Speaker 1: This is w b Z, Boston's news radio, redefining local news.
Speaker 1: He's forty one degrees in Boston at eleven o'clock. Good
Speaker 1: Friday morning. I'm Madison Rodgers, and here's what's happening in
Speaker 1: the Middle East. Hamas agrees to release the final living
Speaker 1: American hostage held in Gaza. ABC's and S Delaquaterra has
Speaker 1: more Hammas.
Speaker 2: Saying it has agreed to release it Don Alexander, an
Speaker 2: American Israeli soldier who has been held in Gaza for
Speaker 2: seventeen months, along with the remains of four other hostages.
Speaker 2: It's still unclear when the release will take place or
Speaker 2: what Hamas is asking for in return. Israel and Hamas
Speaker 2: have been negotiating phase two of the Gaza ceasefire that
Speaker 2: began in January. And has Delaquateria ABC News at the
Speaker 2: Foreign Desk.
Speaker 1: We're following some breaking news right now. The Federal Department
Speaker 1: of Education just opened racial discrimination investigations into dozens of
Speaker 1: universities across the country, including MIT and Yale. Many of
Speaker 1: the colleges are facing scrutiny over their partnerships with the
Speaker 1: PhD Project, a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups
Speaker 1: get their degrees. This comes weeks after the Education Department
Speaker 1: announced colleges could lose federal funding if they use race
Speaker 1: as a deciding factor while making decisions about admissions and scholarships.
Speaker 1: WBC News Radio has reached out to MIT Yale and
Speaker 1: the PhD Project for comment. We will continue to bring
Speaker 1: you the very latest right here and streaming on the
Speaker 1: new iHeartRadio app in New York. Columbia has expelled and
Speaker 1: suspended some students who took part in who took over
Speaker 1: a building on campus during pro Palestinian protests last year.
Speaker 1: ABC's Lindy Tuckman has more.
Speaker 3: This comes after the federal government sent a letter to
Speaker 3: the school demanding it make massive changes, including discipline, like this,
Speaker 3: before they can be considered to receive that four hundred
Speaker 3: million dollars in funding that was revoked by the Trump
Speaker 3: administration over what it called the colleges in action against
Speaker 3: an antisemitism.
Speaker 1: The college also temporarily revoked the diplomas of some recent grads. Meantime,
Speaker 1: Columbia grad student Mahmood Khalil remains in detention in Louisiana.
Speaker 1: The Trump administration wants to deport him for his leading
Speaker 1: role in those protests last spring. In central mass police
Speaker 1: are investigating a crash between a car and a train.
Speaker 1: This happened in Clinton around six am. Police say it
Speaker 1: happened on the railroad tracks that cross Stirling Street at
Speaker 1: Depot Square. Two people were taken to the hospital. It
Speaker 1: is not clear right now how severe their injuries are.
Speaker 1: In the four d a WBZ ACI weather forecast, we do
Speaker 1: have some rain on the way, but hopefully it should
Speaker 1: spare the weekend. The rest of this afternoon will have
Speaker 1: times of sun and clouds in a high around forty
Speaker 1: eight in Boston into the mid fifties, while Inland tonight
Speaker 1: we dip into the upper thirties as more clouds move in. Saturday,
Speaker 1: we have clouds breaking for some afternoon sun. It's breezy
Speaker 1: and milder, fifty five to fifty nine for the high.
Speaker 1: We're up in the sixties, maybe even sixty seven degrees.
Speaker 1: On Sunday, it will be mostly cloudy and windy. Things
Speaker 1: take a turn Sunday nights and Monday. We're looking at
Speaker 1: periods of rain that can get heavy and potentially bring
Speaker 1: some flooding. There's a chance of a thunderstorm around as well,
Speaker 1: Monday will be around sixty degrees for the high and
Speaker 1: looking ahead, some sunshine returns for Tuesday and we'll top
Speaker 1: out around fifty. Right now, it's forty five and sunny
Speaker 1: in Quinsy. It's mostly sunny in Lawrence, where it's forty one.
Speaker 1: Here in Boston, we'll call it partly sunny forty one
Speaker 1: degrees At eleven oh five. Time is running out in
Speaker 1: Washington to avert a partial government shutdown. The deadline is
Speaker 1: at midnights and the decision is in the hands of
Speaker 1: the Senate. ABC's Ali Picicorin looks at what a shutdown
Speaker 1: could bring.
Speaker 4: If the government does shut down, the federal government is
Speaker 4: the one that gets to decide which employees get furloughed. Now,
Speaker 4: we've seen the Trump administration be pretty comfortable laying off
Speaker 4: large swaths of federal employees, and so Democrats are very
Speaker 4: concerned that if the Trump administration got to have a
Speaker 4: say over who they deemed no essential, it could be really,
Speaker 4: really damaging to a very very large number of Americans.
Speaker 1: As of right now, it's looking more likely than not
Speaker 1: that a shutdown will be averted. As Senate Minority Leader
Speaker 1: Chuck Schumer urges Democrats to pass that Republican bill. However,
Speaker 1: there is an argument among Democrats. Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley
Speaker 1: among those saying they can't support it.
Speaker 5: We know, as we look in history around the world
Speaker 5: that an authoritarian individual needs to be fought sooner than later.
Speaker 5: So it's a big mistake if we come down on
Speaker 5: the side of providing votes for this Republican plan.
Speaker 1: And both Massachusetts Senators At Markey and Liz Warren are
Speaker 1: indicating that they'll be voting no. Health officials in Westboro
Speaker 1: are warning residents to beware of bird flu after several
Speaker 1: dead swans turned up near Mill Pond this week. The
Speaker 1: virus continues to ravage bird populations nationwide, and it is
Speaker 1: presumed to have killed the six swans. So far, there
Speaker 1: have been no confirmed human cases of avian flu in
Speaker 1: massave Schusetts, but Westboro Animal controls as residents should it
Speaker 1: still take precautions to protect themselves. Keep yourself away from
Speaker 1: any dead or sick birds, and keep your pets away
Speaker 1: from them too. The search continues in an animal animal
Speaker 1: abuse case out of Quinsy. I believe Eazis Chris Fama
Speaker 1: has more on that.
Speaker 6: Nothing new to report in Quinsy, where authority's continuing investigation
Speaker 6: into alleged cases of animal abuse. The pro launched after
Speaker 6: Canada geese were found dead in the city's Germantown neighborhood.
Speaker 6: In some cases, residents report the dead bird's legs were
Speaker 6: tied together. Quincy PDEs as, a department detective and the
Speaker 6: animal control officer will work the case together. No word
Speaker 6: whether or not any suspects have been identified. Canada geese
Speaker 6: federally protected species. Chris fam A WBZ Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 1: You're now in the loop for news updates throughout the day.
Speaker 1: Listen to WBZ News Radio on the iHeartRadio app. I'm
Speaker 1: Madison Rogers, WBZ Boston's News Radio.