Welcome to Unmissable our weekly digest of stories we think you might have missed.
Rabbi Dovid Lewis (L) and Imam Nasser Kurdy,(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Imam Dr Nasser Kurdy is telling a room full of children at Saddleworth School a story. “Last week we were at a school in Manchester”, he says. “And having finished we asked one of the prefect girls for her opinion and she said ‘you made me cry’.”
“Something happens to people when they listen with an open heart. It changes their perspective. So the next time you look at another person you look at them in a different way, in a positive way.”
The war in Gaza has led to deep divisions across Muslim and Jewish communities in Greater Manchester. Some contacts have told the Manchester Evening News that the communication between the two communities is at ‘an all time low’.
Rabbi Dovid Lewis and Imam Dr Nasser Kurdy decided to take a different path. Damon Wilkinson went to one of their sessions in a school to report on a remarkable project and a lasting friendship.
Welcome to Unmissable, our weekly digest of stories we think you might have missed.
Dovid, a rabbi at the South Manchester Synagogue in Bowdon, and Nasser, formerly an imam at Altrincham Islamic Centre in Hale, have been pals for around 16 years after their places of worship began forging closer links. Their friendship deepened after Nasser was attacked from behind and stabbed in the neck outside his mosque in September 2017.
But the pair admit that the war, in which around 59,000 Palestinians and almost 2,000 Israelis have been reported killed, has put their relationship to the test like never before.
However, as they explain to the children at Saddleworth School, it is possible to hold vastly different views without falling out. This is an important and powerful story of friendship and respect overcoming differences. It’s well worth a read.
Elsewhere this weekend we published a deep dive into the series of bus crashes at a bridge in Salford after three people were seriously injured in the most recent incident last Monday.
Also, Charlotte Fisher took one of the most complained about Northern Trains and discovered first-hand why it is on that list.
James Holt recounted the mildly terrifying story of being stopped at the airport because of ‘traces of explosives’ in his luggage, he also exposed how chaos in the driving test system is being exploited by third parties for financial gain.
Jenna Campbell visited the tiny, family run Vietnamese deli that’s attracting queues down one Manchester street and we went out to visit the Redbricks estate in the shadow of Manchester’s skyscrapers.
‘A person not like you is still a person just like you’
Rabbi Dovid Lewis and Imam Nasser Kurdy have been friends for years(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
The Gaza war has led to deep divisions across Muslim and Jewish communities. But Rabbi Dovid Lewis and Imam Dr Nasser Kurdy decided to choose a different path. Damon Wilkinson reports on a remarkable project and friendship. Read it HERE.
How was this allowed to keep happening?
The bridge has been the scene of repeated crashes over the last five years.
In recent years three buses have crashed under the same Salford bridge. This week it happened again with passengers seriously injured. In a special report the Manchester Evening News looks at what has gone wrong. Read it HERE.
‘I took one of the most complained about Northern Trains – and it didn’t even reach its destination’
Clitheroe train station (Image: Manchester Evening News)
The Clitheroe-Rochdale service was one of the most complained about Northern services in 2024 and 2025. Read it HERE.
I was stopped and searched at the airport after they found ‘traces of explosives’ in my suitcase
James in Berlin before going to catch his flight(Image: James Holt)
As my bag appeared from the screening box, it jolted to the other side of the conveyor. Read it HERE.
“They know how desperate people are”: Inside the WhatsApp group where people are being exploited – but it’s not illegal
“It was double the cost. They know how desperate people are, don’t they?”
“If you fail, you know you’re going to have to keep paying”. Read it HERE.
Inside the tiny, family run Vietnamese deli that’s attracting queues down one Manchester street
The new deli and cafe is serving up traditional Vietnamese coffee and Banh Mi(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
It isn’t hidden and it’s already created a buzz online, but this tiny Vietnamese cafe is still an absolute gem. Read it HERE.
Life in the shadow of Manchester’s skyscrapers where time has stood still
(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
The Bentley House estate, also known as Redbricks, is made up of six rows of three-storey art-deco flats spread across three streets in the shadow of the huge towers of Manc-hattan. James Holt went to visit the residents. Read it HERE.