News in Brief -(10-07-2018)

Bishops call for three-day fasting after Duterte says God stupid

MANILA, July 09: Philippine Catholic bishops have called for fasting and prayers after the president called God "stupid" and questioned God's existence in profane remarks that set the foul-mouthed leader on a collision course with Asia's largest Catholic church. Archbishop Romulo Valles, who heads the country's association of bishops, called for a day of prayers Monday on July 16 to invoke "God's mercy and justice on those who have blasphemed God's holy name, those who slander and bear false witness and those who commit murder or justify murder as a means for fighting criminality." — AP

Kate's third child Prince Louis to be christened

LONDON, July 09: Prince William and his wife Catherine's third child Prince Louis will be christened and he would have six godparents. Louis will be christened on Monday afternoon at The Chapel Royal in St James's Palace. Guests will include Prince Charles and his wife Camilla and Prince Harry and his wife Meghan. Palace officials say Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip will not attend. Catherine's parents and siblings will be at the service. The royal couple also named six close friends and family members to be godparents to Prince Louis, who was born in April. — AP

Monsoon rains disrupt traffic, schools in Mumbai

MUMBAI, July 09: A third straight day of heavy monsoon rains disrupted trains and traffic in India's financial capital of Mumbai on Monday, with flooding in several areas prompting the government to declare a holiday for schools and colleges. Weather officials warned that heavy rainfall was expected for the next four days, in a statement on the website of the meteorological bureau. "Heavy rains forecast, everyone is advised to stay safe," Vinod Tawde, the education minister of the western state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai is located, said in a message on social network Twitter. — Reuters