Radio National Breakfast

The population of feral rabbits is booming — resisting control efforts from traditional hunting measures to infection with the calicivirus.

The vermin cost Australian farmers an estimated 200-million dollars in lost production each year — roughly 10 times the losses caused by fox or mice. That's not counting the damage to native animals and plants.

Now experts warn the country lacks a virus capable of curbing the spread of the animals.

At least 648 protesters have been killed in Iran, according to the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights as the people's revolt continues to grow across the country.

Large crowds also gathered in several cities yesterday following calls for pro-government counter demonstrations, according to state media — which claims the protests are "under control".

A national internet blackout is now in its fifth day, shielding much of the police crackdown from view and making it difficult for families to reach loved ones.

• Guest: Dr Saba Vasefi, Iranian-Australian journalist and academic at the University of Sydney
• Producer: Pip Cook

A landmark case brought by Gambia accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya has opened at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

It's the first full genocide case the court has heard in more than a decade and legal experts say the outcome could influence other cases — including South Africa's case against Israel over the war in Gaza.

Myanmar denies the genocide allegations — but investigators say the case could set important precedents for how genocide is defined and proven under international law.

Guest: Matt Bugher, Research Director and Legal counsel, Southeast Asia Human Rights Project, Harvard Univ Asia Centre

Producer: Anne Barker

In the US, hundreds more immigration officers are being sent to Minnesota after the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent sparked big protests in Minneapolis and around the country.

The Trump administration says the officer acted in self-defence, but Minnesota officials dispute that and have launched their own inquiry.

As the enforcement operations expand — and community tensions escalate — civil liberties groups have raised broader questions about immigration policy in the US.

Guest: Deepinder Mayell, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota

Producer: Anne Barker, Pip Cook

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 Alliance
• Producer: 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 Lamon
• Producer: 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 Sara Webb, astrophysicist at Swinburne University of Technology

Producer: Anne Barker

Comedian, writer, broadcaster, and filmmaker Dan Ilic shares his summer reading list.

Childhood favourites:

• Cardinal of the Kremlin - Tom Clancy
• Patritot Games - Tom Clancy
• Roald Dahl

Currently reading:

• The Lost Battles - Jonathon Jones

Summer list:

• Comedy Samurai - Larry Charles

Doubts are growing over the future of Adelaide's Writers Week as withdrawals mount following the removal of Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah from the program.

The latest departures include four board members - who reportedly resigned after an extraordinary board meeting over the weekend.