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A standard selling point for the GOP's tax overhaul plan is that middle class Americans will get a big tax cut and see their wages go up because of a slash on the rate paid by corporations. Republicans are doubling the standard deduction and the child tax credit, lowering tax rates across the board until 2025 and giving businesses a permanent break to spur job creation. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Sunday on CNN that a two-parent family with two children making $75,000 would keep $2,000 more a year and a family of four with a combined salary of $150,000 would get twice that. 'It's going to be one of the great Christmas gifts to middle-income people,' President Donald Trump on Saturday said. An estimated 13 million Americans are projected to lose health insurance. Commuters will no longer receive a perk that has saved them money. The passing of the bill sparked protests in New York (left) on Tuesday.

The Senate passed the GOP's $1.5 trillion tax cut early Wednesday morning, leaving just one technical hurdle and President Trump's signature as the final steps before the president's top legislative priority becomes reality. There was little last-minute drama in the Senate, where the final tally was 51-48, hardly different from the original version that cleared the Senate earlier this month. Not a single Democrat voted for it, just as no House Democrat voted for a version Tuesday. Protesters provided one of the biggest bursts of emotion, as a group of people yelled out 'Kill the bill, don't kill us!' as the final vote was being taken. Moments after the vote, President Trump took to Twitter to hail the achievement and promised a news conference at the White House at 1pm on Wednesday provided it passes in the House, which should be a formality.

NEW Bride-to-be Meghan, 36, revealed a polished new look as she arrived at Buckingham Palace for the Queen's annual Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace with Prince Harry (left). Her heavy make-up and straighter, glossier hair was in stark contrast to her more natural look in her engagement portrait just a few weeks ago (top inset). She also opted for a dress from Self Portrait (bottom inset), a brand loved by the Duchess of Cambridge (right).

This is the heart-rending moment a Chinese prisoner who had been given a death sentence bid a final farewell to his young daughter. The little girl was apparently too young to understand the significance of the meeting. She happily waved to her crying father and said 'bye bye dad' - without realising what the separation would mean to the rest of her life.

An American drug user who escaped Bali's notorious Kerobokan jail before being recaptured claimed Wednesday he broke out of the facility because he faced extortion threats. Christian Beasley (right), who is awaiting sentencing after being caught in August with five grams of hashish, made a break from the Indonesian resort island's main prison with a fellow inmate after cutting a hole in the roof with a hacksaw. He was found Saturday hiding on the neighbouring island of Lombok after five days on the run. At a press conference Wednesday, the handcuffed American was paraded in front of media with chains around his ankles and wearing an orange prison uniform and balaclava (left).

Wyatt Koch (right), son of industrialist Bill Koch (inset), the forgotten Koch brother of Charles and David, is demanding that Ivie Gabrielle Slocumb (pictured with him left) return the 8.24-carat diamond ring after she called off their engagement in May. According to court documents, Koch bought the ring is an Oscar Heyman cushion cut diamond with two tapered baguette diamonds for $180,000 in March. His lawyers now argue the jewelry is worth $250,000, while Koch is also demanding $15,000 in damages. 

NEW The teenager accused of stabbing his two classmates, one fatally, said the attacks came after years of bullying about his sexuality and a suicide attempt the day before.   Abel Cedano told ABC New York that he initially tried to walk away on September 27 when his classmates wouldn't stop bullying him.   'I was near the entrance to the classroom,' he told the outlet. 'And they continued to throw stuff. The class was very rowdy and loudness and everything. I just snapped. I started screaming and screaming.' The 18-year-old was released on a bail of $250,000 in November and was charged with manslaughter. He has been accused of stabbing Matthew McCree (top right), 15, and Ariane Laboy (bottom right), 16, during the school day at Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation in the Bronx.

Columbia University student, Ned, made a tongue-in-cheek flyer asking the women on the streets of Manhattan to accompany him as his date to his frat's winter formal. Apparently the 28-year-old bachelor was tired of the classic dating apps so he decided to take matters into his own hands. Ned, who didn't disclose his last name for professional reasons, created a flyer that he posted around Soho and the West Village, which just so happened to be close to a few modeling agencies - and it turns out he actually landed himself a model, Anna Besedina.

NEW Fanya Shamis, 78, of Coconut Creek, Florida, died in a bus crash in Mexico on Tuesday. She is one of five Americans to die in the crash. Her family believe one of her 11-year-old grandsons may have died as well. Shamis' daughter Anna Behar, and another grandchild, 15, are missing while Anna's husband, Moises Behar, is in the hospital. The bus was carrying cruise ship passengers from the port of Mahahual to Mayan ruins about an hour away when it crashed - killing 12 and injuring 18.

