10 things you need to know today: May 21, 2015

1. David Letterman says goodbye after 33 years of late-night TV

David Letterman signed off Wednesday night with his last Late Show broadcast, ending 33 years in late-night television. "It's beginning to look like I’m not going to get the Tonight show," Letterman joked. A long line of celebrities appeared to offer tributes and deliver Letterman's final Top 10 list. Letterman's favorite band, Foo Fighters, played Letterman's favorite song after he said goodbye. "That's pretty much all I got," he said. "The only thing I have left to do, for the last time on a television program: Thank you and good night."

The New York Times

2. ISIS takes over Syrian city known for ancient ruins

Islamic State militants seized the desert city of Palmyra in central Syria on Wednesday. The town is home to a complex of 2,000-year-old ruins that are considered one of the most splendid historical sites in the world. The city of 50,000 also is a strategic prize. It straddles a network of roads crossing Syria's central desert, flanked by oil and gas fields. A monitoring group said ISIS now controls half of Syria. The victory came just days after ISIS fighters seized the Iraqi provincial capital of Ramadi.

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Reuters The New York Times

3. Five banks to pay $5.4 billion in fines for currency manipulation

The Justice Department announced Wednesday that Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, and the Royal Bank of Scotland are pleading guilty to violating antitrust laws and other crimes. A fifth bank, UBS, said it would plead guilty to manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), and pay $545 million in fines. Together, the five banks will pay $5.4 billion in fines. The case involved a group of traders who referred to themselves as "the cartel" and rigged the market to manipulate interest rates and foreign currencies.

CNN

4. Bin Laden contemplated changing hiding places before raid

Osama bin Laden wrote a letter speculating that it was time for him to move just months before he was killed in a raid on his Pakistan hideout by U.S. special forces. The document was released by the Director of National Intelligence on Wednesday, along with other English-language papers seized at bin Laden's Abottobad, Pakistan, hideout. His digital library included think-tank papers, computer manuals, and conspiracy theory books. One was on the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The Washington Post

5. Nebraska legislature passes bill ending state's death penalty

Nebraska lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill abolishing the death penalty in their state. The bill passed the state Senate 32-15 — a wide enough margin to override a promised veto from Gov. Pete Ricketts (R). If the bill does become law, Nebraska would become the first conservative state to repeal capital punishment since it was reinstated nationally in 1973. Nebraska has not held an execution since 1997.

NBC

6. Rand Paul relinquishes the Senate floor 11-hour speech against Patriot Act

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) relinquished the Senate floor Wednesday night after railing against government surveillance programs and the renewal of the Patriot Act for nearly 11 hours. Paul had vowed to keep talking "so long as my legs can stand," and took just a few breaks to let colleagues speak. He called the Patriot Act "the most unpatriotic of acts," and called for ending the bulk collection of surveillance it allows. He had taken the floor during debate on a trade bill, but did not have the votes to filibuster the Patriot Act renewal.

The Washington Post Politico

7. Third suspect charged in Holly Bobo murder case

A third person has been indicted on murder charges connected to the killing of a 20-year-old Tennessee woman named Holly Bobo. She was kidnapped from her home in 2011, but her partial remains were not found until September. The third suspect was identified as John Dylan Adams. He is the younger brother of Zach Adams, who was indicted last year on murder and kidnapping charges along with Jason Wayne Autry. Both have pleaded not guilty in the nursing student's death.

USA Today

8. State of emergency declared over California oil spill

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) declared a state of emergency late Wednesday for a stretch of southern California coast where an onshore pipeline burst, sending up to 105,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean. The oil blackened beaches threatened wildlife on a nine-mile stretch of scenic coastline 20 miles from Santa Barbara. The affected area has been closed indefinitely as crews rush to clean up the oil and protect wildlife.

The Washington Post Los Angeles Times

9. Study ties dolphin deaths to BP oil spill

Research links the deaths of hundreds of bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico to the massive 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal PLos ONE. More than 1,300 bottlenose dolphins have stranded themselves on beaches in the area since the time of the explosion of the BP drilling rig — an unusually high mortality rate. Many of the dead dolphins had lesions in their lungs and adrenal glands that could have been caused by exposure to petroleum compounds.

Nature

10. Janice Dickinson files defamation lawsuit against Bill Cosby

Model Janice Dickinson filed a defamation lawsuit against Bill Cosby on Wednesday, saying the comedian's representatives falsely called her a liar after she claimed Cosby sexually assaulted her in 1982. "Janice Dickinson, like over three dozen other Cosby victims, recently publicly disclosed that she was drugged and raped by Bill Cosby," Dickinson's lawyer said in the complaint. "In retaliation, Cosby, through an attorney, publicly branded her a liar." Cosby, 77, denies assaulting Dickinson, 60, and the other accusers.

People