From floods in Rwanda to US missiles in the Middle East: non-coronavirus news you may have missed

An earthquake has killed one and injured seven in Tehran and a British-Australian academic being held on trumped-up spying charges in Iran has tried to commit suicide

One of the Patriot missile batteries seen at the Prince Sultan air base in AlKharj, in central Saudi Arabia. AFP

US to remove Patriot missile batteries from Saudi Arabia

The US is removing four patriot missile batteries from Saudi Arabia as part of a rotation of its military assets in the region, officials said on Thursday.

The Pentagon said it would maintain "robust" capabilities in the region to counter any threat from Iran.

"As part of the Department's global force management processes, DoD routinely circulates troops and assets to address emerging threats and maintain readiness," US Department of Defence spokesman Cmdr Sean Robertson told The National.

Floods kill 65 in Rwanda as heavy rains pound East Africa

Residents use a boat to carry their belongings through the waters after their homes were flooded as the River Nzoia burst its banks and due to heavy rainfall and the backflow from Lake Victoria in Kenya. Reuters

Floods have left 65 dead in Rwanda and heavy rains swept away scores of houses, several bridges and farms, the government said on Thursday.

The rains have caused havoc throughout East Africa.

In Kenya, floods and landslides have killed almost 200 people in the past month, while Uganda's Lake Victoria has overflowed, submerging houses, a hospital and bridges, and leaving thousands homeless.

Panic in Tehran as Iran quake kills at least one

The epicentre of the earthquake in Iran on May 8, 2020 was near Mount Damavand, north-east of Tehran. Reuters

An earthquake near Iran's tallest mountain killed at least one person and injured seven as it jolted the capital Tehran early on Friday, forcing panicked residents to flee buildings.

The shallow 4.6-magnitude quake hit at 12.48am local time near the city of Damavand, about 55 kilometres east of Tehran, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake prompted scores of residents of the capital to leave buildings for the safety of streets and parks.

British-Australian academic ‘tried to kill herself in Iran's Evin prison’

Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert speaks during an interview from 2017. Reuters

The husband of a prisoner in Iran's Evin jail has said that her fellow inmate, British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, tried to commit suicide while being held on trumped-up spying charges.

Reza Khandan, husband of jailed Iranian rights campaigner Nasrin Sotoudeh, wrote on Facebook that Ms Moore-Gilbert's situation became unbearable after she was kept in solitary confinement.

Mr Khandan, also a rights activist who has spent time in jail, later told a charity supporting families of the detained that the academic was “extremely troubled, angry and unhappy”.