The New Zealand Herald is bringing back some of the best stories of 2020 from our premium syndicators, including The New York Times, Financial Times and The Times of London.

Today we look at the devastating explosion at the Beirut port, the little ballet school thurst into the world spotlight, why we were caught unprepared for the coronavirus, the strangest NBA season ever and Martha Stewart's venture into CBD gummies.

The making of the perfect bomb

Thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate.

15 tons of fireworks.

Jugs of kerosene and acid.

In Beirut, Lebanon, a dysfunctional and corrupt system let every ingredient for a devastating bomb sit in the port for years.

An investigation by a team of New York Times reporters revealed how a corrupt and dysfunctional system failed to respond to the threat while enriching the country's political leaders through bribery and smuggling.

Bags of ammonium nitrate were piled haphazardly in Hangar 12, some torn and spilling their contents. Photo / The New York Times

In Lagos, a homegrown ballet academy leaps into the spotlight

In June, a minute-long video featuring a young ballet student dancing in the rain began circulating on the internet. As the rain falls, forming puddles between the uneven slabs of concrete on which he dances, Anthony Mmesoma Madu, 11, turns pirouette after pirouette.

Though the conditions for such dancing are all wrong — dangerous, even — he twirls on, flying barefoot into an arabesque and landing it.

The wide reach of the video has turned a spotlight on the unlikely story of a ballet school in a poor suburb of Lagos, Nigeria: the Leap of Dance Academy.

The New York Times talks with the founder.

Anthony Mmesoma Madu, left, with fellow students from the Leap of Dance Academy, in Ajangbadi, Ojo. Photo / Stephen Tayo, The New York Times

Comment: Why we fail to prepare for disasters

We were warned, both by the experts and by reality about the likelihood of a pandemic. Yet on most fronts, we were still caught unprepared.

Wilful blindness is not confined to those in power. The rest of us should acknowledge that we too struggled to grasp what was happening as quickly as we should.

The Financial Times looks at why we do nothing in the face of danger.

A couple wearing protective masks to protect against coronavirus walk past a mural reading 'Stay home', in the Shoreditch area, as the lockdown continues in London. Photo / AP

An NBA season like no other: 'One of the worst, strangest years'

Nothing about the 2019-20 NBA season was normal. There were tragedies and triumphs, setbacks and highlights. When play finally resumed in July after a four-month hiatus brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, it began in a so-called bubble: a self-contained, spectator-free campus at Walt Disney World near Orlando as the league — at no small cost — fought to the finish line.

Five people tell The New York Times what they learned about basketball, and themselves, in a turbulent season that changed the NBA.

The Miami Heat celebrate their NBA conference final playoff basketball game win over the Boston Celtics with the Eastern Final trophy in September. Photo / AP

Martha Stewart, blissed out on CBD, is doing just fine

America's foremost domestic goddess put out a new line of CBD gummies this year.

"I pop 20 of them and just feel OK," Martha Stewart said, "but some of my friends do two and feel high."

Stewart talks to The New York Times about CBD and how she was well prepared to spend many months at home.

Martha Stewart is putting her name behind a new line of CBD products, including pâte de fruit.Photo / Celeste Sloman, The New York Times