PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Jan 2

Jan 2 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Headlines

-UK to target people smugglers with travel bans and social media curbs

-Problems with UK economy data could be widespread, warns lawmaker

-Belgium bans disposable vapes as concern grows over e-cigarettes

Overview

-Ministers have unveiled plans for new curbs to target people smugglers, including travel bans and social media blackouts, after data showed a 25% rise in the number of migrants arriving in the UK via the English Channel last year.

-Damaging gaps in the UK's jobs data may herald wider problems with the country's statistics, a top lawmaker has warned, saying economic policymakers were "flying blind" because of the failures.

-Belgium on Wednesday became the first European Union country to ban sales of disposable vapes, as governments across the continent try to reverse growing e-cigarette use among younger people.

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)

((globalnewsmonitoring@thomsonreuters.com))