welcome to "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. police officers have arrested the driver of the derailed train that crashed in northwest spain. at least 78 passengers died and more than 140 were injured. local media report that the train was traveling at 190 kilometers per hour, more than twice the speed limit of 80 kilometers per hour on the dangerous bend. police told reporters at a news conference on friday they had placed the 52-year-old driver of the train under arrest for alleged negligence.

police officers are investigating why the driver entered the curve at high speed despite vast experience on the line. spanish media are noting the lack of a system that slows speeding trains if they go faster than the speed limit for the area. they're blaming the operator for failing to put in place safety measures necessary for a high-speed train system. people in north and south korea are marking the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the korean war. the north is preparing to put on a massive military parade to showcase its military. the country's leader kim jong un attended an event on friday in a stadium in the capital pyongyang for the visiting chinese vice president li yuanchao. it included games with performance. kim was seen enjoying the fireworks and waving to the cheers audience.

the massive military parade will be held on saturday in kim il sung square in pyongyang. kim ilunis expected to make a speech to push talks with denuclearization and a peace treaty. north korea is celebrating the signing of the armistice agreement in 1953 as a victory day in its battle against the u.s. the u.s. attorney general says in a letter to russia that former national security agency contractor edward snowden will not face the death penalty for espionage. the correspondence is seen as an attempt to prevent russia from treating snowden as a refugee and granting him asylum. officials at the u.s. justice department say attorney general eric holder sent the letter to his russia counterpart alexander konovalov on tuesday.

holder wrote that snowden is charged with leaking classified information. but he mentioned that snowden would not be tortured or face capital punishment even if he returns to the united states. the attorney general said the charges snowden faces do not carry that penalty. the letter is an apparent reaction to concern expressed by snowden in his application for asylum that he may be sentenced to death if he returns to the u.s. prosecutors in egypt say they'll question ousted president mohamed morsi over allegations he worked with an islamic group to orchestrate jail breaks. whether he helped hamas with jail uprisings two years ago. militants launched attacks on prisons and police stations in 2011 allowing morsi and other muslim brotherhood leaders to escape. morsi was taken to an army facility earlier this month after the military deposed him. the reasons for his arrest

haven't been confirmed. members of morsi's support base, the muslim brotherhood, and leaders of western nations are demanding his release. u.s. president barack obama's administration has decided it will not declare the overthrow of egypt's democratically elected leader a coup. this means the united states can continue to send aid to the country. reuters reports deputy secretary of state william burns briefed lawmakers on the decision. it says he told them the obama administration is not legally bound to conclude whether morsi's ouster was a coup or not. u.s. law prohibits financial aid to be sent to regimes that have overthrown a democratically elected government. the americans are giving egypt $1.5 billion this fiscal year. most of the money will be funneled to the military. but president obama has been taking a closer look at the funding.

this week, he decided to stop the planned delivery of four f-16s. american leaders view egypt as a key partner in the middle east. the country has a peace treaty with u.s. ally israel. pope francis has called for more social equality during a visit to brazil. it's the pope's first trip abroad since his selection in march. he's the first pontiff from latin america. the pope visited a slum north of rio de janeiro and spent time with residents. the slum is known for drug trading and violent crime. residents say it's poorly policed. power, water and other public services are inadequate. >> translator: never stop working for a more just world and greater solidarity. >> the pope said no one can remain insensitive to inequality.

a resident said he was moved to see the pope walking on a street where young people had been killed. pope francis is an advocate for youth social activism. he encouraged young brazilians to keep alive their sensitivity toward injustice and be a catalyst for change. japanese prime minister shinzo abe and u.s. vice president joe biden have discussed the disputed senkaku islands in the east china sea. biden stressed the u.s. position that japan and china should each seek to ease tension between the two countries. abe met biden in singapore. abe is on a tour of three nations in southeast asia. biden said the united states reconfirmed its position on the senkaku issue including its responsibility as japan's ally. abe said japan always keeps the door for dialogue with china open.

the senkaku islands are controlled by japan but claimed by china and taiwan. all nippon airways says it has found damage to the wiring cover in distress signal wiring in 787 dreamliners. ana says the damage was found in two transmitters. one had been taken out for inspection from a plane used for domestic flights and the other was kept as a backup. the carrier says the actual wiring is unaffected and no safety risk exists. the japanese carrier discovered the damage while inspecting all emergency locator transmitters for its fleet of 787s. earlier this month at heathrow airport, a fire broke out on an ethiopian airways dreamliner. they expect a problem with the device caused the fire. ana and japan airlines own a

total of 30 dreamliners. transport officials have asked both carriers to remove the transmitters from all aircraft or otherwise check them within ten days. chinatrust bank has agreed to buy tokyo star bank. the bank plans to complete the deal by the end of this year. sources say it will buy out tokyo star's major shareholders for around $520 million. they include u.s. investment fund lone star and japan's shinsei bank. chinatrust began operating in japan by offering loans to small and medium-sized companies starting in 2000. the bank plans to extend its lending business to japanese companies operating in asian markets. chinatrust also aims to strengthen its asset management services for wealthy japanese customers. bank officials plan to make better use of tokyo star's 31

outlets located mainly in the tokyo metropolitan area and its capital base of more than $20 million in deposits. here's the three-day world weather forecast. that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. thank you for joining us.