As more cases of the new, highly mutated Covid variant Omicron pop up around the globe—including the US—countries are introducing more travel restrictions in an attempt to slow the virus’s spread.

The CDC said on Tuesday it might require all air travelers coming into the US to show a negative Covid test within one day of departure (the current window for vaccinated international travelers to provide a negative test is three days). The Biden administration is also weighing whether to require people entering the country to self-quarantine for seven days, regardless of their test result.

• The US, along with many other governments, has already blocked all foreign travel from eight countries in southern Africa, where Omicron was first detected.
• Several nations, like Israel and Japan, have barred all foreign visitors.

There’s been loads of pushback

While some governments say travel bans are an important tool to buy more time and gather more data on Omicron, the WHO is calling BS. Health officials there argue that blanket travel bans are ineffective at controlling the spread of Omicron and unfairly punish the nations targeted. Plus, the new variant was already spreading in Europe before it was detected in southern Africa, so...the glitter’s already been spilled.

What does the science say? There’s not much data on the effectiveness of travel bans during Covid. One study showed that blanket travel bans early in the pandemic did slow down the spread of the virus. Another study didn’t find much evidence to support that.

Researchers are more certain that other types of travel policies that the US is considering, such as post-arrival testing and self-quarantining, can help curb transmission.

Big picture: Pity the airline executive. Covid is already projected to cost the tourism sector $1.6 trillion this year, and the latest Omicron developments could put another dent in the travel industry’s rebound.—NF

Just when you thought baseball couldn’t get any slower, it went and stopped altogether.

MLB’s 5-year collective bargaining agreement with its players expired at 11:59pm ET last night, meaning the league has now entered a lockout that halts all operations—no free-agent signings, no trades, no use of facilities by players, and no contact between players and teams. It’s the first MLB work stoppage in 27 years and the ninth in league history.

Think of a lockout as an anti-strike. It’s when management (in this case, MLB owners) tells employees “you can’t come to work even if you want to” in a bid to speed up negotiations.

How did we get here? It’s a classic labor dispute over how to distribute the spoils of a $10 billion league. The players’ union wants some things (better pay for younger players in their prime, for one), and the owners want other things (an expanded postseason, a salary floor).

Looking ahead...the big worry is that the lockout will bleed into the season, which starts three months from now. But experts think the two sides will reach a new agreement by then.—NF

While most of us spent yesterday wondering how Bo Burnham cracked our Spotify Wrapped top five and what a “wistful” audio aura means, the music streaming service also released its retrospective on the year.

Top artist: Puerto Rican hit-maker Bad Bunny was the most streamed artist globally for the second year in a row, but this year he did it without even releasing a new album. Taylor Swift, BTS, Drake, and Justin Bieber rounded out the top five.

Top album: As a planet we were all really going through it because Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour was the most-streamed album.

Top song: “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo. Obviously.

Top podcast: Last year, Spotify nabbed the exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan Experience in a $100 million deal, and this year it was the company's most popular podcast.

• Rogan was followed by Call Her Daddy, which Spotify brought to its platform for $60+ million in June.

Sign of the times: Streams of the playlist “Music for Plants” have grown 1,400% during the pandemic. And of course, there were over 42 million streams of vaccine-related playlists this year.—MM

Stat: Tel Aviv is the world’s most expensive city to live in, jumping from fifth place last year, per the Economist Intelligence Unit. It’s followed by Paris and Singapore (tied for second), Zurich, Hong Kong, New York, Geneva, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, and Osaka. Syria’s capital, Damascus, is the world’s cheapest city.

Quote: “While we now know where Peng is, I have serious doubts that she is free, safe, and not subject to censorship, coercion, and intimidation.”

Steve Simon, chairman and CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association, said the tour is suspending all tournaments in China in response to the treatment of tennis star Peng Shuai, who accused a high-ranking Communist Party official of sexual assault and subsequently disappeared from public view for more than two weeks. The WTA’s retaliatory move represents a major departure from other US-based sports leagues, which mostly try to play nice with China.

Read: When multilevel marketing met Gen Z. (The Atlantic)

Instead, the startup Particle is cutting one up into 10,000 NFTs. It announced yesterday that its first digitally sliced piece will be Banksy’s “Love is in the Air,” which it’s displaying at Art Basel this week.

Here’s how you divide a priceless work of art into blockchain-backed ownership shares:

1. Buy the art: In May, Particle cofounder and former Christie’s co-chair Loïc Gouzer purchased the Banksy work for $12.9 million (far above its $3–$5 million estimate) in a move likely meant to build hype.

2. Destroy the art: Particle plans to “legally destroy” the work by donating it to an eponymous nonprofit it’s established. That’s meant to strip the canvas of its value because “value can’t exist in two places,” Particle’s managing director told Axios. The alternative is burning it...which is exactly what was done to another Banksy in March.

3. Sell the NFTs: 10,000 “Particles” will go up for sale in early January. Buyers will receive a digital collector’s card, permission to view the painting IRL, and “the right to call the painting theirs.” Notably, Particle will earn royalties from any resale action.

Zoom out: In NFT land, social media hype = value. Particle’s success will depend on rallying an online community similar to Bored Ape Yacht Club’s or ConstitutionDAO’s. Some choice memes wouldn’t hurt.—JW

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Three Headlines and a Lie

Three of these news headlines are real and one is faker than a “Happy Holidays!” from your dentist’s office. Can you guess the odd one out?

1. Gritty announces run for Pennsylvania senate seat
2. Those cute cats online? They help spread misinformation
3. Sperm is being used to create an eco-friendly alternative to plastic
4. Terry’s and Heinz produce ‘world first’ chocolate orange mayonnaise

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