Pictures show Isabelle Lovelie Duterte (right), 17, the daughter of the Philippines President's first son Paulo, posing in a sparkling red ballgown (left) at the presidential palace in the capital, Manila. But the opulence of the event has sparked anger online amid claims it mirrored the activities of the wife of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. Imelda Marcos (inset) was known for amassing a vast collection of shoes. The photo session, which involved a host of make-up artists and stylists, was part of her 'debut' party ahead of her 18th birthday and the dress is said to have been made by top designers including Garimon Roferos Couture, based in Dubai.

Social media users have shared the hilarious signs, tweets, and dating profiles that show the pure bluntness people use every day. Stores across the United States appear to have said they're hiring 'losers', announced they're selling 'ugly' merchandise, and only having a sale because 'business sucks'. When it comes to dating profiles and relationships, one woman told her boyfriend she was 'pooping' when he asked what she was doing, while another said she was 'much fatter in person' in her dating profile.

A new online gallery has revealed the hilarious and very unfortunate snaps shared by couples online.Many sweet snaps took a turn after being photobombed by outside elements. Elsewhere over amorous partners make for a cringeworthy portrait that may just put you off your breakfast, with one shot seeing a woman lick her boyfriend's face.

Alexis Manigo (left and right with her biological father, Craig Aiken, and biological mother, Shanara Mobley), from Walterboro, South Carolina, was kidnapped from a Florida hospital as a newborn (inset right) and was listed as a missing person from 1998 until January of this year. The girl's real name was Kamiyah Mobley, and her biological parents had been searching for her for years. Manigo still can't visit Gloria Williams (inset left), the woman who abducted her and raised her into adulthood, in jail because she doesn't have ID - but the pair still talk every few days by phone. Since Williams's arrest, Manigo has grown close with her biological parents, who have separated since her birth, and her 'superhero' stepmother.

Giphy has released its round-up of the most popular GIFs of the year, and though some are no-brainers, others may come as a surprise. The website announced that 300 million people share over two billion of the moving image files every day, but not all GIFs are created equal. Some seem to tap into universal truths better than others, making them go-tos to express particular emotions. Others are just cute.  But one thing that every GIF in the top 25 have in common? Each was shared at least 32 million times this year.

Dressed in a red short-sleeved jumper and sporting long and sleek black hair, Amal Alamuddin shows off the elegance and class that made her the perfect school scholar - and future wife of Hollywood's former most eligible bachelor, George Clooney.The successful human rights lawyer, 37, stands out in the first ever pictures from her school days at Dr. Challoner's High School in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. The photo was taken in 1996, when Amal was 17 and about to take a place at Oxford University, studying Law.

Florida police have revealed the text (inset) that a 19-year-old woman sent to her boyfriend just moments before she distractedly drove into a tree. 'I can't wait to see you this weekend!' Angelina Holloway (left) text her boyfriend at 2.11pm on April 18, 2016, when she veered off the road in Floral City and crashed her car into a tree. Angelina died on impact. At 2.15pm, a deputy found her wrecked car. 'When I found her phone the next day, it was in the rubble in her car under everything,' Holloway's mother, Marvalene Corlett (right in grey) said. Now, more than a year later, her death is the focus of an anti-texting and driving campaign in Florida.

A boy in China who was knocked down by a car has been saved after passersby teamed up to lift the vehicle off him. The 10-year-old child was hit when he jaywalked between traffic on a busy road in east China. He was freed by over 30 pedestrians. He suffered bone fractures but has recovered.

Hybrid estate agent eMoov.co.uk has analysed how much the homes featured in Christmas classics would now cost compared with the year the films were released. Top left to right: The Chicago mansion in Home Alone and the LA penthouse in Die Hard. Bottom left to right: The Surrey cottage in The Holiday and Bridget Jones' flat in Borough Market.

A Florida police officer was dragged along a road after trying to stop a man who was suspected of taking drugs from driving. Officer Jon Cusack, from Pembroke Pines Police Department, tried to stop motorist Thomas Cabrera, 38, from driving off. Cabrera, of Century Village, Florida, then tore away from the officer holding his Honda, dragging him along the road at speeds of 60mph, the police department say.

NEW A Chinese street food chef has made it look effortless to cook noodles from scratch in a mesmerising video which shows him rolling out the dough, before folding it and then chopping it into long, thin strands. The clip has been watched more than 5 million times this year.

