are opah and mackerel sharks). The tuna is among the fastest-swimming pelagic fish - for example, the yellowfin tuna can swim as fast as 75 km/h.
The largest tuna, the Northern (or Atlantic) Bluefin Tuna, can reach lengths of nearly 13 feet (4m) and historically, up to 2000 pounds (900 kg). The Atlantic bluefin tuna eat a variety of prey but apparently prefer pelagic fishes and invertebrates that they can swallow whole. The Atlantic bluefin tuna has also been the foundation of one of the world's most lucrative commercial fisheries. Medium-sized and large individuals are heavily targeted for the Japanese raw fish market, where all bluefin species are highly prized for sushi and sashimi.
The Henley Passport Index is the ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access visa-free. The creator of this index, Henley & Partners, has analysed the visa regulations of countries in the world since 2006.
Scoring. The score is calculated as the number of countries that a specific passport can access becomes its visa-free
Summary. As of March 2019, the countries with the most powerful passports are Japan, Singapore and South Korea, with their holders capable of visiting 189 countries visa-free. The countries with the least powerful passports are Iraq and Afghanistan, with their holders being able to visit only 30 countries visa-free.
May 15, 2019. Come November 3, 2020, the world will learn, with bated breath, whether the 46th United States president will emerge - or not. It is barely eighteen months away from the next U.S. presidential election and already, some countries could have already begun the countdown, wishing the elections would come sooner.
Within a short span of the past four weeks, the United States has escalated the trade war with China while still engaged in retaliatory tariff tit-for-tats with Mexico, Canada and the European Union. In the same period, the United States has also increased sanctions on Iran and deployed a carrier strike group to the Gulf, provoking hostile tensions in the Middle East, while shrugging off a series of missile tests by North Korea whose nuclear deal negotiations with Trump, after two unprecedented summits, has stalled.
At eighteen months out and with rising economic and military tensions on multiple fronts, Trump's re-election campaign is exactly right on schedule. There is enough runway for him to exert his "maximum pressure" strategy to force opposing countries to quickly capitulate and comply and ratchet up early wins to build up momentum on the path to re-election. However, if these trade and military tensions drag on, then the opposing countries gain the advantage of time and earn the option of waiting for Trump's term to run out and try for a better deal with the next U.S. president.
After two unprecedented summits - one in Singapore (2018) and the other in Hanoi Vietnam (2019) - that seemed to affirm Trump's unorthodox diplomacy, the relationship between Trump and Kim in 2020 has since regressed to square one. On May 4th, 2019, North Korea resumed the test launches of its missiles - an act that broke a diplomatic pause of missile launches in more than a year.
The missiles launched were short-range ballistic missiles; the payload they carry do not threaten the U.S. mainland. However, the message they carry is potent. In breaking the diplomatic pause, Kim is sending a message that if talks do not improve, North Korea can easily resume the testing of long-range ballistic missiles. On the latest missile test, Trump tweeted that Kim "does not want to break his promise to me. Deal will happen!". This statement could signal two things: (a) a carrot - the U.S. remain committed to the nuclear deal talks ("Deal will happen") - and (b) a stick - an unspoken threat if North Korea resume its ICBM tests (Kim "does not want to break his promise to me").
However, with the 2020 U.S. Presidential Elections looming, the momentum has tipped in North Korea's favour. Trump will be under time pressure to prove that his North Korea diplomacy works. Kim could do a full-court press on the U.S. for sweeter concessions (sanctions relief without total disarmament). In the worse case, if negotiations goes south, Kim could still wait it out until the next U.S. Presidential elections to try again. After all, firstly, Kim has no term limits and secondly, the unprecedented summits that Trump has initiated now give greater operating room for the next president to sit down with Kim.
With potential contenders throwing their hats into the ring for the 2020 Republican primaries as well as U.S. Presidential Elections, the U.S.-China trade war negotiations just gained a new dimension. If the China economy can hold up amidst the trade war, then the Chinese will hold more clout at the negotiation table, given that time has more pressure on Trump than it has for Xi.
