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Today’s Top Stories from NBC News

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021

Good morning, NBC News readers.

Today we look at the problem of untraceable "ghost guns" featured on YouTube, the latest showdown over vaccine mandates, and controversy at an unusual beauty contest.

Here's the latest on that and everything else we're watching this Thursday morning.

YouTube banned 'ghost gun' videos. They're still up.

The internet has made the proliferation of homemade weapons a vexing problem for law enforcement officials across the country, who have linked them to mass shootings, attacks on police, as well as drug and gang-related killings in recent years.

And now, more than three years after YouTube tightened its gun content restrictions, an NBC News review has found dozens of videos, with more than 4.6 million combined views, showing how to assemble “ghost guns,” which remain largely unregulated in most states and are nearly impossible to trace because they lack serial numbers.

NBC News sent links to six videos — which combined accounted for more than 1.2 million hits — to YouTube’s parent company, Google, seeking comment on how it enforces its firearms policy.

YouTube removed the videos within hours but dozens of similar videos remain on the site.

Read the full story here.

Friday's Top Stories

White House braces for legal, political showdown over vaccine mandates

The Senate passed a resolution Wednesday to repeal President Joe Biden's vaccination-or-testing mandate for private-sector employers in a bipartisan rebuke of a key component of the White House's Covid-19 strategy.

U.S. Covid travel warnings hit European hot spots

U.S. travel warnings are hitting longtime American tourist hot spots where it hurts, with some who depend on the dollar describing their situation as desperate.

The internet is tricking us into thinking we’re smarter than we are, research shows

Researchers are finding that the intersection of Google, smartphones and our memories is starting to mess with how we judge our own abilities.

OPINION

Ron DeSantis' Florida state military plan echoes Trump's autocratic aspirations

The governor is leading GOP efforts to create environments conducive to authoritarianism, writes Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of "Strongmen: From Mussolini to the Present."

Also in the News

California father, son accused of reckless arson in massive Caldor Fire

Oklahoma prepares to execute man for teacher's slaying in 1985

New Zealand to ban cigarette sales for future generations

Gunfire reported at Cancun beach after shooters arrive on jet skis, police say

Congress, Biden to honor 'American giant' Bob Dole at Capitol

Editor's Pick

Study unlocks the secrets to developing a regular workout habit

What motivates people to go to the gym more often? Emails, text messages and really small cash rewards.

Select

The Amazon Halo View fitness tracker is built with multiple sensors to provide health insights like heart rate and blood oxygen levels: Here's everything we know about it.

One Fun Thing

Dozens of camels barred from Saudi beauty contest over Botox, touch-ups

Controversy at beauty contests is nothing new. But the contestants are usually people, not camels.

More than 40 camels were disqualified from an annual camel beauty pageant in Saudi Arabia after an investigation found they had been given Botox and other artificial treatments, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported Wednesday.

The popular King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, which kicked off earlier this month, invites the breeders of the most beautiful camels to compete for some $66 million in prize money.