Wednesday newspaper round-up: Fracking, Brexit, Facebook, Patisserie Holdings

Fracking operations in Lancashire have been shut down after seismic activity was detected. The move came a little more than a week after the process was restarted in the UK for the first time since it was banned in 2011. Cuadrilla Resources, which is carrying out the operations at its Preston New Road site, confirmed it paused work early on Tuesday as a precaution because of the microseismic event, which was measured at a magnitude of 0.4 and within the limit allowed by UK authorities. – Guardian

The European commission is at loggerheads with Rome after taking the unprecedented step of rejecting the Italian government’s draft budget in a move designed to force the country’s populist government to rein in its spending. Italy was presented with a three-week deadline to provide a revised financial plan, and the commission’s vice-president, Valdis Dombrovskis, noted that Italy already spent more servicing debt than it did on education. – Guardian

A group representing small construction firms has warned the Government not to close the door to migrant builders after Brexit as new figures revealed a slowdown in growth, rising materials prices and increasingly severe labour shortages. Fewer than a third of members of the Federation of Master Builders saw their workloads grow in the three months to September, down from 42pc in the previous quarter, and a slim majority see no sign of growth in the near future. – Telegraph

Facebook has redesigned its Messenger app to prioritise Stories as it vies with Snapchat for control of the "ephemeral messaging" market. Stan Chudnovsky, Messenger's head of product, said the app had become too complicated and needed to be slimmed down in order to prevent important features being buried. – Telegraph

Theresa May’s Brexit plan could leave Britain in a “long-running” multi-year transition period despite her promise that it would last only a few months, according to leaked cabinet papers seen by The Times. Cabinet ministers have been warned by officials that there is no guarantee Britain will be able to extricate itself from the transition arrangements in her preferred Brexit option. – The Times

The parent company of Patisserie Valerie appears to have issued twice as many share options to two of its directors as it disclosed to investors in its most recent annual accounts, prompting concerns about the governance of the troubled café chain. An adviser to leading shareholders in Patisserie Holdings has warned that company announcements show that twice as many share options were cashed in by the two executives this year as were disclosed as options granted to them in the company’s accounts. – The Times