US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has turned up the pressure on Israel to stop expanding West Bank settlements, it was revealed today.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was questioned for more than two hours yesterday by police over allegations that he took a bribe.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today faced police interrogation in a bribery case that could force his resignation, and critics charged that his far-reaching plan to remove Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip was meant to deflect attention from the scandal.