Democrat Dianne Feinstein, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, accused the CIA on Tuesday of criminal activity in improperly searching a computer network set up for lawmakers investigating allegations that the agency used torture in terror investigations during the Bush administration.

Recent developments in the case of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight added confusion and mystery into the case as authorities found that the jetliner changed course over the sea, crossed Malaysia and reached the Strait of Malacca — hundreds of miles from its last position, according to military radar data. The new findings have raised questions about why the Malaysia Airlines flight apparently was not transmitting signals detectable by civilian radar, why its crew was silent about the course change and why no distress calls were sent after it turned back. Read full story.

As the campaign increases for tension-filled Crimea to split off from Ukraine in a weekend referendum and join Russia, the region’s parliament said Tuesday that if voters approve the move, it would first declare itself an independent state, a maneuver that could de-escalate the standoff between Moscow and the West.

The European Union wants to ban the use of European names like Parmesan, feta and Gorgonzola on cheese made in the United States. The EU argues that American-made cheeses are shadows of the original European varieties and cut into sales and identity of the European cheeses. The Europeans say Parmesan should only come from Parma, Italy, not those familiar green cylinders that American companies sell.  Read full story.

Contact Madeleine Winer at [email protected].