By Karina Tsui, CNN

(CNN) — The widow of “Playboy” founder Hugh Hefner has called for an investigation into her late husband’s foundation, which she alleges possesses his personal scrapbooks and diary containing troves of highly sensitive information and explicit photographs of women and, “possibly,” underage girls.

The announcement was made Tuesday at a news conference held by high-profile women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Crystal Hefner in regulatory complaints filed in two different states against the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation.

Hefner said she believes the foundation has about 3,000 of her late husband’s personal scrapbooks, containing thousands of nude images, involving sexual activity and intimate moments.

“The materials span decades beginning in the 1960s. And may include images of girls who were underage at the time and could not consent to how their images would be retained or controlled,” Hefner said.

“They may also contain images of women who did not consent to their images being taken in the first place,” she added.

Some of the images, Allred said, may have been taken while the women were intoxicated.

“It is critical for the public to understand that I am not referring to images that appeared in magazines,” Hefner said. “My focus is on how Hugh Hefner’s personal scrapbooks chronicled private moments that took place behind closed doors.”

The attorney said she had filed regulatory complaints with the attorney’s general offices of California, where the Hugh Hefner lived, and Illinois, where the foundation is headquartered, to request an investigation into how the images are being handled and stored in an effort to prevent any potential distribution of the images.

Allred displayed copies of the two regulatory complaints during the news conference. CNN has reached out to Allred’s office and California Attorney General’s Office.

A spokesperson for the Illinois Attorney’s General Office said it has received the complaint and is reviewing it.

It’s not clear how the foundation would have gained access to the scrapbooks. Hefner said she was told the scrapbooks are in “a storage facility in California,” but she was previously told some could be inside a private residence “to be scanned and digitized,” expressing concern they could be sold or lost in a data leak.

“Crystal did not consent to having her intimate images stored by and accessible to the foundation, and we believe that many of the other women and or girls depicted did not consent either,” Allred said Tuesday.

Hefner said she was removed as chief executive officer and president of the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation Monday after she refused to resign when asked to do so.

“The concerns I raised about consent, safety, and security were ignored,” Hefner said. “Though I declined to resign my position yesterday in direct response to my escalating concerns regarding the handling of private photos contained in the scrapbooks, I was unilaterally removed.”

The Hugh M. Hefner Foundation did not reply to multiple requests for comment. CNN reached out to the foundation’s staff and board of directors for comment about Crystal Hefner’s departure and her allegations.

On its website, the foundation says it is a philanthropic organization that “supports and funds today’s pioneers defending civil rights and liberties with special emphasis on First Amendment rights and rational sex and drug policies.”

Allred told reporters they don’t know if the material is being digitized but is calling on those attorney’s general to investigate.

No evidence supporting a

Análisis de Aaron Blake, CNN

A medida que las perspectivas republicanas se han debilitado de cara a las elecciones intermedias de 2026, han puesto cada vez más su mirada, presa del pánico, en las restricciones al voto.

Y para muchos legisladores del Partido Republicano, nada es tan urgente como aprobar el llamado SAVE Act. Se trata de un proyecto de ley que exigiría prueba de ciudadanía para registrarse para votar, entre otras disposiciones. La iniciativa consiguió recientemente su copatrocinador republicano número 50 en el Senado, tras haber sido aprobada ya en la Cámara de Representantes, y algunos buscan que los líderes del partido acaben con el obstruccionismo para forzar su aprobación.

Es una iniciativa que tiene sentido desde el punto de vista lógico y político para el Partido Republicano. Encuestas de 2024 mostraron que el apoyo a exigir prueba de ciudadanía para registrarse para votar oscilaba entre el 67 % y el 83 % de los encuestados. Algunos republicanos han argumentado que, aunque ya es ilegal que los no ciudadanos voten y existe escasa evidencia de que inmigrantes indocumentados lo hagan, es una medida de seguridad que vale la pena.

Pero datos recientes y antecedentes históricos sugieren que podría existir un peligro real de que tales restricciones generen problemas mayores que los que buscan resolver.

