KIEV, April 1. /TASS/. The frontrunner in the first round of the Ukrainian presidential election, comedian Vladimir Zelensky, has not made any alliance deals with anyone in the run-up to the second round of the race, a spokesperson for Zelensky’s election headquarters, Dmitry Razumkov, said on Monday.

ISTANBUL; 2 Apr 2019; AA: The Istanbul provincial head of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party on Monday said voting in the city during Sunday’s local ballot had seen documented irregularities that could potentially change the outcome in AK Party’s favor. 

"Our [party] organization has been vigilantly reviewing all available data since last night," Bayram Senocak told a party meeting on the European side of the city.

SINGAPORE (AP) — Singapore Airlines says it has grounded two of its Boeing 787-10 aircraft due to engine issues.

The carrier said in a statement on Tuesday that “premature blade deterioration was found on some engines” of its 787-10 fleet at recent routine inspections.

It said, “Pending engine replacements, two SIA 787-10 aircraft have been removed from service.”

The carrier said it would operate other aircraft on the affected routes to minimize disruption. It said some flights were disrupted but gave no details.

CANBERRA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out risking Australian lives to bring the children of Islamic State (IS) fighters stranded in Syria back to Australia.

Responding to reports that three children of Khaled Sharrouf, an Australian who left the country in 2013 to fight for IS in Syria, have been found stranded in a Syrian refugee camp, Morrison said that any operation to return the children to the family in Australia would be too risky.

2 Apr 2019; AFP: The children of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi have received multimillion-dollar homes and are being paid thousands of dollars per month by the kingdom's authorities, The Washington Post reported Monday.

Khashoggi -- a contributor to the Post and a critic of the Saudi government -- was killed and dismembered in October at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul by a team of 15 agents sent from Riyadh. His body has not been recovered.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Aides to Joe Biden are striking a more aggressive tone as the former vice president faces scrutiny over his past behavior toward women.

In a statement Monday, Biden spokesman Bill Russo blasted “right wing trolls” from “the dark recesses of the internet” for conflating images of Biden embracing acquaintances, colleagues and friends in his official capacity during swearing-in ceremonies with uninvited touching.

CARACAS, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Monday that he had decided to name a new minister of electricity.

"I have decided to designate a worker from the electricity industry with 25 years of experience, an electrical engineer," said Maduro, referring to the newly appointed minister Igor Gavidia.

Gavidia is an engineering graduate from the Central University of Venezuela and was president of the former electricity company Electrificacion del Caroni.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales fell in February, as consumers pulled back their spending on building materials, groceries, furniture, electronics and clothing amid signs of a slowing economy.

The Commerce Department said Monday that retail sales fell 0.2 percent in February, after posting an upwardly revised gain 0.7 percent in January. Still, sales are running below their seasonally adjusted levels from November after a sharp 1.6 percent decline in December.

Over the past year, retail sales have roughly kept pace with inflation by increasing a slight 2.2 percent.

1 Apr 2019; DW: The Federal Aviation Administration told passengers to contact their carriers to assess delays as nearly 3,000 flights were delayed because of the outage which lastest 40 minutes on Monday morning.  

Airlines affected included Delta, United, JetBlue, Southwest and Alaska.

ANKARA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suffered a bitter setback as his ruling party lost control of the capital Ankara in Sunday's local elections and the race tipped towards the opposition in Istanbul, the country's largest city.

The key mayoral elections across Turkey were the first since Erdogan assumed sweeping executive powers after a previous election in June 2018 and are seen as a confidence test for his 16-year rule amid a sharp economic downturn.

1 Apr 2019; DW: Formed in March 2019, the One Free Press Coalition is a collection of media publishers from around the world that have committed to use their collective audiences to stand up for journalists under attack for pursuing the truth. Members include The Associated Press, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Reuters and the Financial Times.

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. Members of the first crew of the US Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft have arrived at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in the Moscow Region in order to complete training, the center’s website informed on Monday.

"Today, NASA astronauts Nicole Mann, Mike Fink and Barry Whitmore were introduced to the leadership and the employees of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. The astronauts are getting ready for the first test flight of the International Space Station within the crew of the Starliner spacecraft," the message informed.