Catch up on the hottest topics on The Big Story, The Straits Times' weekday online news programme.

Friends and family members of arriving passengers will be allowed in the arrival halls at Changi Airport again, after five months of being barred from the area following a Covid-19 cluster linked to the airport.

This comes ahead of October 19, when a new batch of travellers from eight countries will land in Singapore under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme.

Professor Teo Yik Ying, dean of the National University of Singapore's Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, discusses whether Singapore residents should be concerned about the arrival of VTL travellers.

In other local news, the Infocomm Media Development Authority has cancelled the class licence of The Online Citizen, after the socio-political website repeatedly refused to comply with its legal obligation to declare all sources of funding.

And in a wide-ranging interview with The Straits Times, Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim spoke about the government's handling of Covid-19, as well as the prospects of a snap general election. Speaking bluntly about Malaysia's current political situation, he said, "Malaysia has gone to the dogs."

Looking ahead to Newcastle United's first match since its headline-grabbing takeover, sports correspondent Sazali Abdul Aziz explains why he does not expect that the club's newly acquired financial might will translate to a better squad overnight.