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7 things to know now: Record gun background checks; Chris Brown; most searched on Yahoo

Customers shop for a handgun at Metro Shooting Supplies on November 12, 2014 in Bridgeton, Missouri. The suburban St. Louis store is located near Ferguson, Missouri where several weeks of sometimes violent protests erupted following the shooting death of Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on August 9th. The gun shop last week experienced a 300 percent increase in sales over the same period last year. About 60 percent of those sales were from first-time gun owners. The increase is attributed in part to concern from residents of additional outbreaks of violence if the grand jury investigating Brown's death does not find justification to prosecute Wilson for the shooting. The grand jurys decision is expected sometime in November. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Customers shop for a handgun at Metro Shooting Supplies on November 12, 2014 in Bridgeton, Missouri. The suburban St. Louis store is located near Ferguson, Missouri where several weeks of sometimes violent protests erupted following the shooting death of Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on August 9th. The gun shop last week experienced a 300 percent increase in sales over the same period last year. About 60 percent of those sales were from first-time gun owners. The increase is attributed in part to concern from residents of additional outbreaks of violence if the grand jury investigating Brown's death does not find justification to prosecute Wilson for the shooting. The grand jurys decision is expected sometime in November. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
By Debbie Lord
Dec 2, 2015
Here's a roundup of news trending across the nation and world today.

What to know now:

1. Setting a record: According to the FBI, more people had background checks to purchase firearms on Black Friday 2015 than any other day on record. The FBI said the National Instant Criminal Background Check System ran checks on 185,345 people. That number was up 5 percent from background request checks on Black Friday 2014.

Priscilla and I are so happy to welcome our daughter Max into this world!For her birth, we wrote a letter to her about...

Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday, December 1, 2015

2. Zuckerberg's a dad: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, announced the birth of their daughter Tuesday. Max was born last week, according to reports. In a letter to her posted on Facebook, Zuckerberg and Chan pledged to give away nearly all their wealth - around $45 billion - to help solve the problems in the world, making it a better place for their new daughter.

>> Read more trending stories  

3. Raising the rates: Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen will be speaking today in Washington and some believe she may reveal details about an expected bump in interest rates.  The Federal Reserve meets later this  month to decide if it will increase the cost of borrowing money.

4. Top cop fired: Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday that he fired the city's police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, following the release of video of a white police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times. "Public trust in the department has been eroded," Emmanuel said at a press conference Tuesday as he tried to answer why it took more than  a year for the video to be released.

5.  No Chris in Australia: Singer Chris Brown has canceled a planned Australian tour after authorities there said the R&B singer may not be welcomed. It's believed that Brown's request for a visa would have likely been refused because of his criminal conviction for assaulting singer Rihanna.

And one more

What  was the top internet search topic on Yahoo in 2015? Sadly, it  was the saga of Bobbi Kristina Brown. More people searched for information about the only child of the late Whitney Houston than any other topic. The annual end-of-year list was released Wednesday.

In case you missed it

What if you threw a Black Friday sale (complete with a big yellow ball with legs) and no one came? It's like that in Brazil.

About the Author

Debbie Lord

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