En particular, el riesgo es que priven del derecho al voto a personas que legalmente pueden votar, pero que no logren cumplir con los requisitos (por falta de documentación) o que decidan no pasar por el proceso debido a las complicaciones.

(Los críticos de la legislación han advertido especialmente sobre la posibilidad de excluir a personas que carecen de documentos, incluidos votantes de minorías raciales, jóvenes y mujeres cuyos apellidos de casadas no aparecen en sus certificados de nacimiento o pasaportes).

Y dado que hay poca evidencia de que el voto de no ciudadanos represente un problema significativo, el riesgo de causar más daño que beneficio es considerable.

Existen cada vez más ejemplos que sirven de advertencia, entre ellos el reciente intento de algunos estados republicanos de utilizar una base de datos federal para eliminar a los no ciudadanos de sus listas electorales.

ProPublica y The Texas Tribune publicaron el fin de semana una investigación sobre estados que han intentado excluir a votantes no ciudadanos utilizando una herramienta del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional llamada Verificación Sistemática de Extranjeros para Derechos (SAVE, por sus siglas en inglés).

En Missouri, funcionarios estatales instruyeron a los condados para que impidieran temporalmente votar a personas señaladas por la herramienta como posibles no ciudadanos. Sin embargo, la investigación encontró cientos de casos de personas marcadas incorrectamente.

La periodista de CNN Fredreka Schouten reportó hallazgos similares a principios de este mes.

En Idaho, inicialmente se marcó a unas 760 personas, pero solo una docena de casos fueron remitidos posteriormente a la policía estatal para posibles cargos penales.

En Texas, las autoridades estatales han dado a los votantes marcados po

By Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood, CNN

(CNN) — When President Donald Trump convenes the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday, he is expected to run it like one of his Cabinet meetings, a US official told CNN.

Instead of his Cabinet officials, however, he will be joined by representatives from countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Hungary and even Belarus, which is a member of the board despite being under US and European sanctions for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. However, several key allies are staying away.

In addition to Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner; US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz; US special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who sits on the executive committee for the Board; and High Representative Nickolay Mladenov, who serves as the key link between the board and the Palestinian technocratic committee, are all expected to speak, along with other attendees, according to a senior US official.

Two sources familiar with the matter said the countries attending the meeting as members were told they will have two minutes each to speak, and according to the US official, Trump may ask specific countries for updates or opinions. There are expected to be updates on issues of security, humanitarian efforts and the Palestinian technocratic committee meant to run Gaza, the senior US official said.

Trump has previewed big announcements for the meeting, including billions of dollars to support the reconstruction of Gaza and personnel for the stabilization force there.

But there are lingering questions about the broad mission of the Board of Peace, its effectiveness and the broader future of Gaza.

There is some concern in the international community that Trump has established the body as a counterweight to the United Nations, of which he has been a sharp critic.

In remarks on Monday, Trump confirmed that he thinks the Board is “going to go far beyond Gaza,” but said “we’re working in conjunction with the United Nations.”

Trump, who could serve indefinitely as chair of the board, has been eager to tout his credentials as a peacemaker and has argued he was snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize last year. The meeting is happening at the US Institute of Peace, which Trump has recently renamed for himself.

The meeting – and the board itself – are a clear example of Trump pursuing a foreign policy goal without collective buy-in from America’s closest allies: Most of the US’ traditional European allies have rejected membership. As such, they will not attend or will only send representatives as observers for Thursday’s meeting.

Many Middle Eastern countries will be present after having decided to join the Board, but it is unclear which, if any, of those countries will make the steep fiscal commitment of $1 billion to become permanent members. And many are sending their foreign ministers, rather than their heads of state, in part because the conference coincides with the start of Ramadan.

Iran looms over meeting

The inaugural meeting comes as the US military buildup in the Middle East is growing, and the specter of potential US military action against Iran is expected to loom large over the meeting. Trump has threatened that the US could strike Iran if a nuclear deal is not agreed to in the coming weeks.

“You can’t disassociate Iran from the Middle East or the Middle East from Iran,” one diplomat said.

