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As the Omicron coronavirus variant spreads across the country, more events are being canceled or postponed, airlines and cruise lines are scrambling to deal with last-minute changes, and New York City's vaccine mandate for the private sector is set to go into effect Monday.

Acclaimed film director Jean-Marc Vallée -- who helmed the 2013 drama "Dallas Buyers Club" -- died Sunday near Quebec City, Canada, his production company's publicist told CNN. He was 58 years old.

Nearly a year after his failed coup attempt, Donald Trump's habit of putting his own political gain over truth is playing out again as the ex-commander-in-chief and his associates seek to delay and defy the House select committee probing the January 6 insurrection.

Ghislaine Maxwell is charged with six counts in her federal trial in New York related to what prosecutors say are her efforts to groom and traffic underage girls to be sexually abused by her close companion Jeffrey Epstein.

Two Michigan lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle came together to urge the importance of unity and kindness after a "toxic" year in Washington and across the country.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Anglican cleric whose good humor, inspiring message and conscientious work for civil and human rights made him a revered leader during the struggle to end apartheid in his native South Africa, has died. He was 90.

America's running political conversation defaults to the sitting president. Today, Joe Biden's legislative struggles, pandemic management and weak approval rating drown out most everything else.

For Americans traveling after Christmas and New Year's, getting their Covid-19 vaccinations or booster doses as soon as possible is critical to safely avoid serious illness, one health expert told CNN Saturday.

Here are some of the most famous people who have died in 2021.

Desmond Tutu, the first Black archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, and who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his efforts to end apartheid, has died at the age of 90.

As the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread across the US this holiday season, the rate of daily Covid-19 cases detected has eclipsed those fueled by the Delta variant over the summer.

Citymeals on Wheels, a New York City-based non-profit that provides meals to elderly New Yorkers, provided 20,000-holiday meals to older city residents on Christmas morning with the help of 300 volunteers, a news release from the organization says. The achievement comes as the non-profit celebrates its 40th Christmas in operation.

A suicide bomber struck a restaurant in the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern city of Beni on Saturday, killing at least five people as well as himself, officials said.

At least 30 people, including women and children, were killed in the eastern Myanmar state of Kayah on Friday, according to the Karenni Human Rights Group, with two members of international humanitarian group Save the Children still missing.

It's a Christmas Eve gift! Actress Olivia Munn and comedian John Mulaney have shared the first glimpse of their baby, who is now 1 month old.

An armed intruder was arrested in the grounds of Windsor Castle where Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and some members of her family were spending Christmas, Thames Valley Police said on Saturday.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth has paid tribute to the late Prince Philip during her first Christmas television broadcast since the death of her husband of 73 years.

The Duchess of Cambridge surprised British TV audiences with a piano performance during a special Christmas service that was shown on TV on Christmas Eve. Watch the entire performance on the The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge YouTube channel.

It's a moment that has been decades in the making. The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's premier space observatory of the next decade, has successfully launched.

A male surfer was killed in a shark attack in Morro Bay, California, on Christmas Eve, the Morro Bay Harbor Department confirmed to CNN.

At least two major airlines in the United States have canceled flights just before Christmas Eve.

They heard their dad take his last breath.

Prosecutors in a filing say the parents of alleged Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley are at a "greater risk of flight" now than when they were arraigned on involuntary manslaughter charges earlier this month and allege the couple "willfully ignored the needs and well-being of their son and the threat he posed to others."

A Carnival cruise ship that departed Miami has "a small number" of people aboard who have tested positive for Covid-19, and it has been denied entry to ports at two Caribbean islands, the cruise line said.

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio's friendship will go on, despite distance or time.

The Justice Department has released a three-hour video of a battle between rioters and the police at the US Capitol Building on January 6 where rioters brandished weapons, officers were viciously beaten, and a member of the mob died on Capitol steps. CNN's Jessica Schneider reports.

Members of a southeastern Idaho youth church group were being driven around by their chaperone last month, delivering Thanksgiving cards in the neighborhood to those they were thankful for when they decided last minute to stop at the home of the county sheriff's house, according to a probable cause affidavit later filed in court.

As the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread, some experts say it's past time to reconsider your face mask options -- especially if you're still wearing the cloth variety.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson joins CNN to talk about the agency's James Webb Space Telescope.

Dr. Jack Lyons remembers the pandemic's early days when grateful communities banged pots and pans to honor frontline health care workers.

It was the 1970s and Tony and Maureen Wheeler had a dream: to travel from London to Sydney by land, or at least as much as they could. They embarked on a once-in-a-lifetime journey that changed global traveling forever.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's past came into sharper focus recently with the admission that, in the tumultuous days following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he earned cash on the side as a taxi driver.

The Omicron surge and Covid-19 have frayed nerves and pushed the physical and mental limit of medical professionals across the country. CNN's Ed Lavandera reports on the toll it's taking as many hospitals near capacity.

• Potter testified she mistook her gun for a Taser

Nationally acclaimed Writer Joan Didion has died at the age of 87, her publicist confirmed to CNN.

Former President Donald Trump appealed to the Supreme Court on Thursday to block the release of documents from his White House to the House committee investigating the January 6 riot at the Capitol, escalating his effort to keep about 700 pages of records secret.

CNN's Melissa Bell breaks down Vladimir Putin's annual press conference, where he addressed the troop build-up near the Ukrainian border.