letterswithoutborders

  Birmingham bids farewell to its most infamous son, as the world mourns the death of heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne was laid to rest yesterday in his hometown of Birmingham, England, where his music first shook the walls of working-class neighborhoods and echoed across generations. Thousands of fans, locals and global mourners lined the streets for a funeral procession. A sleek black hearse, marked by a bold purple cross on the roof, carried his coffin adorned with a matching display of purple flowers spelling out “OZZY.” It was surrounded by fans waving banners and wearing Black Sabbath T-shirts, moved slowly through the streets of Birmingham. Local brass band, Bostin Brass , led the way with renditions of Iron Man and Crazy Train .  Fans lining the procession route cheered, sang and celebrated the life of a man who changed music forever. The atmosphere was electric, yet reverent, an outpouring of love and grief wrapped in heavy metal passion...

  Lebanese are mourning the loss of Ziad Rahbani, the legendary composer, playwright and cultural critic whose work reshaped Arabic music and theater. Rahbani died of a heart attack on the morning of Saturday, July 26, in Beirut, according to a hospital statement published by Lebanese newspaper  L'Orient-Le Jour . "Saturday at 9:00 a.m., the heart of the great artist and creator Ziad Rahbani stopped beating," the statement read. A Revolutionary Voice in Music and Theater Ziad Rahbani was a Lebanese composer, pianist, playwright and political commentator. Born on January 1, 1956, in the town of Antelias in the Metn district of Lebanon to Fairouz, who is one of the Arab world's most famous singers and Assi Rahbani, one of the founders of modern Arabic music. It’s said that he began engaging with music from a young age, often interrupting his school lessons to follow his father’s compositions. Assi encouraged him to develop his own artistic opinions, even as early as th...

  arrack arrived in Beirut on Monday for the third time in just over a month, holding high-level talks with Lebanese officials on a proposed American roadmap aimed at stabilizing Lebanon and the wider region. The plan, backed by the White House, calls for the disarmament of non-state armed groups, long-delayed economic reforms and improved diplomatic ties between Lebanon and Syria. Barrack’s visit comes amid mounting domestic and international pressure on Hezbollah to relinquish its arsenal following a destructive war with Israel that ended under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement in November 2024. In Beirut, Barrack met Monday with President Joseph Aoun at Baabda Palace and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the Grand Serail. On Tuesday, he met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri at Ain al-Tineh. “I’ve returned to Lebanon because President Trump is committed to regional stability, and Lebanon plays a key role,” Barrack told reporters after his meetings with Aoun and Salam. “We need ...

Saif Mussallet was supposed to be home in Tampa this week. He had plans for his new ice cream shop on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, “Ice SSSScreamin”  a bright, silly name for a sweet dream. He had hoped to expand it into a chain, maybe become a young entrepreneur success story. He liked comedy, loved his grandmother and was building a future he was proud of. Instead, his family is grieving the brutal reality that Saif, a 25-year-old Palestinian American, was murdered in the West Bank and left to die in his younger brother’s arms. On July 13, Saif was killed by a mob of Israeli settlers while visiting his ancestral land in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah. According to his family, he had gone there to visit relatives and possibly meet his future wife. But while trying to protect his family’s land, he found himself surrounded by settlers who violently assaulted him. For over three hours, they blocked paramedics and ambulances from reaching him. Israeli soldiers  were present a...

  You’ve seen the headlines. “Dozens killed in overnight airstrikes.” “Clashes erupt on border.” “Civilians caught in crossfire.” They flash across our screens and fade just as quickly. But behind each one is a story we rarely hear—the grandfather who opened his shop that morning thinking it would be a normal day. The little girl who lost her home, her school, and her brother all before lunch. The medic who ran toward danger and never came back. The numbers may be accurate. The facts may be “objective.” But something essential gets lost in the way so much of global news is reported: the human cost. Headlines Aren’t Enough In my work as a foreign correspondent, I’ve seen how people become statistics long before their stories are told. We live in a media culture that prizes speed over depth, and official narratives over lived realities. Conflict becomes reduced to who fired first, how many were killed, and what the spokesperson said—while the communities caught in the middle a...

  Ozzy Osbourne’s Final Performance Brings Birmingham—and the World—Together More than 50 years after forming in Birmingham, England, Ozzy Osbourne and his pioneering metal band Black Sabbath returned to where it all began for the Back to the Beginning farewell concert. The birthplace of heavy metal had been eagerly anticipating the return of its native son, with murals and tributes adorning the city in the weeks leading up to the event. The concert was held at Villa Park, just miles from where Osbourne and his bandmates grew up. The 76-year-old singer, seated on a black bat-winged throne, dramatically rose from beneath the stage. To kick off the night he shouted, “It’s so good to be on this fucking stage, you have no idea. Let the madness begin!" A Star-Studded Metal Marathon Osbourne performed hits from his solo career with longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde by his side. The setlist included “Crazy Train,” “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” “Suicide Solution,” “Mr. Crowley,” and “I Don’t K...