After the Islamic State took over Mosul, Iraq, in 2014, the militants torched the University of Mosul's library, causing hundreds of thousands of books and manuscripts, including a Koran from the ninth century, to go up in flames.

Iraqi security forces drove ISIS out of the university area in January, and a blogger who documented the occupation, Mosul Eye, immediately went into action. The anonymous blogger, who told BuzzFeed News he graduated from and taught at the University of Mosul, wants to fill the city's libraries back up with books, covering all languages and topics. Volunteers have gone through the rubble of the university library, and they were able to save about 2,000 books, including some rare ones, but international help is needed.

So far, books have been sent from Australia, Europe, and the United States, Mosul Eye said. In Iraq, Baghdad residents purchased books at a market that were donated to Mosul, and during a festival in Mosul this May, to gain entrance, attendees had to bring a book. Mosul Eye said that 10,000 books have been given to Mosul, and he's hoping to hit 200,000 by next year, when he wants the libraries to reopen. More books on medicine, science, and the humanities are needed, and U.S. and U.K. universities have pledged to send some over. Mosul Eye told BuzzFeed News he wants to see Mosul "reconnect" with the rest of the globe. "We will need the world to take the same amount of interest it has after ISIS took over the city," he said. "Don't abandon us now." Catherine Garcia

The NBA's plan to restart the 2019-20 season, which went on hiatus for several months because of the coronavirus pandemic, in a bubble environment in Orlando went as well as anyone could have hoped. For nearly two months, there wasn't a single COVID-19 case, and only one player was sent home for breaking protocol. But the league decided not to run the strategy back for the 2020-21 season, which tipped off Tuesday night. The decision is certainly understandable — having playoff teams spend several weeks living at a resort is different than playing an entire season in a bubble — but that doesn't mean it will be easy, and the Houston Rockets are proof.

On Tuesday, ESPN reported that several Rockets players, including John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, were sent home ahead of their opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of COVID-19 contact tracing, and the Rockets and the NBA are also reportedly reviewing video which purportedly shows Houston's disgruntled star James Harden partying at a club without a mask this week.

Wall, Cousins, and Kenyon Martin Jr. were reportedly among a group of teammates who got haircuts at an apartment together. It appears Martin was the player to receive a positive test result. Cousins and Wall have tested negative for the virus, and the team is reportedly waiting on further results on Martin, so it's not entirely out of the question they'll be able to play. But as things stand, the group is expected to miss the game, and a cancellation isn't out of the question.

MLB did not utilize a bubble this year, and despite some hiccups it completed its shortened season relatively smoothly. The NFL has likewise gone bubble-less and mostly made things work, so there's no reason to believe the NBA can't pull it off. But the simplicity of the bubble is a thing of the past. Tim O'Donnell

Attorneys Tom Clare and Megan Meier from Clare Lock LLP, a law firm that specializes in defamation cases, sent letters on Wednesday to President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and White House counsel Pat Cipollone warning them of "imminent" legal action on behalf of Dominion Voting Systems, CNN reports.

Giuliani and Cipollone were also reportedly told to preserve all documents related to Dominion, which has been at the heart of presidential election vote rigging conspiracy theories. The request was vast and reportedly includes records of communications between Trump and any White House employee with Rudy Giuliani, or attorneys Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, and Lin Wood. Ellis and Giuliani have worked on the Trump campaign's longshot effort to overturn the presidential election results in an official capacity, while Powell and Wood have technically done so independently.

Separately on Wednesday, a Dominion executive filed a defamation lawsuit against the Trump campaign and several conservative media personalities and outlets. And CNN reported last week that the campaign's legal team was already instructing staffers to hold on to documents related to Dominion and Powell in anticipation of legal action.

