Alex Farber

3 weeks ago | thetimes.com | Alex Farber

Any parent who has struggled to get their young child to sleep will sympathise with the lengths some people are prepared to go to. In desperation, some have resorted to playing heavy metal music, while others have admitted to sleeping in the doorway of their child’s bedroom, purring like a cat and pretending to be Father Christmas — in August. Less inspired methods included one parent recording their business case study as a bedtime story.

3 weeks ago | thetimes.com | Alex Farber

The former BBC journalists Jo Coburn and Stephen Sackur are joining Times Radio. They will become regular presenters on The Times at One lunchtime programme, which offers a mix of commentary, analysis and interviews, later this month. The hour-long Monday to Thursday show includes a roster of presenters, including Andrew Neil, Trevor Phillips and Daniel Finkelstein.

3 weeks ago | thetimes.com | Alex Farber

Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton has called for all babies who are admitted to paediatric care to be tested for unusual genetic conditions as part of his campaign to cure 40 rare diseases. The former prime minister said that only the best hospitals routinely offered genome sequencing to infants and most tests were limited to looking for issues that doctors were currently able to solve. The issue is deeply personal to Cameron.

3 weeks ago | thetimes.com | Alex Farber

Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-general, has called for an end to the “grinding cuts” that he said the broadcaster has laboured under for the past decade. Davie said that he is in favour of reforming the licence fee as the BBC prepares to enter charter renewal negotiations with the government this year, with richer households potentially paying more than poorer ones. “I do not want the same system exactly to go out again.

1 month ago | thetimes.com | Alex Farber