COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. (ANS) -- Reports following last week's coup in Central African Republic reveal that looting and vandalism at an HCJB Global partner radio station were much more extensive than first thought.

An HCJB Global-partner Christian radio station employee surveys the damage from looters.

The son of one station employee died from wounds inflicted in crossfire during the ensuing disorder near the base camp of ICDI, HCJB Global's partner that operates the station. Among many casualties in bloody riots, this victim of open fighting across the country leaves behind a wife and children.

"We mourn with this family who has suffered bitter grief," said Wayne Pederson, president and CEO of HCJB Global, speaking in the news release.

He added, "Our hearts are with the entire station staff, (which) is traumatized by the situation nationwide."

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (ANS) -- During the past six weeks, Christian Aid Mission has received several reports of threats being directed toward pastors and churches in southern Sri Lanka.

Believers meeting outside in a village

Christian Aid Mission provides assistance to several church-planting ministries in Sri Lanka, some of which base their outreach in the southern part of the island nation where Christians and Muslims alike have faced pressure from extremist Buddhist groups.

The correspondence is one in a string of reports from local contacts who are asking for urgent prayer as hostility toward Christians heats up. While no one has been reported injured or killed, the warnings have been taken seriously.

Missionaries walking to  unreached villages

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Morning Star News (http://morningstarnews.org), is reporting that, according to an advocacy group, a court in Pakistan today (Wednesday, April 3, 2013) overturned the death sentence of a Christian convicted under Pakistan's "blasphemy" laws and ordered him released.

Younis Masih

Masih had reportedly suffered a heart attack on Jan. 8.

"On Sept. 9, 2005, he left a midnight gathering at a house after Muslims loudly singing a religious song became angry at him for requesting that they sing more quietly," said Morning Star News. "The Muslims incited others against him the next day and beat him unconscious. Islamic leaders later incited mobs to burn Christians' homes, saying Masih had committed blasphemy and uttered derogatory remarks against Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.

"More than 100 Christian families fled their homes. Police filed a blasphemy case against Masih in order to pacify the furious mobs and tortured him in custody."

He was sentenced to death by a judge in Lahore on May 30, 2007. The appeal was filed by the Legal Aid for Destitute and Settlement, and his case was re-opened in September 2012.

BOCA RATON, FL (ANS) -- We all have problems in life; but imagine, after years of hard work and study to become a prominent surgeon, something goes horribly wrong in the operating room and, in an instant, your life is forever changed. It's normally the patient that's at risk of a complication in the operating room, not the doctor.

Dr. Emile Allen

Dr. Allen had suffered a brain injury and, in a split second, went from performing intricate surgical procedures to struggling just to do simple things such as counting change at the grocery store or reading a book. The event not only changed his career but also his identity and capabilities. At the time, he didn't understand how significant the impact of this incident would be for the rest of his life.

Book cover

WASHINGTON (ANS) -- On the eve of the Roman Catholic Church's selection of a new pope, President Barack Obama sat down with ABC's George Stephanopoulos in a wide-ranging interview covering subjects extending from North Korea to the Vatican.

President Obama with George Stephanopoulos

"I don't know if you've checked lately, but the Conference of Catholic Bishops here in the U.S. doesn't seem to be taking orders from me," President Obama told ABC. The president smiled broadly as he considered the likelihood of such a prospect.

While the conclave chose a South American as the new pope the day following the interview, the president seemed to welcome the idea of a pontiff from the northern part of the Americas. "It seems to me an American pope would preside as effectively as a Polish pope, an Italian pope, or a Guatemalan pope," he said.