sure. change stuff. this is d.w. news live from berlin a major win for president donald trump u.s. lawmakers have given their final approval to a sweeping tax reform bill that will bring the biggest tax cuts in decades republicans are hailing it as a victory for the american people democrats say only the wealthy will benefit we'll

get analysis from washington also coming up the european commission follows through on its threat to punish poland over judicial reforms in the country that the e.u. says are undemocratic but poland's president is defined signing into law the reforms giving the government more control over the country's core. and that europe deals a big blow to the right hailing company the top court in europe says it is a taxi service not just an out and that difference is huge and will tell you why. it's good to have you with us in the united states the house of representatives has given its final approval to a sweeping overhaul of the u.s. tax code it had already been approved by both chambers of congress but an

embarrassing procedural error force the senate to send it back to the house for a revote the bill which includes permanent tax breaks for corporations and temporary tax cuts for individuals is the biggest. shake up to the system in the country in more than thirty years and it's the first major legislative victory for the trump administration. our let's bring in our washington correspondent now carson phenomena he's on the story for so carson after some complications looks like we've got this bill passed by congress what can we expect next well the bill has been delivered to the white house it will be signed into law by the president later this week meanwhile lawmakers from the republican side from the house of representatives and the senate being bussed over to the white house right

now for the victory celebration this is scheduled for this afternoon we also expect the president to give a little speech it's not quite clear whether he would also allow journalists to ask questions you know that's an interesting point there we know that he held a cabinet meeting earlier today how i have see basically celebrated what will be his first legislative victory. well he was very satisfied he praised the work of republicans in congress he once again said that he believed that this bill is good for the middle class and for companies as well and that he expects that this will free companies to create new jobs and raise wages so that india and more or less everybody. benefit from this bill is something that of course the opposition democratic party strongly denies donald trump also said that this is a repeal of obamacare which is not quite true because obamacare and the affordable

health the affordable care act is still the law of the land but it's true that there is a provision in this tax reform bill which basically abolishes the so-called individual mandate which says that every american has to have his care and if that is going many young and has people who might not. once health care anymore that would mean that premiums would go up for everybody else and according to some estimates up to thirteen million americans might be without health care because of that and we know really first and foremost this concerns the americans how do americans carson how do they feel about this tax reform well generally according to all the polls that we have seen most americans reject this bill but if you look at the people who are affiliated to a party does a different story ninety five percent of democratic voters reject this plan saying

that it's just for the corporations and the wealthy but almost seventy percent of republican voters think that this is a good thing for the middle class so clearly they believe the president and the republicans in congress that this will trickle down to them and that new jobs will be created it just shows once again how divided this country is and that what people believe depends on whom they listen to and where they get their information from. that is definitely the case here our correspondent carsten phenomena reporting from washington tonight as always garstin thank you. here is some of the of the stories now that are making headlines around the world officials in yemen see at least eleven people have been killed in saudi led airstrikes in the north of the country a spokesman for the rebel group said the dead included women and children it comes a day after saudi arabia intercepted a ballistic missile fired by who tease towards the capital rio after three days of

fractious debate uganda's parliament has passed a controversial bill to remove the presidential age limit the new legislation will allow president yoweri museveni to stand for reelection in two thousand and twenty one on wednesday police arrested several opposition lawmakers as they try to enter the chamber. germany's two main political forces conservatives and the social democrats have agreed to hold exploratory talks about governing together but those talks begin on january seventh and the parties will announce five days later whether or not they'll start formal negotiations for a coalition germany has now been without a government for three months the longest it is history since those inconclusive elections back in september. the e.u. has launched an unprecedented process that could strip poland of its voting rights within the european union now the move follows months of tension between warsaw and

brussels over judicial reforms which i hold as president. appeared defiant today he said that he will sign to laws to put the country's courts under political control he says that the laws and make the judiciary more accountable to regular citizens brussels says the reforms are a threat to the rule of law. a landmark decision was on the table as the european commission gathered in brussels at stake one of the values enshrined at the core of the european identity the rule of law which the commission says is under threat in poland at the center of the rallies and series of reforms effectively giving parliament the power to appoint judges. within a period of two years a significant numbers of laws have been adopted thirteen in total which puts at serious risk the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers and.

