It's the most common coloring in foods and drinks—and it can contain a potential carcinogen. Here's what Consumer Reports found when it tested soft drinks that have caramel color.

Caramel color, added to many soft drinks and some foods to turn them brown, may sound harmless, even appetizing. But in no way does it resemble real caramel. Some types of this artificial coloring contain a potentially carcinogenic chemical called 4-methylimidazole (4-MeI). Under California's Proposition 65 law, any food or beverage sold in the state that exposes consumers to more than 29 micrograms of 4-MeI per day is supposed to carry a health-warning label. In recent Consumer Reports' tests, each of the 12-ounce samples of Pepsi One and Malta Goya had more than 29 micrograms per can or bottle. While we cannot say that this violates California's Prop 65, we believe that these levels are too high, and we have asked the California Attorney General to investigate.

Caramel color is the single most used food coloring in the world, according to a 2013 report from market research firms Mintel and Leatherhead Food Research. "There's no reason why consumers should be exposed to an avoidable and unnecessary risk that can stem from coloring food brown," says Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D., toxicologist and executive director of Consumer Reports' Food Safety & Sustainability Center. "Manufacturers have lower 4-MeI alternatives available to them. Ideally there would be no 4-MeI in food."

READ MORE: Caramel color: The health risk that may be in your soda

Japan's government said Bitcoin isn't a currency amid calls for its regulation a week after the bankruptcy of Mt. Gox, the Tokyo-based exchange that was once the world's biggest.

There is no law to define Bitcoin and relevant ministries are gathering information on it, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet said in a statement in response to questions from an opposition party lawmaker. Bitcoin transactions can be taxed, according to the statement obtained by Bloomberg News.

Japan isn't the only country grappling with the regulation of Bitcoin amid reports of hacking into exchanges including Mt. Gox and concern that the virtual currency can be used for money laundering. In the U.S., states are wrestling with how digital-currency businesses could be regulated as money transmitters, while Russia has said Bitcoin is illegal under current law and Finland plans to treat it as a commodity.

READ MORE: Japan Says Bitcoin Not Currency Amid Calls for Regulation

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Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of supporting fighters in Iraq and effectively declaring war on the country.

The rare direct attack on the Sunni Gulf powers, comes with Iraq embroiled in its worst prolonged period of bloodshed since 2008, with more than 1,800 people killed already this year, ahead of parliamentary elections due next month.

The bloodletting in the country, which shares a long border with Saudi Arabia, has been driven principally by widespread discontent among the country's Sunni Arab minority and by the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

Maliki, a Shia, has in the past blamed unnamed regional countries and neighbours for destabilising Iraq, the AFP news agency reported.

But in an interview with France 24 broadcast on Saturday, the Iraqi premier said allegations he was marginalising Sunnis were being pushed by sectarians with ties to foreign agendas, with Saudi and Qatari incitement.

READ MORE: Maliki: Saudi and Qatar at war against Iraq

Mehdi Hasan goes head to head with former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami.

The ideology of Zionism, which calls for the establishment of a Jewish state, has dictated Israeli politics for decades.

But is it compatible with a democratic Israel? And can a state exclusively for Jews be a genuine democracy?

Palestinians argue that Zionism has become a byword for racism and colonial expansion.

In this episode, Mehdi Hasan challenges Shlomo Ben Ami , the former Israeli foreign minister and avowed liberal Zionist, on the challenges of Zionism and the failures of the Israeli peace camp.

Also joining the discussion are: Avi Shlaim, a renowned new historian and emeritus professor of international relations at the University of Oxford; Paul Charney, the chairman of the Zionist Federation; and Diana Buttu, a Palestinian lawyer and legal advisor to the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

WATCH VIDEO: Mehdi Hasan goes head to head with former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami.

The vast majority of Chinese cities monitored for pollution fail to meet Beijing-set standards, China's vice-minister of environmental protection says. China is mulling declaring "war" on the pollution resulting from the country's rapid economic growth.

Seventy-one out of 74 cities monitored in China over 2013 did not meet state environmental standards with various degrees of problems, vice-minister of the Chinese Environmental Protection Ministry, Wu Xiaoqing, has announced.

Speaking on the sidelines of the annual parliament session in Beijing, Wu admitted that China was suffering the consequences of rapid industrialization.

"When we were chasing GDP growth, we were also paying the price in pollution, and this price is heavy, in fact massive," the Chinese official told reporters, Reuters quotes.

Of the cities inspected, only Haikou in the island province of Hainan, the Tibetan capital Lhasa and the coastal resort city of Zhoushan met standards. A total of 3.7 million people live in those cities combined. The others have been struggling to cope with such problems as urban smog, polluted water supplies and industrial contamination of land, causing growing public concern.

According to Wu, the country's pollution problems can only be solved by fundamental changes in its resource-intensive economy. For that, "upgrading" and diversifying Chinese economy have been included in the government's agenda.

READ MORE: Pollution level China: 96 percent of cities fail environmental probes

Birmingham City Council is investigating allegations that a group of radical Muslims is trying to oust head teachers and secretly turn schools into Muslim academies based on Salafi Islam principles, British media reported.

A letter passed to Birmingham City Council outlines a plan dubbed 'Operation Trojan Horse,' aimed at taking over at least four schools in areas of the city with large Muslim populations

In the plan, hardline parents were to rebel against head teachers; they would claim the schools were corrupting their children "with sex education, teaching them about homosexuals, making their children pray Christian prayers and mixed swimming and sports," the Guardian reported.

Allegedly written from one Islamic fundamentalist to another, the letter says the operation is part of a long-term plan and that a number of schools in Birmingham have already been "taken over" in this way.

"Whilst sometimes the practices we use may not seem the correct way to do things you must remember that this is say jihad and as such using all measures possible to win the war is acceptable," the letter is quoted as stating.

However, Tahir Alam – a former chairman of the education committee of the Muslim Council of Britain, who is accused of being one of the plotters – told the Guardian that the letter was "a malicious fabrication and completely untrue."

The police also said that it was not a matter for them and decided not to open an investigation.

READ MORE: ‘Trojan horse’: Radical group ‘aims to convert’ UK schools to strict Islam