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Naomi Richards

Senior Lecturer in Social Science, University of Glasgow
Dr Naomi Richards is Director of the End of Life Studies Group at the University of Glasgow. She is a Senior Lecturer in Social Science and is a social anthropologist by training. She specialises in dying and death, ageing and old age, and visual and ethnographic methods.

Dr Richards has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles in a variety of social science and clinical journals, in addition to 6 book chapters. Over the last decade she has been funded to undertake empirical and theoretical investigations into: the UK’s assisted dying debate; the phenomenon of old age rational suicide; the relationship between assisted dying and palliative care internationally; and the international Death Café movement.

Between 2019-23, she led the Dying in the Margins study - a qualitative visual methods study which aimed to uncover the reasons for unequal access to home dying for people experiencing poverty and deprivation. This lead to the Cost of Dying exhibition. She continues to work on experiences of financial hardship at end life, specifically in rural Scotland, through the Marie Curie-funded Unreached study. She also co-leads the DeathWrites research network, supporting creative writers based in Scotland to write and publish powerful, accessible work on the subject of dying, death, grief and loss.

Dr Richards teaches multiple courses on the University of Glasgow’s End of Life Studies Programme (PGCert/PGDip/MSc) and pioneered a partnership with the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh to produce a unique microcredential on End of Life Challenges and Palliative Care, introducing social science theories and ways of thinking to health and social care professionals.

Economy

JPMorgan Cuts Gold Price Forecast, Sees Bullion Reaching $4,500 by End of 2026

JPMorgan has sharply lowered its near-term gold price outlook, citing weaker-than-expected demand from major buying sectors and growing uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy. The bank now expects gold prices to average...

Oil Prices Steady as U.S.-Iran Peace Talks Ease Strait of Hormuz Supply Fears

Oil prices ended the week largely unchanged as investors weighed improving prospects for a lasting U.S.-Iran peace agreement against rising crude supply from the Middle East. Brent crude futures settled up 14 cents, or...

Asian Currencies Rise as Dollar Weakens; Yen Holds Steady Amid Japan Intervention Watch

Most Asian currencies edged higher on Friday after the U.S. dollar retreated from a 13-month high following weaker-than-expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, raising fresh questions about the Federal Reserves interest rate...

Asian Stocks Rebound as Tech Shares Rally on Fed Rate Cut Hopes and Easing Iran Tensions

Asian stock markets rebounded sharply on Friday as investors returned to technology shares following a week of heavy selling, while easing geopolitical tensions and growing expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate...

Oil Prices Slip as Oversupply Concerns and U.S.-Iran Talks Shape Market Outlook

Oil prices edged lower on Friday as improving global crude supplies and expectations of near-term oversupply continued to pressure the market, while traders reduced bearish positions ahead of the U.S. holiday weekend....

Politics

UN Warns of Looming Human Rights Catastrophe in Sudan’s Al-Obeid

The United Nations has warned that a new human rights catastrophe is unfolding in Sudan as fighting intensifies around the besieged city of al-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state. U.N. High Commissioner for Human...

Amy Coney Barrett Faces Conservative Backlash After Key Supreme Court Rulings Against Trump

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has drawn criticism from some conservatives after joining decisions that blocked several major priorities of President Donald Trump during the courts latest term. Although...

France Battles Mediterranean Wildfires as Heatwave Fuels Fire Risk

Around 2,000 firefighters battled multiple wildfires across Frances Mediterranean coast on Thursday as strong winds and dry conditions intensified blazes following Europes recent heatwave. One of the most serious fires...

Russia Claims Capture of Kostiantynivka as Putin Pushes Donetsk Offensive

Russia claimed on Friday that its forces had captured the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, a move that, if confirmed, would mark a major step in Moscows campaign to seize full control of Ukraines Donetsk region....

Russian Attacks Kill Six Across Ukraine as Kyiv Mourns Deadly Strike

Russian attacks killed at least six people and injured dozens across multiple regions of Ukraine on Friday, according to regional officials, as Kyiv observed a day of mourning following one of the deadliest assaults on the...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Anthropic Tightens AI Access Controls After Reports of China-Based Workarounds

Anthropic is strengthening measures to prevent unauthorized access to its artificial intelligence services from China after discovering that several Chinese companies had allegedly bypassed its restrictions, according to a...

Kuaishou Stock Jumps as Kling AI Secures $2 Billion Funding Round

Hong Kong-listed shares of Kuaishou Technology (HK:1024) climbed more than 6% on Thursday after its spun-off artificial intelligence business, Kling AI, secured an initial $2 billion in venture capital funding to...

Meta CEO Zuckerberg Says AI Agent Development Has Slowed Despite Massive AI Investment

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged that the companys progress in developing artificial intelligence (AI) agents has been slower than expected, despite Metas aggressive investment in AI...

Kioxia Bets on AI Memory Boom With Next-Gen NAND Production in Japan

Kioxia is set to mark a major milestone on Friday with a ceremony at its manufacturing facility in northern Japan as the company prepares to begin mass production of its next-generation NAND flash memory chips. The move...

OpenAI Proposes 5% U.S. Government Stake Amid AI Policy Talks

OpenAI has reportedly proposed granting the U.S. government a 5% ownership stake in the artificial intelligence company as it seeks to strengthen ties with Washington and address growing political scrutiny over the rapidly...