the commission has taken the unprecedented step of invoking article seven of the e.u. treaty theoretically that could lead to sanctions like the suspension of poland's voting rights but it's unlikely to come to that hungary as already promised to veto such steps nevertheless it's a highly symbolic move one which will probably only increase tensions between brussels and. the polish government says it's being singled out for unfair treatment. in fact the point is to punish poland for having an independent policy and for the fact that it has stopped being the meek obedient country it was when the previous government was in power. the ruling justice party has made judicial reform one of its key priorities and says the current system has too many vestiges of the communist era my advice inefficiency and

corruption but critics say the legislation is a bed by the leader of the rightwing justice party kaczynski to enhance his power. over recent months tens of thousands of poles have taken to the streets to voice their concerns of the legislation the government remained for. now the e.u. has given will so three months to consider changes to its plans it seems unlikely that it will stand down. to take the story out of brussels our correspondent is standing by for is going to mean to you georg so we've got the polish president here saying that he will sign these controversial laws is this a sign that poland has no intention of battling to pressure from brussels i say brand everything else would have been a surprise to brussels pretty much expected that the standoff would continue at

least in the short run and look for the european union this step has been really difficult with a heavy heart is the words of france to munns used when he took this step and the real hope is that it will never come really that we see article seven and full actions with the full sanctions of it but the hope is that the threat at least will bring the polish side to the negotiating table to start a dialogue that is the chance that is now on the table and the time window we have is three months until the polish can still turn the tables here and what about articles been it has been triggered what will happen next. well once these three months are over the next step is basically a warning now what we have here is a recommendation of the european union and this now would have to be approved by the european parliament which it's likely that it would approve it and also by the european council by twenty two member states that's

a four fifth's majority in the european council and you can pretty much expect that the forefronts to months made this announcement today he checked at the have the majority in his pockets and once we have that warning that basically would open up the way for the real sanctions that is a more difficult step it would take. a unanimous decision in the european council and hungary has already said it would be told such a step and if poland does not budge from this what other measures then does the european union have to bring poland in line with the democratic values and rules that everyone in the e.u. adheres to while article seven is clearly the sharpest tool in the ears garden shed but there is also an infringement procedure already that has now been taken a further step fall forward that could end up in foreign of the european court of justice and carries hefty financial fines which is also

a mid term tool i would say in the very long run we could see that the cultural funds that poland receives and let's bear in mind poland is the biggest net beneficiary of e.u. funds and that these funds could be attached to conditions but that is something for the long term. are a game of months on the story for us tonight in brussels georg thank you very much . thousands of taxi drivers have taken to the streets in bucharest to protest against the ride sharing app more than five thousand cars blocked traffic take a look at this in front of the city's main government buildings the drivers say the firm creates unfair competition and they are calling for revert to be banned now this is not the only backlash that is facing a european regulators have ruled that the company is indeed a transformer company not a digital service and that it needs to follow transport law it's a few clicks with an app is enough to find a quick ride at

a reasonable price that's the hallmark of ride handling giant goober the company's drivers own their cars and riders can choose their service provider but goober will have to give up his business model in europe if authorities get their way europe's top court has ruled that guber should be regulated as a transportation company that means the ride handling service will be treated like a traditional taxi company. professional taxi drivers across europe say the ruling was long overdue to grass been a thorn in their side because it has not had to comply with taxi regulations that has led to repeated protests throughout europe the ruling could put an end to what the taxi drivers believe is unfair competition. that cannot be the case that the industry that professional in this city has to abide by the rules and days in the other part which is often exactly the same so it is the different light

there are no rules at all but representatives of the computer and communications sectors say the ruling is a step in the wrong direction they fear it could weigh heavily on cross border innovation. we. keep. struggling.