SINGAPORE - Catch up on the hottest topics on The Straits Times' weekday talk show.

The Big Story, broadcast every weekday at 5.30pm on Facebook and YouTube, has reporters and senior editors discussing the top stories of the day.

The show is helmed by multimedia correspondent Hairianto Diman and assistant video editor Olivia Quay, and airs live from ST's digital studio.

As Singapore enters phase 3 (heightened alert) on Monday (June 14), the Republic reported the highest daily number of local Covid-19 cases since June 3.

Eighteen new cases in the community and one case in the migrant workers' dormitories were confirmed. Of them, two are currently unlinked.

Jewel Changi Airport reopened its doors on Monday, after a month-long closure.

More than 2,500 workers were tested for Covid-19, and all the test results returned negative.

Close to 90 per cent of eligible staff have also taken at least one dose of the vaccine.

Separately, mandatory Covid-19 testing started at 10am on Monday for about 85 stallholders at Block 116 Bukit Merah View.

The testing follows the Ministry of Health's (MOH) announcement on Sunday that a new cluster had formed at 115 Bukit Merah View Market and Food Centre.

Meanwhile, out of all the marriages here in 2019, 22.9 per cent were inter-ethnic unions - up from 5.6 per cent back in 1965.

Observers whom The Sunday Times spoke to said this increase is a positive trend of cross-cultural interaction and inclusion between communities.

But they also acknowledged the persistence of problematic views, centred on racial hierarchies and stereotypes.

A mixed-race couple, Mr Abraham Christopher and Ms Jacqueline Lui, shares the challenges they face as an interracial couple.