>> you are watching "france 24." poland could lose its right to vote in the european union as billions of dollars -- and billions of dollars in aid money. the eu has just triggered article seven, an unprecedented move that could -- to smooth britain's exit from the european union.

we will be taking a closer look at the rise of hate crimes in the eu. the latest in our series, the brexit affect. donald trump's sweeping tax overhaul approved by the u.s. senate. the biggest change in the u.s. tax code and 30 years. re-votedave to be against day due to a technicality. uber faces big changes to the way it operates in europe after the eu's top court ruled it should be regulated like a taxi service. a new record in ivf. a baby is born from an embryo frozen 24 years ago, just one year younger than the american mother who birthed her.

poland could be set to lose its right to vote in the european union as well as billions of dollars in aid money. pap is reporting the european union has triggered article seven the procedure could result in sanctions against poland. it would be an unprecedented move that could bring a severe punishment for poland's alleged breaking the blocks rule on human rights and democracy. let's bring in our eu correspondent. can you confirm that the commission has decided to trigger this article seven against poland? >> we are still waiting for the eu's second-in-command to come down to the press room and confirm that. today, they will eventually go ahead and triggered the nuclear option, article seven, which

could see poland lose its voting right. the commission has been saying for months it didn't want to go down this option. they wanted to take the diplomatic path. the head of the european commission confirmed that at a late-night press conference last night. he said all bridges is not all -- he saide that not all bridges were burned just yet. late last night, they were still hoping they wouldn't have to go down this route. in a couple of seconds, we will find out whether or not they've decided to go down that route. diplomats here tell us they reached a dead-end in negotiations. since they opened the investigation back in january of numerousre were invitations to sit down for face-to-face dialogue and a number of demands for clarification on various issues.

they didn't receive any indications from the government in warsaw. if the european commission does go ahead today with triggering that article seven, that will be a recommendation and then the legal process will have to come into play. will force the eu member states to take the final decision to vote on whether they agree with that recommendation from the european commission. we hear from countries like france and germany that they will likely be backing it. other countries like hungary and the czech republic would be looking at perhaps vetoing it. no date has been set in the new year for member states to vote on this. this is to give poland a bit more leeway to see if they will take the diplomatic route that the european commission would hope for. >> let's say sanctions are eventually issued against poland.

how will they work and how might the polish government react? >> the polish government won't be absolutely livid. the head of the party has made it clear that anytime the eu calls on them for any sort of issue, he said the eu should mind its own business when it comes to polish domestic affairs. they took away the eu flag from the government office. that was to tell you what it really feels about the heads of the institution here in brussels. those sanctions could backfire. if the crucial aid money was taken away, you could see the ordinary man in the street that could suffer -- time for the european commission to do something for the sake of its credibility. it cannot just let poland get away with this behavior.

the european parliament is putting massive pressure on them. mep's voted in48 favor of the european commission triggering that recommendation to set up article seven. that was put into law when the lisbon treaty was signed. >> in london today, the british house of commons is holding its eighth and final debay of debate on brexit. gave a lawmakers already heavy defeat to theresa may last week in parliament over brexit. they have now signaled a possible compromise to avoid another fight today. clashes over the government's desire to fix the planned date of departure could be averted. some rebels say they will agree

to the date if a proviso is inserted into the bill allowing the date to be changed. ever since britain voted to leave the eu, there's been a spike in hate crimes against european citizens. people from poland and other eastern european countries have been particularly targeted in the u.k. as the latest episode in the brexit effect explains. ♪ it is a busy day at this polish church in the east of england. after mass, saint nicholas is handing out presents. while there are smiles all around for the giftgiving, life has become harder for the large polish community here since brexit. and assaults have become come place. that's commonplace. >> someone in the back started

to shout to me "go back home. speak our lin language. brexit will come after you." said i spoke as stupid immigrant said i spoke a> stupid immigrant language. this immigration consultant says there is a clearance is the medical still be toward eastern europeans -- clear and systematic hostility towards eastern europeans. >> they're worried about losing their jobs. the people i know are disseminated against but they do not have -- discriminated against. >> to talk about this alienation, we meet julia and her mother. they asked us to disguise their

identity. julia was the subject of months of racist abuse by neighbors. >> they were saying that i am a polish brat, i don't belong here, i'm lonely because nobody likes european people. did, i had to have my mom with me. >> the most shocking for julia's mother was the lack of response from the police. >> the policeman said if we don't like it, we can move out. if we don't like it here at all, we can go back to our country. millionis home to one polish people. faced with mounting xenophobia and dissemination since brexit -- a discrimination since brexit, many are questioning their future in the u.k.. >> a demonstration and kurdistan has left five people that.

