Jack Burgess
Live reporter

We're drawing our live page to a close, but before we go let's take a look again at some of George Alagiah's most memorable moments on our screens:

Tributes have been pouring in from his colleagues at the BBC, friends elsewhere, and members of the public after a statement from his agent said he "died peacefully today, surrounded by his family and loved ones".

The BBC's director general Tim Davie has described Alagiah as "one of the best and bravest journalists of his generation".

Today's page has been edited by me and James FitzGerald and written by Emily Atkinson, Jacqueline Howard and Sam Hancock.

Image source, Fiona Hanson/PA Wire

"What a trailblazer. What a calm, steadfast presence at the helm. What a legend. Rest in peace," writes , externalactor and comedian Sue Perkins.

She's joined by actor and writer Sanjeev Bhaskar, who calls Alagiah, external an "excellent journalist" and "a class act".

"I'm heartbroken," singer Beverley Knight, external writes on social media.

Presenters of BBC Radio 4's Today programme are sharing their dedications to George Alagiah, who died this morning after living with cancer for nine years.

Mishal Husain recalls watching Alagiah on screen as Africa correspondent in the 90s and says he was "the first Asian foreign correspondent I had seen on British television.

"He inspired so many of us," she adds.

Husain also writes that in 2013, when she was offered the job on Today, Alagiah stopped her in the newsroom to tell her he was "proud".

"I could have fallen through the floor, it meant so much. The best of colleagues, the best of men," she says.

Nick Robinson, her fellow Today presenter, also paid tribute by saying: "George was a brilliant journalist, a lovely man and an inspiring example to all fighting serious illness. His friends will miss him deeply."

Emma Saunders
BBC Culture reporter

After George Alagiah's initial bowel cancer diagnosis in 2014, the disease spread to his liver and lymph nodes, which needed chemotherapy and several operations, including one to remove most of his liver.

He said he was a "richer person" for the experience upon returning to presenting in 2015, and said working in the newsroom was "such an important part of keeping energised and motivated".

He had to take several further breaks from work to have treatment, and in January 2022 said he thought the cancer would "probably get me in the end", but that he still felt "very lucky".

Speaking on the Desperately Seeking Wisdom podcast in 2022, he said that when his cancer was first discovered, it took a while for him to understand what he "needed to do".

"I had to stop and say, 'Hang on a minute. If the full stop came now, would my life have been a failure?'

"And actually, when I look back and I looked at my journey... the family I had, the opportunities my family had, the great good fortune to bump into [Frances Robathan], who's now been my wife and lover for all these years, the kids that we brought up... it didn't feel like a failure."

Alagiah had two children with Frances.

We shared a tribute from BBC World Affairs editor John Simpson a short while earlier, in which he spoke of his time working alongside George Alagiah.

Now, Simpson offers some insight into quite how far back their working companionship goes.

"Directly [after] George Alagiah came into the interview room at the BBC in 1989 I knew I’d found the ideal foreign correspondent," the broadcaster recalls., external

"In the years that followed he was the happiest, most friendly person on our team. Everyone loved him, as they continued to do throughout his stellar career," Simpson says.

As we've been reporting, George Alagiah, who died earlier today, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in 2014. Last October, he announced the disease had spread further.

Here's a quick checklist of this specific cancer's symptoms:

• A persistent change in bowel habit - going more often, with looser stools and sometimes tummy pain
• Blood in the stools without other symptoms, such as piles
• Abdominal pain, discomfort or bloating always brought on by eating - sometimes resulting in a reduction in the amount of food eaten and weight loss

• How to check for bowel cancer

Most people with these symptoms do not have bowel cancer, but the NHS advice is to see your GP if you have one or more of the symptoms and they have persisted for more than four weeks.

And if you, or someone you know, has been affected by cancer then information and support is available on the BBC's Action Line page.

Image source, .

We've been looking through comments left by people on the BBC News Facebook page , externaland want to share a small selection of them here.

