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Sunday, December 23, 2018

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Sunday 12.23.18

It's about time to start planning your 2019 adventures, perhaps aboard one of the new year's best new cruise ships. Here's what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart.

By Michelle Krupa

The partial government shutdown is likely to continue until after Christmas, though holiday plans largely won't be affected -- As markets tumble, President Donald Trump has asked advisers if he can fire the Federal Reserve chief --  A tsunami in Indonesia killed at least 200 without warning -- Thirteen suspects have been arrested in connection with the beheading of two tourists in Morocco.
 
The body of Jakelin Caal Maquin is due to be returned today to her native Guatemala. The 7-year-old died December 8, less than 48 hours after Border Patrol agents detained her, her father and other migrants at a New Mexico border crossing. US officials have defended their efforts to save her but also cast her death as a warning of the dangers of trekking to the United States. Jakelin's family wants to know whether her death could have been prevented.

Early Monday is not too soon to trace the global movements of the North Pole's most famous denizen. That's when the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, flips on its Santa Tracker. The tradition started in 1955 when a misprinted Sears ad directed callers to the Defense Department instead of Santa. Today's version uses GPS and tallies "gifts delivered."
 
Our Five Things family on Tuesday sends out best wishes for a very merry Christmas. Whether those who celebrate spend it honoring faith traditions, decking the halls, prepping and gorging on traditional fare, gawking at light displays, helping the needy or all of the above, we hope this holiday helps Christians usher in a season of joy while celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

Then, starting Wednesday, we share our hopes for a happy Kwanzaa. The weeklong, nonreligious celebration aims to help African-Americans reconnect with ancestral roots. It includes the nightly lighting of candles on a seven-branched kinara while honoring principles of unity, self-determination, collective responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

For our Commonwealth friends, Wednesday is Boxing Day, a time to give to the less fortunate. It was named, perhaps, because wealthy people once gave boxes filled with gifts, money and Christmas leftovers to their employees on this day or because churches put out boxes for people to give money to the poor to be distributed the day after Christmas.
 
A snowstorm predicted to form across the Great Plains could snarl post-Christmas travel across the Midwest starting Wednesday, CNN meteorologists said. With a record-breaking 112.5 million Americans due to travel this year-end holiday season, that could spell delays. Check back with CNN's weather team all week for the latest forecasts.

Martial law expires Friday in Ukraine for people who live in Russian border zones. They've been living under heightened alert for 30 days after Russia seized three Ukrainian navy ships and detained 24 sailors last month in the Kerch Strait, a key waterway that is strategically important to both countries.
 
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A modified Tesla Model X drives in the Boring Co.'s Hawthorne, California, test tunnel, designed as a model for easing traffic in Los Angeles. Find more cool images from the week, from our friends at CNN Photos.
 
"Though we have not met I love you already. I live in Texas - I will write you from time to time - Good Luck."
Former President George H.W. Bush, in the first letter he wrote under a pseudonym, G. Walker, to a Filipino boy he sponsored through a charity after leaving the White House. Bush died last month at age 94.
 
The consequences of bending the truth 
Fewer than 1 in 1,000 people are prosecuted for lying on the federal gun form, and who wants a crackdown might surprise you. Dive into that debate and other thoughtful perspectives in CNN's weekend reads
 
'Charlie Brown' to 'Home Alone'
'Tis the season to binge-watch your favorite Christmas movies. Here's where to start.

All the buzz
"Bumblebee" kicks the "Transformers" franchise into a higher gear. The PG-13 flick just hit theaters.

Turning pain into art
Join Steve Carell in the based-on-real-life tale of a photographer's effort to heal himself through the imaginary world of his dolls. "Welcome to Marwen," also in theaters now, is rated PG-13.

Justice Hollywood
The backstory of "Notorious RBG" hits the big screen Tuesday. "On the Basis of Sex," the biopic about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is rated PG-13.
 
Final countdown
The NFL's regular season is almost all wrapped up. Top matchups today include the Texans at the Eagles, starting at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.

Final kickoff?
Monday
Night Football's Christmas Eve matchup features the Broncos and the Raiders. It could be the last game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum as the home team preps for a move to Las Vegas. Coverage starts at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Final chances
It's a college football bowl-o-rama starting Wednesday and building to Saturday's start of the College Football Playoff. The national semifinals feature Clemson vs. Notre Dame (your friendly newsletter writer, donning blue and gold, cries, "Go Irish!!") at 4 p.m. ET in the Cotton Bowl and Alabama vs. Oklahoma at 8 p.m. ET in the Orange Bowl. Both games are on ESPN. The winners face off January 7 for the national championship.
 
'He's makin' a list'
We hope your name is in the "nice" column (or that you just own the other option). Happy holidays! (Click here to bop out.)
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