dozens more were hurt a security forces opened fire on the protesters. kurds voted yes to independence in september. --t hasrawn sweeping the fight against the islamic state group in iraq has increased the visibility and influence of shia militias. the prime ministers turned to rein in those militias. last week, the top shiite cleric urged the militia to give state issued weapons back to the iraqi government. despite that, shia training camps continue to flourish. here's our "france 24" report. >> it is one of iraq's most carefully guarded secrets. a training camp north of baghdad. these men have been recruited by popular mobilization units which are shia paramilitary groups that have been fighting the islamic state groups since 2014.

they come from diverse backgrounds. civil servants, bakers, engineers. soon, these future militiamen will find common ground on the front lines for. >> these countries are extremely enriching. we learn how to behave on the battlefield. how to fight against and face the enemy. to do all we can to survive. >> all these recruits are driven by their convictions. they are extremely motivated and they learn quickly. >> conviction. defining word for these shia recruits. all prepared to become martyrs. the ultimate sacrifice. their military training also includes an important religion component. >> we have prepared the morally and spiritually so they dedicate themselves mind and body to jihad. a man driven by faith is always tha more efficient fighter

than a man without faith. >> someone hundred 50,000 men have been trained here after responding to ayatollah's fatwa against the islamic state group. it's one of iraq's most revered shia clerks. >> next washington where the u.s. senate has approved the biggest overhaul of the u.s. tax system in 30 years. the bill was approved in the early hours of wednesday morning, bringing president trump one step closer to the biggest legislative victory of his presidency. that victory was not without some embarrassment for the republicans. the bill passed in the house on tuesday but will have to be rebutted again today due to a technicality. philip crowther told us more. washe votes in the senate presided over by vice president mike pence. he watched among protests from votes as 51ing the report and senators voted for

this tax cut bl and 48 democrats voted against it. notable absence being senator john mccain of arizona. this will be the first part of a longer victory lap for republicans. after this senate vote this wednesday morning will be a renewed voten the u.s. house of representatives. they voted on tuesday, but because of changes in the senate bill, they now have to do the same thing again. that vote will be presided over by the speaker of the house of representatives, paul ryan. showingdespite polls this is a bill that is very unpopular in the united states, it will become more popular once the results of those tax cuts will be obvious for all americans.

there will be tax cuts across the board, but they will mainly be for the wealthy. to medium andes low income families also get tax cuts but they are significantly smaller. the victory lap wi continue after the house of and the whites housbecause donald trump will receive the final bill for a signature. th will be a moment of celebration for this white house, the only big legislative achievemt it will have had in the first year of donald trump's presidency, but it is a significant one. republicans in the u.s. congress have been waiting for decades to vote on tax cuts like these. >> that was philip crowther reporting from washington. we will talk more about this with our business editor. what exactly is going to change for american taxpayers now? >> this bill has more than 500 pages. let's take a look at the main changes for individuals.

the top rate will come down from just under 40% to 37%. the standard tax deduction will be doubled, as will the child tax credit. for inheritance, that estate tax threshold is doubled as well. it will be only applicable for estates worth more than $11 million. there are changes on health care that are important. ae individual mandate is financial penalty for anyone who doesn't take up health insurance under obamacare. that will severely weaken the affordable care act and the universal guarantee. businesses will be the big winners here. not only because the corporate tax reductions will be permanent where the individual tax adoptions are only in place until 2025. the main corporate tax at 35% will come down to 21%.