Julie Thompson remembers George Alagiah giving a talk at her school in Belgium. "He was the most engaging and charismatic person and the most wonderful news reporter, whose kindness people have commented upon," she writes.

Andie Guy says Alagiah used to visit the hospital where she was a ward manager. "Honestly the humblest, kindest, [most] unassuming and authentic gentleman you could ever meet," she says, adding that he was "admired, respected and will be greatly missed" by her then-team of nurses.

Jacqueline Mackay remembers meeting Alagiah at the Hay Festival. "He spent quite a long time with our then-seven-year-old discussing the merits of journalism as opposed to being a Lego designer," she says.

"Of course our seven-year-old still thought news reading was boring and voted for Lego designing - we will always remember that day," Jacqueline adds.

BBC presenter Fiona Bruce has joined colleagues paying tribute to George Alagiah, saying he was "that rare thing - a first-rate journalist and an all-round lovely human being".

"Integrity and decency shone through him," she says, and describes his "mischievous sense of humour with an endearing giggle".

"I remember his 60th birthday party, surrounded by his wonderful family and his glamorous sisters like so many birds of paradise. It was an intimate family affair and I know George counted his blessings to be there with the people he loved so much," Bruce says.

"He fought with all he had to stay with them as long as he could," she adds.

BBC News presenter Clive Myrie took a moment during a broadcast earlier this afternoon to pay a personal tribute to George - a man who he said was a mentor to him.

"We loved him here at BBC News and I loved him as a mentor, colleague and friend," Myrie said.

"His spirit, strength and courage in the later years of his life is something his family can be so proud of," he adds

Image source, .

Tributes for George are continuing to pour in, from inside and outside the BBC.

Consumer finance expert Martin Lewis says he heard the news of Alagiah's death on social media. "I saw the George Alagiah hashtag and hoped it wasn't this," Lewis says, external.

"Much respect to George and condolences to his family. Talented man who will be missed," he adds.

The Financial Times' foreign editor Alec Russell hails Alagiah as a "shining example of what journalism at its best can be". He also describes the late newsreader as having "an unwavering sense of justice, unshakeable empathy and patience in the toughest of circumstances, and bone-deep decency".

Meanwhile, former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark remembers Alagiah as a "fearless journalist who exemplified the very best" of the profession.

"George reported from the frontlines of war, conflict, genocide, famine and oppression, fulfilling the vital media function of informing the public," she says.

Durham University - which Alagiah attended as an undergraduate - has also reacted publicly to the news. "We are very sorry to hear of the loss of our alumnus George Alagiah," the university has posted on social media, external, adding "our thoughts are with his family and friends."

We'll continue to bring you the latest tributes as we get them.

Another colleague of George Alagiah has spoken out, remembering the broadcaster as an "extraordinary" person.

"He was incredibly proud of his family, his children, his grandchildren," BBC presenter Christian Fraser says of Alagiah, before discussing the latter part of Alagiah's life.

Towards the end he was "wearing the effects of suffering [from cancer] for many years," Fraser tells the BBC News channel, but adds: "He certainly didn't want it to define who he was."

As with many of the tributes, Fraser also remembers Alagiah's career, saying:

Image source, PA Media

1955 - George Maxwell Alagiah was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, before moving to Ghana and then England in childhood.

Later in life, he attended Durham University, where he met and later married Frances Robathan. They had two children and lived in Stoke Newington, north London.

After graduating, he spent seven years at South Magazine.

1989 - He joined the BBC as a foreign affairs correspondent and then became Africa correspondent.

Early 1990s - Alagiah won awards for reports on the famine and war in Somalia and was nominated for a Bafta in 1994 for covering Saddam Hussein's genocidal campaign against the Kurds of northern Iraq.

1994 - He was also named Amnesty International's journalist of the year in 1994, for reporting on the civil war in Burundi, and was the first BBC journalist to report on the genocide in Rwanda.

Moving to news presenting, he fronted the BBC One O'Clock News and Nine O'Clock News before being made one of the main presenters of the Six O'Clock News in 2003.

