Radio National Breakfast

Coverage and analysis of national and international events.

Iran has warned it will retaliate if it's attacked by the United States after President Donald Trump again said he could intervene in the deadly protests that have gripped the country.One US-based human rights group says more than 500 people have been killed and more than 10-thousand detained since the protests began two weeks ago.Many members of the Iranian diaspora have struggled to contact family and friends back home due to an internet blackout — which has largely cut off the country from the outside world.Guest: Nader Zolijalali, co-founder and board member at the Australian Iranian Community AllianceProducer: Pip Cook

Researchers at Deakin University have found that women's muscle mass falls off a cliff after their early 40s if they don't use them enough.It's linked to the decline in the sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone during menopause, making it much more difficult to rebuild muscle once it's lost.Guest: Professor Severine LamonProducer: Pip Cook

NASA is cutting short a mission aboard the International Space Station after one astronaut fell ill, triggering the first medical evacuation in the station's 25-year history.The four-member US-Japanese-Russian crew will return to Earth early even though NASA says the astronaut is stable and it is not an emergency.The agency says it's also cancelled a planned spacewalk — and will leave fewer astronauts on board the station for now.Guest: Dr Sarah Webb, astrophysicist at Swinburne University of TechnologyProducer: Anne Barker

Comedian, writer, broadcaster, and filmmaker Dan Ilic shares his summer reading list.Childhood favourites:Cardinal of the Kremlin - Tom ClancyPatritot Games - Tom ClancyRoald DahlCurrently reading:The Lost Battles - Jonathon JonesSummer list:Comedy Samurai - Larry Charles