Veteran award-winning foreign correspondent Rupert Cornwell dies

Veteran award-winning foreign correspondent Rupert Cornwell has died, The Independent has announced.

Mr Cornwell, who was having treatment for cancer, died with his family by his side at Washington's Sibley Memorial Hospital on Friday afternoon.

He had been a foreign correspondent for over 40 years and a founding member of The Independent when it started in 1986.

Paris, Brussels, Rome, Bonn, Moscow and Washington were among his postings and he spent 21 years in the US, 12 of them as Washington Bureau Chief.

Christian Broughton, the Editor of The Independent, described him "as humble as he was brilliant, his peerless range extending far beyond the politics of Moscow or Washington, to boxing, ballet and baseball".

He told the news organisation: "In many ways he was a journalist of a bygone, romantic age, but he will remain an inspiration to generations who have passed through The Independent, and will be missed by all who knew him to be such a warm, lovely man."

He published God's Banker in 1983 about Roberto Calvi, the Italian banker found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge. He is also the half-brother of crime novelist John le Carre.

He had been a diplomatic correspondent and a writer and commentator in Washington DC. His final works, on the power of US first daughter Ivanka Trump and an obituary of the philanthropist David Rockefeller, were published last month.

Mr Broughton tweeted: "Sad news from DC: Rupert Cornwell, our great foreign correspondent and dear friend, has died. He will be missed by readers and colleagues.

"Our thoughts are with Rupert's wife Susan, his sons, family and friends at The Independent and far beyond.

"We will all miss such a passionate journalist. Rupert's last advice to me: we must not allow Trump to become normalised."

Bill Neely, the chief global correspondent at NBC News, added: "So sorry to hear of Rupert Cornwell's death - worked w. him in US & Russia. Lovely man, full of fun & wow, could he write "

Mr Cornwell previously worked at Reuters and the Financial Times, and was a former political reporter at Westminster.