IN News Today

 President Trump is asking Congress to amend the coronavirus relief bill by increasing cash payments to $2,000 per individual and $4,000 for couples — despite the fact that it was Republicans who stood in the way of higher payments for months. 

President Trump granted pardons or clemency to 20 people on Wednesday, including former Congressmen and people who pleaded guilty in the Russia probe. The president also pardoned four Blackwater guardswho killed more than a dozen unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2007.

France has reopened its doors to Britain, which the French government closed after a new COVID-19 strain was detected in England. The shutdown caused chaos for the crucial freight route between France and the U.K., with thousands of truck drivers stranded in the port of Dover and drivers unable to return to the continent. 

Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, says she will retire after the Biden transition. Birx described her experience leading the task force as "overwhelming," suggesting her family have unfairly been targeted in the attacks against her.