India observes day of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II

NEW DELHI (AP) — India is observing a day of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II with flags lowered to half-staff on all government buildings. Official entertainment events were also canceled Sunday “as a mark of respect to the departed dignitary,” according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Flags atop Indian Parliament, President House, Red Fort and other government offices in New Delhi were lowered. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called Elizabeth “a stalwart of our times.” Britain ended two centuries of colonial rule of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. Students at a drawing institute in India’s financial capital Mumbai on Sunday congratulated the new king, Charles III, by drawing his portraits. A message on one drawing read: “King vows to follow in queen’s footsteps.”