BBC’s former Middle East correspondent Anna Foster to join Today programme

Former BBC Middle East correspondent Anna Foster will join BBC Radio 4’s Today programme as a main presenter, the corporation said.

She has presented across BBC News At One and appeared on the BBC News Channel and the BBC News At Six and Ten.

Foster, 45, said: “There are few more exciting opportunities for a journalist than presenting Today, and I’m thrilled to be joining the team.

“I’ve always loved making important, agenda-setting, engaging radio, and there’s nowhere better to do that. It’s such a beloved programme to so many people, and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

She will be joining the radio show from April, presenting from London and Salford.

The Today team currently includes Emma Barnett, Justin Webb, Amol Rajan, and Nick Robinson, following the exit of Mishal Husain – who departed in December to join news site Bloomberg.

Mohit Bakaya, director of speech and controller of Radio 4, said: “Anna is a terrific addition to the Today team.

“She brings important international reporting experience at a time when it is needed so urgently by listeners to Radio 4.”

The BBC said that Foster will continue to play a “key role” in the corporation’s coverage of “foreign news”.

John McAndrew, director of live and daily news at the BBC, said: “From breaking news to long-form interviews, audiences will be familiar with Anna’s tremendous range and rich, varied experience covering the biggest stories at home and abroad for the BBC for more than 20 years.

“Her warm, enthusiastic and engaging style is perfect for Today and I’m delighted that she’s joining the team.”

Foster, who was nominated for a 2025 network presenter of the year at the Royal Television Society (RTS) awards, was previously based in Beirut, Lebanon, and covered conflicts in the area.

She was one of the first journalists to cover the Turkish earthquakes from the epicentre, and has reported on the Israel-Hamas war, the conflict in Ukraine, the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone and the famine in South Sudan.

During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan she was embedded four times with British troops, and returned to Iraq and Syria years later to report on the humanitarian crisis sparked by the rise of the so-called Islamic State extremist group.

Foster joined the BBC in April 2002 and went on to present on Radio 5 Live, Radio 1 Newsbeat and the the BBC World Service.

Owenna Griffiths, editor of Today, said: “Anna is an exceptional broadcaster and tenacious journalist.

“She’s already a really familiar and popular voice for so many listeners from her years presenting on 5 Live and reporting from the Middle East. I’m thrilled she’s going to join us at Today.”