as a result of that high tax rate, american companies with trillions of dollars and stashed elsewhere in the world, there's a special rate of 15.5% allowed to allow those companies to bring that money back to the u.s. it will change the way american multinational copies are text as well -- taxed as well. >> how is this going to be paid for? >> the republicans have been setting out the framework for this bill, given since $1.5 trillion to add to the debt over 10 years. they say the budget comes in under those lines. some of these tax breaks will expire in 2025. bill say itf this is economic growth that will create new revenue for the government. that is not the consensus view

of most economists. there's a lot of doubt around that. debt, which higher could cause problems in the future. >> has there been reaction on the markets? >> investors have largely priced in the results of these changes to the american tax code. flat goingres pretty into the end of the year's session. londonry slight gains in as well. no great surprises for them. >> another big business story. today, the eu's top court has issued an important ruling in regard to uber. >> it must be treated like a transport provider instead of a technology company. it could lead to view member states -- eu member states placing tighter restrictions on

uber. uber says this will affect its operations in most countries where it already abides by transport laws. >> taxi drivers across europe have been waiting for this. for years, they have accused uber for engaging in unfair competition against them. now, europe's top court agrees. in this ruling, because ber is as like u transport service and therefore must be classified as a service in the field of transport within eu law. the eu directive on electronic commerce does not apply to companies like uber. working under electronic haserce rule is what uber

been doing so far. the company says it is an information service provider. paying less taxes and fees has allowed uber to offer cheaper awayces and show clients from taxi companies. wednesday's decision, all member states now regula te services like uber like regular transport services. >> there was a tweet misfire from elon musk. la the founder of tes mistakenly tweeted his mobile phone number. deleted -- the tweet has sparked speculation trying tor musk was

hire mr. carmichael or was trying to work with oculus. you got a message from the game "god of war." musk having a sense of humor about this. "france 24 >> thank you for that. time for the press review. lots of reaction today on that missile attack by the iran backed rebels in the saudi capital. >> a brazen attack that has prompted a lot of reactions from the english-speaking press and the arabic press. the strike was targeting the saudi complex. it was shut down by saudi authorities. let's start with the washington examiner. it slams iran for risking war

just to test the saudi crown prince. -- akens the strike to scathing opinion there. a saudi paper takes aim at the u.n. and its misguided approach to dealing with yemen. by reducing image just a humanitarian crisis while overlooking the political problem of the rebel group backed by iran -- the called it a terrorist group. >> they are focusing on the humanitarian crisis in human. -- in yemen, which is entering its 1000 day of war. >> today does mark 1000 days. they put together a grim summary of that war. stats, give you a few 10,000 people have died since the war began. the war has sparked the worst cholera epidemic ever in the

country's history. famine is affecting 70% of yemen's population. famine toreating a starve the population as a tool for. 12 million people need t emergency health care, including many children. >> the french prime minister has gotten himself in a bit of hot water. he's facing the music about a rather costly flight to new caledonia. >> sort of weird or curious. he says he has nothing to be blamed for. hisard philippe and entourage took a commercial flight from paris to the new caledonia ann capital recently. on the way back, they opted for a private jet. noumea to was from tokyo. he took a military flight that

was made available for him to tokyo. tokyo to paris, he decided to pay $350,000 for a private jet/ . he says it allowed him to return to paris to hours earlier -- two hours earlier. the head of the french anticorruption board has called it a terrible use of public funds. those from the far right have been criticized for frivolity. >> this is talking about 2017 new animal species. >> this will warm your heart, especially in the narrow when we are always talking about global warming. 150 new animal species have been discovered this year. among the new animals, a crocodile lizard. they discovered that species in

a region of vietnam. in thailand, researchers have come across a snail eating turtle. in the paris region, they discovered 10 new varieties that had been misinterpreted. >> an incredible medical story about a frozen embryo that has made a new record. has given birth to her first child. fromsed a frozen embryo america's national embryo donation center. she wasn't shocked to discover that embryo had been conceived in 1992. just a year after she herself was born. technically, her child is almost the same age as her. it set a new record for the oldest frozen embryo resulting in a successful birth. it is a medical miracle, as they say.

>> there will be no christmas miracle in the italian capital of room this year. the city's tree has been declared dead. >> no christmas cheer, only christmas jeer in rome. the city's $50,000 christmas tree has been nicknamed -- it means "threadbare" or "balding." this is what the tree looked like when it was put up. what would a user has likened it to a toilet brush -- one twitter user has likened it to a toilet brush. the 20 meter tree may have been tampered with or sabotaged on its way from importer forest near austria. some say it is a metaphor for the decaying state of rome. the mayor has come under criticism -- there's even a brand of men's hair product that got in on the action. don't end up like the tree.

rome was the unfortunate recipient of last year's terrible christmas tree. it was named the ugliest treat in the world -- tree in the world. >> maybe it just needs a little love. you can get a closer look at the press review on the website. bbc.cofrance24.com. boutique known as the coolest shop in paris is closing its doors. stay tuned. ♪

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