Countries in attendance are expecting to discuss the Iran situation on the sidelines, with plans to reitera

By Jen Christensen, CNN

(CNN) — The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, will also take on the temporary role of acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an administration official told CNN Wednesday.

Bhattacharya will stay on as head of the NIH and will also serve as the head of the CDC until President Donald Trump can appoint a permanent leader. The head of the CDC job requires Senate confirmation.

Bhattacharya is replacing HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, who had been guiding the CDC as acting director since last August, after US Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ousted Dr. Susan Monarez after she clashed with him over vaccine policy and declined to dismiss top agency leaders. She spent less than a month in that position.

O’Neill left his role last Friday as a part of a broader restructuring. O’Neill had been a controversial figure at the CDC, where he helped amplify anti-vaccine messaging, cheered the United States departure from the World Health Organization, and was considered a poor communicator.

Prior to joining the Trump administration, Bhattacharya worked as a health economist and professor at Stanford University Medical School. He’s best known for co-authoring the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter published two months prior to Covid-19 vaccines being available that opposed certain Covid-19 mitigations.

The Declaration, named for the Massachusetts town where they signed it, drew considerable scrutiny from many doctors and scientists because it argued while the most vulnerable people should be protected, people should otherwise resume a normal life, so the world could gain herd immunity through infection with the virus. At the time, the director-general of the World Health Organization called the idea of allowing a dangerous virus to sweep through unprotected populations “unethical.” Bhattacharya later testified before Congress that it – and he – immediately became targets of suppression and censorship by those leading scientific agencies.

As head of the NIH, Bhattacharya has seen pushback from hundreds of staffers. Last April, hundreds of staffers – including top leaders – were cut from several federal agencies, including at the NIH. In June, some NIH scientists published what they called the Bethesda Declaration, named for the location of the NIH. The letter, signed by more than 300 employees, took issue with what they saw as the politicization of research and destruction of scientific progress under the Trump administration.

The administration had proposed cutting the NIH budget by 40% and thousands of NIH grants have been terminated in just the year and a half Trump has been in office.

As the head of the NIH, Bhattacharya has spoken extens

By Daniel Wine, CNN

Welcome to 5 Things PM! The very first video posted on YouTube — a 19-second clip about elephants called “Me at the Zoo” — has been viewed 382 million times and has received more than 18 million likes. It was just deemed museum-worthy.

Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day.

5 things

1⃣ Abortion access

Dozens of abortion clinics closed after the Supreme Court revoked the federal right to an abortion in 2022 — mostly in states that enacted bans. But the churn has continued, and now states with policies that protect abortion rights are trying to do more with less.

2⃣ Presidential polling

Gallup, one of the country’s best known polling firms, is no longer tracking presidential approval or favorability of political figures. It marks the latest in a long line of shifts in the public opinion landscape.

3⃣ Get motivated

How have you been doing with your New Year’s resolutions? It’s easy to backslide, but experts offer tips to help you move beyond the excuses and exercise more — day in and day out.

4⃣ Adrenaline rush

Skimo — short for ski mountaineering — is the only sport making its debut at this year’s Winter Olympics, but it boasts a long and fascinating history that stretches back decades.

5⃣ There are no leftovers

Each day, a steady stream of customers make their way to a tiny hole-in-the-wall chicken shop. Some are tourists from China who traveled thousands of miles to eat there.

Watch this

Deep dive: A team of shipwreck hunters discovered the Lac La Belle, a luxury steamer that sank more than 150 years ago in Lake Michigan. Take a closer look.

Top headlines

• Mark Zuckerberg grilled on whether Instagram was designed to be addictive
• 8 backcountry skiers killed and 1 missing after deadliest avalanche in California’s recorded history
• Israel raises alert level ahead of potential joint US-Israel attack on Iran, sources say

Check this out

A fresh perspective: The women wear high-collared puffer jackets and billowing sports jerseys in acid yellow and bubblegum pink. Spanish artist Nieves González’s sumptuous paintings make her a rising star.

For C