 | | Sculptures from the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. Islamic State militants seized the site on Wednesday. Joseph Eid/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images | Your Thursday Briefing By ADEEL HASSAN |
| Good morning. |
| Here's what you need to know: |
| • Erasing history? |
| Cultural experts are gravely worried about the Unesco world heritage site of Palmyra, Syria, after Islamic State militants seized it on Wednesday from government forces. |
| Ruins in the desert city include the Temple of Ba'al, an ancient theater and a 2,000-year-old colonnade. Extremists have destroyed other historical sites and sold off artifacts. |
| • Cleanup emergency. |
| Santa Barbara County is in a state of emergency today as crews try to clean up the largest oil spill along the California coastline in decades. |
| An estimated 105,000 gallons of crude oil were released after a pipeline rupture on Tuesday, leading officials to close two of California's most popular beaches for the Memorial Day weekend. |
| • On Capitol Hill. |
| The Senate takes a crucial vote today on a fast-track trade bill that would give President Obama accelerated power to negotiate a sweeping Pacific Rim trade agreement. |
| If it clears a hurdle over the fate of the Export-Import Bank, a series of amendment votes should follow, and the bill could be passed tonight. |
| Not a lot got done on Wednesday, as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky took the Senate floor from 1:18 to 11:49 p.m. in an unofficial filibuster to denounce the mass collection of phone data by the National Security Agency. |
| • At the White House. |
| President Obama is hosting Tunisia's 88-year-old leader, who was elected in December in the country's first democratic presidential election. |
| Mr. Obama will be asked for help in overhauling the Tunisian economy, so the country can attract foreign investment and create jobs, a central demand of the Arab Spring protests there. |
| • Osama bin Laden's library. |
| The eclectic nature of the Qaeda leader's bookshelf highlights his fascination with the West and the efforts he made to understand America, our chief book critic, Michiko Kakutani, writes. |
| The Obama administration on Wednesday declassified about 80 documents and other materials seized from Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan in May 2011. |
| MARKETS |
| • McDonald's is expecting more demonstrations near its Oak Brook, Ill., headquarters in advance of today's annual shareholders meeting after hundreds of protesters called for higher wages and union representation on Wednesday. |
| The company said it would raise pay at nonfranchised outlets, but that affects only about 10 percent of its estimated 14,350 U.S. locations. |
| • A new "sheriff of Wall Street" will take over next month when Benjamin M. Lawsky steps down as New York's top banking regulator. |
| The state's financial institutions are rooting for someone a bit more sympathetic. |
| • Wall Street stock futures show a slight dip. |
| Traders are evaluating the latest hint from the Federal Reserve that interest rates probably won't rise before June. |
| European stocks are mostly lower, and Asian indexes were mixed. |
| NOTEWORTHY |
| • Curtain closer. |
| David Letterman hosted his last "Late Show" on Wednesday, ending a 33-year run in late-night television, going for laughs rather than tears. |
| His final Top 10 list, "Things I've Always Wanted to Say to Dave" featured celebrity visitors. No. 9, from Barbara Walters, was "Did you know you wear the same cologne as Moammar Gadhafi?" |
| • "Flags in." |
| An Army infantry regiment places small American flags before each of the 228,000 grave markers today at Arlington National Cemetery. |
| It's a tradition for Memorial Day that began more than 60 years ago. |
| • Scoreboard. |
| The Golden State Warriors host the Houston Rockets for Game 2 of the N.B.A.'s Western Conference finals (9 p.m. Eastern, ESPN). |
| On Wednesday, J.R. Smith made eight 3-pointers, scoring a total of 28 points, and LeBron James added 31 as the Cleveland Cavaliers took the first game of the Eastern Conference finals, 97-89, over the Atlanta Hawks. |
| In the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Anaheim Ducks visit the Chicago Blackhawks for Game 3 of their Western Conference final series, which is tied at 1-1 (8 p.m. Eastern, NBCSN). |
| And the Tampa Bay Lightning took a two-games-to-one lead in the Eastern Conference finals, with a 6-5 overtime victory over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. |
| • No binging here. |
| Netflix takes a new tack tonight (11:30 p.m. Eastern) when it releases the first episode of "Between." |
| It's the story of a town where a mysterious disease is wiping out everybody over the age of 21. Episodes will be available weekly. |
| BACK STORY |
| Red Nose Day, a British charity fund-raiser that pokes fun at celebrities for laughs, is having its American debut today. |
| It seems to have gotten some traction: Walgreens sold 99 percent of its stock of five million red clown noses for the occasion in the past month. |
| The idea for Red Nose Day was hatched in the 1980s by Richard Curtis, the writer and director of the movie "Love Actually," along with the comedian Lenny Henry and the charity organizer Jane Tewson, as a benefit for groups that help children and feed the hungry. |
| Its latest iteration, in March, concluded with a seven-hour BBC telethon and raised $90 million. |
| Over the years, names like Tony Blair, Dr. Who and Jack Black have provided comic skits and other entertainment, and the charity behind Red Nose Day says it has raised more than $1 billion. |
| But will British-style humor and mockery translate in the U. S.? We'll see tonight, on a three-hour program beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC. |
| Celebrities taking part include Will Ferrell, members of Coldplay, Julia Roberts, Robert Pattinson, Jennifer Aniston, Jimmy Fallon, Neil Patrick Harris, Benedict Cumberbatch, Nick Cannon, members of One Direction and Reese Witherspoon. |
| Victoria Shannon contributed reporting. |
| Your Morning Briefing is published weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern and updated on the web all morning. |
| What would you like to see here? Contact us at briefing@nytimes.com. |
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