Specialists treating Alexei Navalny, Russian politician and anti-corruption activist, say he was poisoned after falling ill on a flight last week.

It is believed the 44-year-old was poisoned by a toxin from a group of chemicals that range from insecticides to military-grade nerve agents.

According to doctors at the Berlin Hospital treating Mr Navalny, the specific substance is unknown. 

One person has died and as many as 100 are trapped after a building collapse in Mahad, about 165 kilometres south of Mumbai.

The cause of the collapse of a five-storey residential building is currently unknown.

India's National Disaster Relief Force dispatched three teams of rescuers and a canine squad to aid recovery efforts. 

Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard is recovering in a Sydney hospital following surgery to treat appendicitis.

Mr Howard reportedly underwent the procedure yesterday after feeling unwell over the weekend.

The 81-year-old is said to be recovering fine with wife Janette by his side. 

Victoria has recorded 148 new cases of coronavirus and eight deaths overnight to take the national tally to 525.

The news comes after the state yesterday recorded its lowest number of cases in seven weeks.

The drop-in-cases also happens to coincide with Premier Daniel Andrew's plans to rewrite the Public Health and Wellbeing Act to allow a state of emergency to last for up to 18 months.

While some parts of South-Western Queensland have been shivering through their final week of winter, meteorologists believe the state could be seeing its last burst of cold weather for the year.

The Bureau of Meteorology says the median minimum temperatures across most of the state would be beaten from this week.

However, Bureau meteorologist Kimba Wong says it will not be out of the ordinary to see some cooler temperatures coming through in September. 

Queensland has recorded zero new cases of coronavirus overnight, as the state’s total number of cases remains at 1,106.

While cases remain scarce, the state's Chief Health Officer, Jeannette Young, said early genome sequencing could link a cluster of cases at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre to one of the women who returned from Melbourne earlier this year.

Health Minister Steven Miles says that at this stage the theory cannot be proven. 

Researchers in Hong Kong believe they have uncovered the first case of COVID-19 reinfection in a potential blow to international recovery efforts. A 33-year-old resident tested positive for COVID-19, four and a half months after his first bout with the virus. The second infection is said to be from a different strain of coronavirus, with the man suffering no symptoms following his return to Hong Kong from Spain via Britain earlier this month.

Protests have erupted in the US city of Kenosha in Wisconsin after police shot a black man several times in the back following a reported “domestic” incident. Large crowds clashed with officers, as Molotov cocktails and bricks were thrown at law enforcement in riot gear. Police were then forced to use tear gas to disperse the crowd, as well as impose a city-wide curfew until Monday morning. The victim, 29-year-old Jacob Blake was airlifted to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee in a serious condition.