City news in 250 words: Thursday 3 March

TEACHER CLEARED OF ASSAULT: Sohail Musa, 21, was charged in April 2010 with assaulting two of his pupils at Zakariyya Mosque in Bolton after they failed to memorise verses from the Koran. Musa has since been cleared of the charges after District Judge Paul Richardson admitted he wasn’t satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that one or other of these assaults had been proved.

MANCHESTER TOWN HALL SEX ATTACK CHARGE: A man has been charged after a 20-year-old woman reported she was raped in an alleyway between Manchester Town Hall and Central Library on 31October 2010. Dominic Hill, 26, of Burnage Lane, Manchester, is charged with false imprisonment and sexual assault. He is due to appear before Manchester magistrates today.

RIO FERDINAND STALKER WARRANT ISSUED: A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a woman charged with harassing England football captain Rio Ferdinand. Susanne Ibru, 38, is accused of turning up at the footballer’s house in Alderley Edge and asking to speak to him. She failed to attend a pre-trial hearing at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court earlier.

WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL MICROSCOPE IN MANCHESTER: Scientists from the University of Manchester have announced the development of the world's most powerful optical microscope. The microsphere nanoscope reportedly allows users to see objects as small as 50 nanometres under normal lighting – this is 20 times smaller than what conventional optical microscopes can manage. Professor Lin Li said: "We believe that it is just the start and we will be able to see far smaller items."

Out the window weather forecast: The male model for former rugby player Phil Vickery's clothing line is skipping round Spinnigfields in the sun with a photographer.