Oct 13 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

- A judge has backed Virgin Group's claim for unpaid royalty fees from a US train operator when a 20-year branding deal was ditched after just 18 months.

- Television production companies including the BBC and ITV face an investigation over possible cartel-like behaviour in their work with freelancers.

The Guardian

- Philip Morris International (PMI), the tobacco and vaping company behind Marlboro cigarettes, is waging a big lobbying campaign to prevent countries from cracking down on vapes and similar products as part of a global treaty, a leaked email reveals.

- The owner of Frankie & Benny's and Wagamama, the Restaurant Group, will be taken private after it accepted a 506 million pound ($616.66 million) takeover offer from the U.S. buyout group Apollo.

The Telegraph

- Households could be forced to pay an extra ￡17 to protect gas and electric suppliers from collapsing, regulator Ofgem has warned, as customers' energy debts hit a record 2.6 billion pounds.

- EasyJet plans to order up to 257 new aircraft and resume dividend payments to shareholders after making a record profit this summer.

Sky News

- The Israel-Hamas war is a "new cloud" on the horizon that threatens to darken an already murky global economic outlook, the head of the International Monetary Fund has warned. ($1 = 0.8205 pounds)

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)