Top stories from The Straits Times on Tuesday, June 4

Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Tuesday, June 4.


Changi Airport, SIA not the only victims of industry downturn as trade war bites

High fuel prices, Brexit-related trade uncertainty in Europe, the US-China trade wars and the global grounding of the B-737 Max after two fatal crashes are hurting all airlines.

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Tiananmen 30 years on: How far has China come?

The Straits Times' China Bureau looks at how the country has moved on since that bloody, fateful day.

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Exposure at home key to kids picking up mother tongue

But how good the children are in English depends more on their own cognitive intelligence, which largely cannot be trained, according to the study by the National Institute of Education.

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Shangri-La Dialogue: Beijing, netizens praise PM Lee's 'objective analysis' of Sino-US ties

The full text of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's speech has been shared widely on Chinese social media platforms, with state media outlets also publishing excerpts.

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Toasting Trump, Queen Elizabeth lays out state banquet welcome

The US president's three-day trip was cast as a chance to celebrate Britain's "special relationship" with the United States.

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Millions in Indonesia, Malaysia head home for Hari Raya


Trips in Indonesia have been shorter than in the past thanks to new infrastructure, particularly toll roads, seaports and airports.

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Police say authorities 'proactively engaged' Tan Cheng Bock's party chairman to process applications for permits

Dr Tan said the launch event for Progress Singapore Party would have to be postponed as the permits were "still pending".

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Mikhy Farrera-Brochez said he'd rather put a bullet in his head than turn over S'pore HIV database: FBI witness

Farrera-Brochez, 34, faces three charges in the US related to stolen identification documents from Singapore.

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Apple is discontinuing iTunes after 18 years

The iTunes app will be broken up into three apps - Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple Podcasts - when the new operating system for Apple computers becomes available this fall, or around September.

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Empire State of Mind: Jay-Z becomes hip-hop's first billionaire

He has stakes in Armand de Brignac champagne and D'Usse cognac, US$220 million in cash and other investments including in art and real estate.

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