Beirut Blast a Painful Reminder for Small Texas Town

August 18, 2020

Remembering the West, Texas Explosion of April, 2013 | Support for Beirut | GZERO World

In 2013, a blast at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas nearly leveled the town and killed 15 people. The cause--an explosion of the chemical ammonium nitrate, the same substance involved in the tragic blast that occurred recently in Beirut, Lebanon. GZERO Media traveled to West, Texas, to meet Mayor Tommy Muska. Hear his harrowing story, and his words of support for a city thousands of miles away.

Watch the GZERO World episode: Lebanon Post-Blast: Rage in the Streets of Beirut

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With a cohesive team in the White House, Republican control of Congress, and a disoriented Democratic opposition, Donald Trump has pushed ahead rapidly on many fronts since inauguration. But opinion polls in recent weeks have shown a sharp decline in public support for the president, and the courts, financial markets, and other institutions have started curbing his actions. We asked Eurasia Group experts Clayton Allen and Noah Daponte-Smith where things are likely to go from here.

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Beirut Blast a Painful Reminder for Small Texas Town

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The most revolutionary thing about Trump 2.0? More dysfunction, fewer results. Ian Bremmer⁩ examines President Trump’s first hundred days back in office, why America’s problems are getting bigger, and what comes next.

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On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, two authors—Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen and historian Mai Elliott—with deeply personal ties to the Vietnam War, reflect on its lasting global impact and Vietnam's remarkable rise 50 years later.