LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 17:  Sandra Oh (L) and Andy Samberg walk onstage during the 70th Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.  (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Meet this year's Golden Globe nominees
01:28 - Source: CNN
CNN  — 

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    TODAY

    • It’s Carnival time! The festive season begins with Epiphany, marking for Christians the wise men’s visit to Jesus Christ, and runs until Mardi Gras, when Lent starts. Carnival’s US epicenter is New Orleans (I’ll nod to Mobile, Alabama, too), where more than 70 parades roll across the region through Fat Tuesday. Wherever you are, celebrate with a king cake.

    PUAB Cajun 1
    The sights and sounds of Cajun Mardi Gras
    00:23 - Source: CNN

    NFL playoff action continues, with the Chicago Bears hosting the Philadelphia Eagles at 4:40 p.m. ET. The game is on NBC.

    • It could be a big night for popular films – and political speeches – as the 76th Golden Globe Awards pushes the prize season into overdrive. Here’s what to watch for. The ceremony, hosted by Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg, begins at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Follow live updates here.

    Intv Amanpour Steve McQueen Widows _00000000.jpg
    McQueen: I won't let other people judge me
    17:30 - Source: CNN

    2. Government shutdown 

    • To Orthodox believers the world over, we wish you a merry Christmas. Because of a centuries-old calendar shift, most Christians marked the birth of Jesus Christ last month. But for those who didn’t – mostly in the former USSR, the Middle East and Africa – the 13-day delay means an extended holiday season and some really solid shopping deals.

    orthodox church christmas file RESTRICTED

    US and Chinese officials are due to meet for two days of talks in Beijing aimed at ending the monthslong trade war that’s rocking global financial markets.

    N366994 05: A passer-by looks over the prices on the Nasdaq board in Times Square in New York, April 3, 2000. The Nasdaq plummeted 349 points to 4225.25 Monday, the fifth-biggest one-day loss in percentage terms in its history. Microsoft shares plummeted on news that attempts to settle the U.S. federal government's antitrust lawsuit broke down over the weekend. (Photo by Chris Hondros)
    Fear grips investors as 2019 sees rough start
    05:32 - Source: CNN

    • Actor Kevin Spacey is due in court to be arraigned on charges of indecent assault and battery stemming from a 2016 incident. Spacey is expected to plead not guilty.

    kevin spacey frank underwood video
    Kevin Spacey channels Frank Underwood in video
    01:18 - Source: CNN Business

    • This is it, folks: college football’s biggest night. Alabama and Clemson face off for the national championship crown. Coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN

    TUESDAY

    Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads to the Middle East. The trip follows President Donald Trump’s abrupt announcement that US troops will leave Syria, even as the fight against ISIS continues in earnest. Pompeo will visit Saudi Arabia amid the trial of 11 suspects accused of killing Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The top US diplomat also is due for stops in Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait. 

    Vehicles of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group patrol the town of Rmelane in Syria's Hasakeh province on June 5, 2018. - The leading Syrian Kurdish militia said it would withdraw from Manbij, easing fears of a direct clash between NATO allies Washington and Ankara over the strategic northern town. Manbij is a Sunni Arab-majority town that lies just 30 kilometres (19 miles) south of the Turkish border, and where US and French troops belonging to the Western coalition against IS are stationed. (Photo by Delil souleiman / AFP)        (Photo credit should read DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images)
    Trump's plan for Syria withdrawal changes again
    01:38 - Source: CNN

    American Catholic bishops wrap up a weeklong retreat near Chicago led by Pope Francis’ own preacher. Billed as a spiritual – not a policy-making – meeting, it aims to give leaders a chance “to pray on the intense matters before us,” namely the clergy abuse scandal that made 2018 the church’s year from hell. The meeting, an expert said, could help prepare bishops to overhaul church culture, though some abuse survivors say they doubt it.

    Pope Francis (L) speaks speaks with the Archbishop of Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl at the end of a midday prayer with US bishops at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, DC, on September 23, 2015 on the second day of his visit to the US.  AFP PHOTO/NICHOLAS KAMM        (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
    Pope Francis accepts resignation of archbishop
    01:19 - Source: CNN

    • The International Consumer Electronics Show kicks off in Las Vegas. The annual event is a can’t-miss for techies. Last year’s show featured the latest in voice-activated assistants, self-driving vehicles, virtual reality and futuristic TVs, plus a very ironic power outage. Stick with CNN Business all week for all the latest gadgets.

    SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JANUARY 31:  A Lyft driver places the Amp on his dashboard on January 31, 2017 in San Francisco, California.  (Photo by Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for Lyft)
    Self-driving cars are coming. But Lyft co-founder says he'll need more drivers
    03:32 - Source: CNN Business

    WEDNESDAY

    Theresa May House of Commons
    Clock is ticking for Theresa May's Brexit deal
    03:25 - Source: CNN

    • “The Masked Singer” offers a low-tech test of voice recognition. It airs at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.

    nick cannon masked singer screenshot

    4. Russia sanctions 

    • After a landslide victory decried as a sham by nations the world over, Venezuela’s socialist President, Nicolas Maduro, is set to be sworn in for a second six-year term. Maduro said he’s “better prepared” now to oversee a nation in crisis, where 13,000% inflation has spawned food shortages and a migrant exodus.

    TOPSHOT - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a national flag during the closing of the campaign to elect a Constituent Assembly that would rewrite the constitution, in Caracas on July 27, 2017 on the second day of a 48-hour general strike called by the opposition.
Venezuela's opposition called for a nationwide protest on Friday in outright defiance of a new government ban on demonstrations ahead of a controversial weekend election. "The regime declared we can't demonstrate... We will respond with the TAKING OF VENEZUELA tomorrow," the opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable, said Thursday on its Twitter account.
 / AFP PHOTO / Federico PARRA        (Photo credit should read FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Images)
    US met with Venezuela officers plotting coup
    01:46 - Source: CNN

    • Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s “The Titan Games” banks on a kitschy Mount Olympus theme. It airs at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

    the rock house for christmas for mom vpx_00001122
    'The Rock' brings his mom to tears
    00:56 - Source: HLN

    SATURDAY

    • A trial is due to begin for an Egyptian actress accused of public obscenity for wearing a revealing dress at a film festival. Rania Youssef admits she may have misjudged reaction to her gown. The case typifies tensions between religious and secular authority in the Muslim world.

    Rania Youssef cairo film festival