2008 - He was made an OBE in the 2008 New Year Honours and received the award from the late Queen Elizabeth II.

2014 - He was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer and revealed in October 2022 that it had spread further.

Alagiah died earlier today, aged 67, with a statement from his agent saying he died "surrounded by his family and loved ones".

George had been a migrant twice by the age of 11.

He was born in Sri Lanka, moved to Ghana and then to a boarding school in England.

Image source, Alagiah family

Adapting to new cultures and thriving were formative experiences for George, his former colleague Allan Little remembers.

"It planted in him something that was also key to his talent: he could see how the world looked from the point of view of the Global South - the view from Africa and Asia especially - and convey that perspective to the living rooms of the globally prosperous," Little says.

Image source, .

In 2002, after seeing his reporting on genocide in Rwanda, Fairtrade approached George Alagiah to ask if he would become the foundation's first patron.

"He absolutely jumped at the chance, even though Fairtrade at that time was absolutely tiny," former Fairtrade Foundation CEO Harriet Lamb says.

"He saw that it could be a way for people who had nothing to work their way out of poverty," she tells Naga Munchetty on BBC Radio 5 live.

"He prepared the arguments from a very objective point of view while still feeling very passionate about it," Lamb says.

"George was really good fun and an absolute laugh - always up for bringing joy and fun into every situation," Lamb adds.

More now from Allan Little, a colleague and friend of George Alagiah's, whose moving tribute we posted a little earlier.

Cancer taught George "to reflect on his life, what it meant and to tell the people he loved the things he wanted them to know," Little tells our TV colleagues on BBC News, and adds:

"He once said to me: Allan, if you haven't yet told the people that you love that you love them, don't wait!"

Alagiah was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in 2014 and revealed last October that it had spread further.

Little also says Alagiah's wife Francis, and their two children, "were the still and constant centre of his life - he was absolutely rooted in the love of his family".

We've been receiving lots more dedications to George Alagiah from his colleagues around the world and here are a few of the latest:

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera says the phrase "never meet your heroes" didn't apply when working with Alagiah.

The BBC's chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet calls him "a great broadcaster", a "kind colleague" and "a thoughtful journalist."

Speaking on Radio 5 Live, former BBC South Africa bureau chief Milton Nkosi says it was "amazing to watch" him work because he was "always very thoughtful in times of war and rebellion and rioting".

Elsewhere, Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine has been posting on social media, external saying he was "lucky enough to work with him in the Johannesburg bureau 25 years ago".

He adds: "I saw the profound care and understanding he brought to every single story and the kindness he showed every single person who crossed his path."

Image source, Ian West/PA Wire

The kind of man George Alagiah was "just used to radiate out of the screen", says another of his former BBC colleagues - Sian Williams.

Williams calls Alagiah as "a man without ego" and says "that can be quite rare in TV presenting".

Williams tells BBC Radio 4 she met Alagiah while she was a producer on its World at One programme.

"When he came to presenting, he had a sort of ballast to him - people respected him in the newsroom but the viewers had already bought into that expertise," she says.

She adds: "He kept using the word 'lucky' - we were very lucky to work with him and learn from him."

Allan Little
Special correspondent

Empathy was George's great strength. He radiated it.

He could talk to anyone - from heads of state to children in a refugee camp on the edge of a war zone. And everyone wanted to talk to him. You saw him winning their trust, responding to his effortless warmth. He wanted to do well by all of them - to be true and honest and fair.

Once we sheltered in a stairwell, after three mortar bombs landed close to the hotel we were staying in Central Africa. A colleague reported that heavy shelling had, as they put it, rocked the city centre.

Image source, Allan Little

Later, George said to me quietly "Allan don't say that. Heavy shelling didn't rock anything tonight. Three bombs fell close to where we happened to be and gave us a fright. Keep it in proportion."

And I thought, not for the first time, "my name is George Alagiah and I'm here to calm you down". George didn't want to be dramatic. He wanted to be true.

I hoped that the values he embodied and lived would rub off on me.

Read more on this story here.