Presenter Mishal Husain joins Today programme

16 July 2013

Presenter Mishal Husain is to join BBC Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme Today, director general Tony Hall has announced.

Husain will be a core member of the presenting team alongside John Humphrys, James Naughtie, Sarah Montague, Evan Davis and Justin Webb.

Lord Hall said having another woman on the line-up was "extremely important".

Husain, who currently presents Sunday's BBC News at Ten, said she was "delighted" to join the programme.

"The programme has unparalleled influence across BBC News and on our national conversation and I am looking forward to being part of it," she said.

Previously a Washington-based presenter, Husain was a key on-air figure at the BBC in the build-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2002 and throughout the war.

Husain, who was one of the faces of the BBC's Olympics coverage, is the main host of the BBC World News 90-minute Impact programme.

Meanwhile, Naughtie, who has presented Today since 1994, will become a chief reporter in the BBC's coverage of the independence referendum in Scotland.

He will continue to present the programme but will also host Good Morning Scotland and a series of debates from across Scotland.

Naughtie, who was born in Moray, said he was excited to be "in the thick of it, on both sides of the border, from start to finish".

Around the BBC