Catch the latest news video reports on The Big Story, The Straits Times' weekday online news programme.

Russian military forces have seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine's southeast, the regional state administration said on Friday (March 4).

"Operational personnel are monitoring the condition of power units," it said on social media, adding that the efforts sought to ensure the operations were in line with safety requirements.

Ukraine said Russian forces attacked the plant in the early hours of Friday, setting an adjacent five-storey training facility on fire.

The fire was put out and no injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, about $2 million has been raised by the Singapore Red Cross (SRC) within a week to help communities affected by the conflict in Ukraine, and the first tranche of supplies from the organisation has arrived in the country.

On Friday, the SRC said the aid is being distributed by the Ukrainian Red Cross Society and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

In other headlines, vaccinated air travellers will be able to enter Singapore from more cities in Malaysia, Indonesia and India without having to serve quarantine.

Announcing the expansion of the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme on Friday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said it will also launch new VTLs for Greece and Vietnam, restoring two-way quarantine-free travel with these two countries.

Travel history requirements will be eased as well for travellers entering Singapore from Europe under the VTL scheme. This means travellers with recent travel history to the entire European Economic Area will be allowed to enter Singapore.

And in this week's Asian Insider, Malaysia correspondent Ram Anand looks ahead to the Johor election on March 12.