In brief: Pope Francis plans trip to South Korea

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis will make his first trip to Asia in August, visiting South Korea to participate in a Catholic youth festival, preside over a beatification ceremony for 124 Korean martyrs and bring a message of peace to the war-divided peninsula, officials said.

The August trip announced Monday by the Vatican will be Francis’ second foreign visit this year after his brief visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories in May.

The visit will mark the first time in 25 years that a pope has visited the Korean peninsula. Pope John Paul II last visited in 1989.

Taliban threaten Afghan elections

KABUL, Afghanistan – The Taliban threatened to attack next month’s presidential election in Afghanistan, calling on its followers “to use all force” in targeting poll workers and political activists and to disrupt balloting.

The statement underscored the threat of unrest as Afghans prepare to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, who is barred by law from seeking a third term. If successful, the April 5 election would mark the first peaceful, democratic transfer of political power in Afghanistan’s history.

Although the threat was not a surprise, it was the first time that the militant organization called directly for violence to upset the election.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Authorities in El Salvador began the final count of votes Monday in a presidential runoff whose razor-close margin led the conservative challenger to announce his party is on “a war footing” to challenge alleged fraud.

Former leftist guerrilla fighter Salvador Sanchez Ceren of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front held a thin lead in a race with high stakes for a country that saw 76,000 people killed in its 1980-92 civil war.