PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Oct 23

Here are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Headlines

Protecting fracking sites cost police 13 mln stg, UK spending watchdog says https://on.ft.com/32zthGV Macron set to propose Thierry Breton as France's EU commissioner https://on.ft.com/2p7iQf7

Boris Johnson wins Brexit deal vote but is thwarted on deadline https://on.ft.com/33SKTxK Belgium authorities probe bribe allegations at dredging group https://on.ft.com/33UR0S9

Overview Police forces in the north of England spent more than 13 million pounds in less than 2-1/2 years providing security at shale gas sites when only one well was fracked, according to the UK's National Audit Office.

French President Emmanuel Macron is considering Thierry Breton, who heads technology group Atos and was finance minister over a decade ago, as the country's candidate for European commissioner British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won the backing of MPs for his Brexit deal on Tuesday night in a landmark vote in the House of Commons, but a snap election was back on the agenda after MPs derailed his attempt to take Britain out of the EU on October 31.

Belgian authorities are investigating whether senior executives at Brussels-based dredging giant Deme paid bribes to secure a contract at a port on Russia's Arctic coastline, according to US court filings. (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)