Good morning, and welcome to Kid News! I'm Tori. Today is Monday, November 29th, 2021,

and we begin with an eight-year-old math whiz from the United Kingdom setting her sights

on a world record. Brooke Cressy is her country's Times Table Champion. She saw 41,627 multiplication

and division problems in four hours, an average of 173 questions every minute, and that let

her beat out nearly a half million other kids vying for the title. Much of England uses

an online quiz program called Times Table Rockstars. Brooke practices about a half-hour every morning

before school, and when she's in the zone, won't blink, so she doesn't break rhythm.

Right now, the Times Table World Record is 208 problems in a minute. A feat Brooke's dad

says she will soon beat.

Move over Delta, there's a new COVID variant making headlines. It's called Omicron, and

was first detected in South Africa. It's since popped up in several other countries,

including Germany, England, the Netherlands, Australia, Israel, and Italy, some of which

are now putting travel bands back in place. US health experts say there's no reason

to panic, even though they say it's probably already here in the States. Government officials

aren't waiting for confirmation, though. Effective today, foreign travelers from eight African

nations won't be allowed to enter the US until more is known about Omicron, including

how readily it spreads and whether it's more dangerous than what's already out there.

Hanukkah is here, the annual lighting of the National Monora was held last night in

the park known as the ellipse across the street from the White House. First candle honors

went to Doug M. Hoff, husband of Kamala Harris and the first Jewish spouse of a vice president.

The ceremony marked the first night of the eight days of the holiday known as the Festival

of Lights. Right around the corner is Christmas. Today, the first lady will reveal the theme

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