Main news of October 19

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

*The Israel Antiquities Authority and Google announced plans to digitalize the Dead Sea Scrolls and put them online, allowing widespread access to the documents

* Russia, France and Germany plan to encourage Iran to begin full-fledged cooperation, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at talks in Deauville, France

* Iran has stepped up uranium exploration in the central and southern regions of the country, the ISNA news agency said, citing Iran's nuclear chief

* The leaders of Russia, Germany and France issued a joint statement which paves the way for a visa-free regime between Russia and the European Union

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he would attend the NATO summit in Lisbon on November 20

RUSSIA

* At least six operations are planned to lead Russian tankers through the ice-bound Northern seaways next summer, the captain of the Rossiya nuclear-powered icebreaker said

* The Kremlin will allocate 1 million rubles ($32,850) to each of the families of those killed in Tuesday's terrorist attack on the Chechen parliament and Saturday's flash floods in Russia's south, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said

* The authorities in Russia's southern Krasnodar Territory estimated the damage caused by major flooding on Saturday at 2 billion rubles ($65.7 million)

* Tuesday morning’s brazen militant attack on the Chechen parliament was the second large-scale terrorist incident in the republic in recent months and a major setback for the Kremlin, which claims to have brought stability to the troubled province

BUSINESS

* Japanese carmaker Nissan, part of the alliance with French Renault, will decide on buying shares in Russia's largest car producer AvtoVAZ in the coming months, Igor Komarov, AvtoVAZ head, said

* Russia's state diamond monopoly Alrosa may hold an Initial Public Offering to sell no more than 20% of its shares and does not rule out holding a retail IPO at 50 kopecks per share, Kommersant business daily quoted Alrosa President Fyodor Andreyev as saying

SPORTS

* Despite being roared on by a capacity 80,000 crowd at Luzhniki Stadium, Spartak Moscow were unable to avoid going down 2-0 to English Premier League leaders Chelsea in an entertaining Champions League tie.