Donna Lu

‘I felt betrayed, naked’: did a prize-winning novelist steal a woman’s life story? The long read: His novel was praised for giving a voice to the victims of Algeria’s brutal civil war. But one woman has accused Kamel Daoud of having stolen her story – and the ensuing legal battle ha...

This is 2026's Bad Art Friend: www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...

A headline for the Future Nostalgia pop girlies

Inside the idyllic studio of Alison Lester: ‘Everything I do looks a bit like a stuffed toy’ The doyenne of Australian picture books talks about her creative process, the ‘wild and woolly’ place that inspired Magic Beach – and how a favourite idea was sketched on an aeroplane sick bag

I had a very lovely day visiting Alison Lester at her home studio, meeting her animals, and chatting to her about her beloved books for our best Australian picture books poll. Now everyone go vote for Kissed By The Moon www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...

I cannot be party to silencing writers, which is why I am resigning as director of Adelaide Writers’ Week | Louise Adler Cancelling the Australian Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah weakens freedom of speech and is the harbinger of a less free nation

"The raison d’être of art and literature is to disrupt the status quo: and one doesn’t have to be a student of history to know that art in the service of 'social cohesion' is propaganda." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The anxiety of having kids in a climate crisis – podcast Parents now have something else to consider when deciding to have a baby – what the future holds as global temperatures rise. The climate, environment and science assistant editor, Donna Lu, speaks to...

About 40% of Australian women without kids say they are hesitant to have children because of climate change. @regedahmad.bsky.social and @donnadlu.bsky.social discuss the anxiety – shared by many – about starting a family as global temperatures rise. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Takes time to verify these things and find out, which @donnadlu.bsky.social did. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

My love for em dashes is as old as the hills and as mighty as my inability to make a transition between thoughts literally any other way and I will be damned if I let the clankers take that from me

The Married Scientists Torn Apart by a Covid Bioweapon Theory

Well this is pretty wild

[🎁]

‘Not approved for human use’: the online frenzy for injectable peptides sweeping Australia Social media is driving a boom in the use of peptides to improve appearance and physical performance. Many are experimental and come with risk of serious side effects

In an investigation into unapproved injectable peptides, @arielbogle.bsky.social and I looked into the influencers promoting them on social media, and websites claiming to sell these experimental drugs for “research purposes”. Our piece came out over the weekend: www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Rainforests, rivers and sacred sites are being ‘ripped to shreds’ by feral pigs, Queensland traditional owners warn Destruction wrought by swine-borne disease is thinning the canopy of bunya pine forests and the problem is getting worse, experts say

Feral pigs are a massive issue across Australia. They can cause tremendous damage to environments, wildlife and cultural sites. And, like many invasive species, government funding of their control and eradication is grossly insufficient.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... By @donnadlu.bsky.social

Fear Santos gas plan may start fracking rush that poses ‘major risk’ to NT water supply Fossil fuel company plans to expand exploration in Beetaloo basin

Fear Santos gas plan may start fracking rush that poses ‘major risk’ to NT water supply

by @donnadlu.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Labor strikes deal with Greens to pass long-awaited overhaul of nature protection laws The deal to re-write the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act marks an end to a five-year struggle to fix the broken system

Deal done. More coverage to come.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Does methylene blue really have wellness benefits or will it just leave you with the blues? | Antiviral The fabric dye is popular in wellness circles, with a laundry list of claimed benefits – but it also carries serious risks

I took a look at the blue fabric dye RFK Jr, Joe Rogan et al have been chugging: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Forty per cent of Australian women without kids hesitant to have children because of climate change, survey finds More than a third of Coalition voters believe temperatures will not rise at all, poll shows

"Evidence we do have suggests that values of care make women much more open to the alarming nature of the scientific evidence and the visceral impact that weather events have on people." www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Retired Australian teacher discovers the oldest fossil of its kind in southern hemisphere – and a new species Robert Beattie, 82, has found specimens of a 151m-year-old midge that challenge what we know about how the insects evolved

very nice coverage of our Telmatomyia discovery and lovely background on Robert Beattie, who have found the #fossil, by @donnadlu.bsky.social for @theguardian.com
🦖⚒️
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Hello, @australia.theguardian.com is looking for 800 word opinion pieces that can run any time over the summer months. They can be funny, serious, sad, thoughtful, uplifting... Surprise us! If you have an idea you'd like to pitch, email cif.australia@theguardian.com with SUMMER PITCH in the subject

‘Change course now’: humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN head Exclusive: ‘Devastating consequences’ now inevitable but emissions cuts still vital, says António Guterres in sole interview before Cop30

"In his only interview before next month’s Cop30 climate summit, António Guterres acknowledged it is now 'inevitable' that humanity will overshoot the target in the Paris climate agreement, with 'devastating consequences' for the world."
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Pregnancy skincare products target women at a vulnerable time. Do any work or do they just stretch the truth? | Antiviral Oils, creams and lotions with names like ‘mummy’s tummy’, ‘bump love’ and ‘belly butter’ abound * Read more in the Antiviral series Pregnancy can be a trying time: you can’t tell whether you’re nauseous or hungry, your body is working at close to the sustainable limit of human endurance, your organs are rearranging to make space for a growing alien. There are myriad indignities: nosebleeds, swelling feet, back pain, and, if you’re unlucky, ceaseless vomiting that goes “full Tarantino”. Continue reading...