Heiresses, entrepreneurs and offspring of the rich and famous from around the world have taken to Instagram to share snaps of their extravagant holidays. The jaw-dropping images capture exquisitely decorated homes (top left and bottom centre), high-end shops (top right) and beautifully wrapped presents (bottom left, top centre) stacked beneath twinkling trees (top centre).

From Ebenezer Scrooge being scared by the face of Jacob Marley, and Tiny Tim at home with the Cratchit family, they are classic scenes known to many. But this extraordinary footage from the first video recording of the Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol dates back more than a century to 1901. The only version of 'Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost', held by the British Film Institute, is incomplete but tells enough of the story to make it recognisable. The film, which was originally five minutes, also had impressive effects for the time, including superimposing Marley's face over the door knocker. It did the same with scenes from his youth over a black curtain in Scrooge's bedroom. Pictured: Ebenezer Scrooge is brought to tears by the image of his headstone near the end of the film (above), and Scrooge looks on helplessly as Tiny Tim enjoy Christmas dinner with his family (inset).

Photos of bakes gone wrong prove that some people don't belong in the kitchen, especially at Christmas. One baker made a very phallic biscuit while trying to use a candle-shaped cutter (bottom centre). Another ended up with a very squat Christmas tree made out of shortbread (top centre). Other fails include a dilapidated gingerbread house (top left); an unimpressive Christmas tree brownie (top right); faded spiral biscuits (bottom left); and nightmarish reindeer cake pops (bottom right).

The spectacularly different individuals - including an enormous baby from India weighing 38lbs (left) - were all featured in a series of truly unique people. Among the other fascinating folk featured in the collection are Martina Big (inset), a German glamour model who shocked her fans with a new tan that turned her skin dark brown. and Sara Geurts (right), 26, who is determined to carve out a successful modelling career despite battling with Dermatosparaxis Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) - a genetic condition which causes excessively saggy skin.

While many of us shy away from creepy crawlies, one 22-year-old woman has bravely captured a huge funnel web spider (left) on camera. The terrifying footage shows a fierce looking arachnid with little bugs crawling over its body (right), just metres away from one of Nicole Wedlock's bedrooms. Placing a Tupperware container over the funnel web spider, Ms Wedlock told Daily Mail Australia she shared the video of the spider to a Facebook group to see if anyone knew what the little bugs were. 'When I was filming it I was concerned that it might climb out of the Tupperware container and either run away or climb over me,' she said. However, many people wondered how she managed to film the terrifying critter as they were unable to even watch the video (inset).

Stratolaunch used the aircraft’s six Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines (bottom) to conduct a low speed taxi test (top right) at the company’s facility at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Stratolaunch successfully travelled down the runway at 25 knots (28 miles per hour/45km/h). Once low-speed taxi tests have been safely completed, the company will begin the next phase of taxi testing, which will include increased speeds. Once testing has been completed, the aircraft (top left) will be used to launch satellites and other objects into space. This could include a Dream Chaser spaceship, which could act as a mini-shuttle to reach low Earth orbit destinations and return astronauts or payloads to a runway within 24 hours.

A photographer in Kelly, Wyoming was in for a surprise when she stumbled across a bizarre wall of snow that appeared to be moving towards her. The phenomenon, which is described as a 'ghost snow tsunami', was created as a rare light and wind alignment caused a mesmerising mirage to form on the horizon. The stunning display lasted for several minutes before the wave dissipated as the winds changed direction.

Owners from around the world snapped pictures of their naughty dogs doing their best to sabotage the day by bringing down Christmas trees (top right), tearing open presents (top left) and munching on the decorations (bottom centre). Others photographed pets that look less than impressed with the festive jumpers they have been forced to wear (top centre, bottom left, bottom right).

Shocking footage shows a man jump across a train station platform narrowly avoiding an oncoming train by a split second. The video is believed to have been taken at Stratford station in East London. Social media users have branded the man an 'idiot' for risking his life for internet fame.

This is the heart-breaking moment a dog refused to leave its owner after the man was hit by a car in south-east China. Mobile phone footage shows the elderly man lying in the middle of a busy road as the dog stood next to his body. The pet appeared to be waiting for its owner to wake up, however he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A group of tourists were left stunned when three majestic polar bears wandered up to them through the snow. The beautiful moment at sunrise was captured on video as the curious bears over - a mother and her two cubs - were spotted sauntering across the wilderness of the Canadian Arctic. An electric fence had been erected in order to ensure the safety of the explorers from the great white bears.