Good evening. The man accused of stealing from the British Museum is a senior curator who worked there for 30 years, The Telegraph can reveal. His family has protested his innocence.

And we also have tributes to one of Britain’s most beloved broadcasters, Sir Michael Parkinson. 

Peter Higgs, who was sacked earlier this year as the curator of Mediterranean cultures, is an eminent expert on antiquities who has written books to accompany some of the museum’s major exhibitions. Mr Higgs had worked at the museum since 1993, but lost his job after his bosses accused him of stealing items including jewellery. Gordon Rayner, Dalya Alberge and Blathnaid Corless report that the British Museum was told three years ago that a member of staff was stealing items from its collection.

Sir Michael Parkinson, one of Britain’s most celebrated broadcasters, died on Wednesday night at the age of 88. Jamie Bullen reports Sir Michael was known as one of Britain’s most renowned interviewers with his long-running chat show and a television career spanning seven decades. In his obituary, we write as a journalist he was sharp, irreverent and funny, especially when writing about sport.