Pregnancy skincare products target women at a vulnerable time. Do any work or do they just stretch the truth? | Antiviral

Assessment of malnutrition in preschool-aged children by mid-upper arm circumference in the Gaza Strip (January, 2024–August, 2025): a longitudinal, cross-sectional, surveillance study After nearly 2 years of war and severe restrictions in humanitarian aid, tens of thousands of preschool-aged children in the Gaza Strip are suffering from preventable acute malnutrition and facing an ...

Study in the Lancet journal finds that Israel's starvation campaign in Gaza has left 55,000 children under the age of five acutely malnourished, risking long-term health damage. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

The passion – and politics – of Peter Combe: ‘Children are wonderful critics because they’re very intolerant’ Wash Your Face in Orange Juice, Newspaper Mama, Toffee Apple … the children’s entertainer who has sold more than 1m albums and DVDs reflects on his 40-year career, childhood and speaking up

Peter Combe goes hard: “Children are being slaughtered, on a daily basis, for almost two years. Our ability to ignore it astounds me. You can talk to any NGO, they all say the same thing – it’s a genocide ... I hope people aren’t surprised I feel the way I do." www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

chart of bird rank per voting rounf showing what is happening in the skeet

Bird of the year voting update! The top 3 have been rock solid over the whole poll. The little penguin, rainbow bee-eater, pelican and splendid fairy-wren have all crashed out of the top 10, while the galah and emu-wren are surging ahead

V happy to say I'm now assistant climate, environment and science editor @australia.theguardian.com, back working with the best team ie @adammorton.bsky.social @readfearn.bsky.social @lisacox.bsky.social @petrastock.bsky.social! Pls get in touch with tips/pitches (& ways to ensure a tawny BOTY win)!

Australian mushroom murders: Erin Patterson guilty verdict ends weeks of laborious detail and ghoulish fascination Victorian jury convicts 50-year-old who poisoned her in-laws with death cap mushrooms, killing three

On ghouls, a triple murder, tragedy

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

While I'm off the science beat for a while, @petrastock.bsky.social is your best bet for science tips and @natashamay.bsky.social is your gal for health stories

As good a week as any to mention that I have started a stint as an assistant news editor in the Melbourne bureau @australia.theguardian.com 🤠 Please get in touch if you spot things we should be covering

Are actors getting better (and ‘bett-ah’) at Australian accents? No longer must we wince through a jarring Cockney-Kiwi mix: Hollywood has finally cracked Aussie dialects. Is it the teaching, the spread of Bluey, AI – or something else?

@donnadlu.bsky.social got to the bottom of why Kaitlyn Dever's Australian accent in Apple Cider Vinegar was so good. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Are actors getting better (and ‘bett-ah’) at Australian accents? No longer must we wince through a jarring Cockney-Kiwi mix: Hollywood has finally cracked Aussie dialects. Is it the teaching, the spread of Bluey, AI – or something else?

For the culture desk, I wrote about why American and British actors no longer seem to butcher (or butch-ah) the Australian accent www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

The social, successful and the supernatural: what makes a politician charismatic? Is Anthony Albanese charismatic? Peter Dutton? Charisma has been linked to electoral victory (just ask Bob Hawke), but defining it can be difficult

The social, successful and the supernatural: I wrote about charisma and why having it depends on who you ask www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

What’s more vacuous than an endless vacuum? It’s Lauren Sánchez and Katy Perry’s party in space | Marina Hyde The all-female Blue Origin flight on Monday broke boundaries and set records in the spouting of girlboss gibberish, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

"I always thought space travel was futuristic, but this was the first time it came off as travelling back in time, in this case using their little capsule to take us back to the most ludicrous inanities of 2010s girlboss feminism." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

YouTube video by Guardian Australia Last chance: the extinction crisis this election is ignoring

Guardian Australia has launched a series about nature and threatened species. It's called Last Chance: The extinction crisis the Australian federal election is ignoring. Includes videos, news and comment pieces.

Here's a preview of what it's about:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4kQ...