There is no evidence to support the claims by Trump allies about Dominion, or any widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Read more at CNN. Tim O'Donnell

Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo likely thought she got an unusually transparent guest in Smithfield Foods' new CEO Dennis Organ on Wednesday morning. But what neither she nor anyone at Fox Business seemed to know was that Organ was actually animal activist Matt Johnson, disguising criticism of Smithfield under a layer of self-described "transparency" and a relentlessly positive tone that's the hallmark of C-suiters everywhere.

Johnson started out the interview with pretty convincing impersonation of a big-name CEO, thanking the U.S. government for prioritizing food workers for COVID-19 vaccinations. But then Johnson started sliding in some harsh criticisms of Smithfield that no self-preserving executive would dare mention. For example, while Johnson said the company had been providing employees with "extensive" PPE and paid leave, he then took a shot at Smithfield, saying "those steps have unfortunately been insufficient."

Johnson went on to say that "under my leadership," Smithfield would provide "transparency" and "brutal honesty," hence his following wave of criticisms."Our industry poses a serious threat in effectively bringing on the next pandemic," while "hog farming causes immense harm to our air and waterways," Johnson said, as Bartiromo seemingly agreed with him and then asked about Chinese influence over the company.

It doesn't seem that Bartiromo or anyone at Fox Business was fully aware of the sneak attack — an article aggregated on MSN even quoted the "Smithfield Foods CEO" and his prediction of the company's contributions to a future pandemic. But the activist group Direct Action Now soon took credit for the appearance, which was all meant to highlight how Smithfield and other companies' meatpacking plants had turned into coronavirus hotspots amid the pandemic. Kathryn Krawczyk

After weeks of pessimism, Brexit negotiators are suddenly feeling hopeful just a few days before the transitional period ends and the United Kingdom leaves the European Union for good.

Negotiations between Brussels and London appeared to be in the final phase Wednesday, The Associated Press and The Financial Times report. One anonymous EU source told AP, "I expect to see some white smoke tonight," while allies of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told FT a trade agreement could be "wrapped up within hours."

The two sides have primarily been stuck on issues revolving around fishing rights, but they've seemingly made progress as Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took control of the negotiations.

Neither side is celebrating just yet, however. "We will need to get those final issues resolved, and there's some way further to go on that," said U.K. Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick, though he did admit he's optimistic. "Fingers crossed," one European diplomat told FT. Read more at The Financial Times and The Associated Press. Tim O'Donnell

White House staffers received an email Tuesday night with instructions for vacating the building, several outlets, including CBS News and Politico, report.

The memo said employees "will start departing" the week of Jan. 4, and it outlined information on everything their final paychecks to cleaning out refrigerators and microwaves.

But then on Wednesday morning, the staffers received another email telling them to disregard the previous message.

It's unclear what exactly prompted the change, though there's speculation it's an attempt to appease President Trump, who has not given up his longshot bid to remain in the White House. Tim O'Donnell

The Senate is getting ready to override President Trump's vetoes two times as he's on his way out the door.

After Congress passed a massive government spending package that included a range of COVID-19 relief proposals, Trump declared his opposition to the stimulus, threatening to veto it if it's not amended to include $2,000 checks. But because that and another bill he's looking to veto have overwhelming support, Trump is setting himself up for double failure before he leaves the White House.

Trump aired his grievances with the stimulus package in a video posted on Twitter Tuesday night, calling the bill a "disgrace" and its $600 stimulus checks "ridiculously low." Trump didn't acknowledge that the $600 check proposal came from his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) quickly agreed that Congress should distribute bigger checks, and other Democrats echoed her view. Still, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Trump should sign the government funding bill first.

Meanwhile, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) mentioned Wednesday that senators have already been told they may have to return to session to override Trump's veto. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wasn't a fan of the spending package, possibly complicating a unanimous override vote.

Also likely to get overridden is Trump's potential veto of the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which allocates $741 billion to the Pentagon. Trump pledged to oppose the bill because it mandates renaming military bases named for Confederate leaders. Again, both the Senate and House passed the bill with more than two-thirds support, nullifying Trump's potential veto; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has already set up the process for overriding it. Kathryn Krawczyk