Earlier in May, the US-China trade talks concluded without a deal. Not longer after, the warning shots were fired; Trump ordered a hike in tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese products. On 13 May, China returned shots by raising retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods. It remains to be seen whether the Trump administration will escalate this conflict by following through on the threat to put 25% tariffs on the $325 billion in the remaining un-taxed Chinese goods.
While the trade war hurts both of the world's top two largest economies, any damage to the US economy carries an extra punch for Trump's upcoming elections and Trump's brand as a masterful deal-maker. China hopes this time pressure will lead to Trump expediting a trade deal that does not require China to concede much while giving Trump the perception of a win in this war. However, if U.S. decides not to budge, China could still wait out and observe the election process and judge whether to make a concession that increases Trump's chance of a second-term or reserve the concessions for negotiations with the next President of the United States. This privilege of waiting-out, however, hinges strongly on the impact of the tariffs on the Chinese economy.
Mexico is among the United States' top three trading partners and one of its two bordering countries. In 2018, according to Census Bureau, the U.S. exported $265 billion worth of goods to Mexico and imported $346.5 billion from Mexico. Since Trump's presidency, he has been determined to make good on two of his election promises involving Mexico - restructuring of the NAFTA to reduce U.S. trade deficit and the $33 billion border wall to stamp out illegal immigration and illegal trade of drugs and weapons from Mexico.
The NAFTA was superseded through negotiations by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) signed on 1st October 2018. Prior to the USMCA, the United States had slapped tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on alumnium from Canada, Mexico and the European Union. Mexico retaliated by slapping tariffs on $3 billion worth of American goods. At this point, the USMCA is currently stalled in the Congress and may not receive enough votes with concerns on labor, environmental and pharmaceutical provisions. Mexico and Canada are equally unwilling to ratify the USMCA unless the United States lifts its tariffs on steel and aluminium.
Trump has publicly stated that Mexico will eventually pay for the $33-billion U.S.-Mexico border wall, which Mexico has openly rejected. However, as long as the Trump administration is in charge, Mexico can expect continued hard pressure to meet Trump's demand. Looking at the presidential candidate field, Mexico can only hope the none of the upcoming presidential hopefuls make the same election promises about the Mexican border wall as Trump.
Top French Banks. France have the most number of large banks in Europe at six (same as UK), holding a combined US$8.6 trillion in assets.
1. BNP Paribas. The largest bank in France is BNP Paribas with US$2.357 trillion in assets. Founded since 1848, it is also the 2nd largest bank by assets in Europe and the eighth largest bank in the world.
2. Crédit Agricole. The "la banque verte" or the green bank, Crédit Agricole is the second largest bank in France with US$2.1 trillion in assets. Founded since 1894, it has become the third largest bank by asset in Europe and tenth largest globally.
3. Société Générale. Société Générale is France's third largest bank by total assets, sixth largest in Europe and nineteenth largest globally, managing up to US$1.53 trillion in assets. Along with BNP Paribas and Crédit Lyonnais, it is also known as the Trois Vieilles or "Old Three" of French banking.
4. Groupe BPCE. Groupe BPCE is the fourth largest bank by assets (US$1.51 trilllion) in France and eighth largest in Europe.
5. Crédit Mutuel. Crédit Mutuel is a French cooperative bank based in Strasbourg, Alsace. It holds up to US$836 trillion in assets and is the 15th largest bank in Europe and 39th largest globally.
6. La Banque Postale SA. La Banque Postale is a French bank, created on 1 January 2006 as a subsidiary of La Poste, the national postal service. It is France's sixth largest bank, managing up to US$277 billion of assets.
This list covers the tallest men born between 1700 and 1899. At the tallest height of 267 cm (8 ft 9 in) for men born before 1899, John William Bud Rogan (1868-1905) was an American man who was the tallest person ever recorded until passed by Robert Wadlow in the 20th century.
Édouard Beaupré (1881-1904) is the tallest Canadian ever and second tallest on this list at a height of 251cm. At third on this list, Bernard Coyne (1897-1921) of United States measured at 249m. He has a World War 1 draft registration card, but was refused induction into the Army (1918).