Britain has welcomed recent statements from Iran’s new government that it wants to improve relations with the West and ease concerns about its nuclear programme. Speaking after meeting his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Zarif on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was time for Iran’s statements to be matched by concrete steps. The BBC diplomatic correspondent says there are expectations that the UN summit could produce a turning point in Iran’s relations with the West.

A court in Egypt has banned the Muslim Brotherhood from carrying out any activity in the country and has ordered the confiscation of its assets. The military-backed government has taken a series of tough measures against the group since Mohamed Morsi from the brotherhood was ousted from presidency in July. The brotherhood reacted angrily to the latest move by the government. It described the measures as corrupt and politically motivated, and said that the brotherhood would remain part of Egyptian society even if it was dissolved.

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The ailing Canadian smartphone maker Blackberry says it’s agreed in principle to be bought by a consortium led by its largest shareholder. The decision comes days after Blackberry said it was cutting its global workforce by 40%. Samira Hussain reports.

Fairfax is a private equity company. It is a Canadian company and it’s led by Prem Watsa. He is a Canadian billionaire often referred to sort of as the Warren Buffett of Canada, and his company holds 10% of the common shares of Blackberry and they’ve put in a bid to purchase the company. Blackberry was the preeminent smartphone. It was the one gadget that everyone had, but nowadays are facing such stiff competition from companies like iPhone, or from Microsoft or other people that are entering into the market—even Lenovo. And so they haven’t been able to regain any of the market-share that it’s really lost.