Robert Fisk, US Trillions, Mid East

But to Avi. He recalls arguing with the late Edward Said – and there is a titanic voice to be ever missed, irreplaceable is the only word – over the Oslo agreement. Here is what Avi writes: "In the years since 1993, I have often asked myself: who was right and who was wrong? When things were going well, when progress was being made, when Oslo II was signed, for example, I thought that I was right and that Edward was wrong. "When the political process (between Israel and the Palestinians) stalled with the inevitable return to violence, I thought that Edward Said was right and I was wrong. From today's vantage point, 16 years on, it is indisputable that I was wrong and Edward Said was right in his analysis of the nature and limitations of the Oslo accord." Robert Fisk’s World: Lessons in justice and fairness from a no-nonsense historian

The U.S. Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury have doled out trillions in taxpayer dollars to banks and corporations and now the boom may be falling on what lawmakers say is a shroud of secrecy that surrounds their actions. In separate hearings on Capitol Hill this week, lawmakers expressed support for a bill to make the Fed's decisions more transparent, and for the findings of a special inspector general report that calls for greater transparency in the Treasury's bailout of banks, called the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP). ECONOMY-US: Trillions to Banks as Taxpayers Left in the Dark By Adrianne Appel

Israel's newly installed ambassador in Washington says the "disagreement" with the U.S. over Israel's settlement policy will be resolved "soon". Speaking on Israel Radio, Michael Oren was giving his first interview since taking up his post. A low-key U.S. demand for Israel to scrap a plan for a new Jewish housing project in East Jerusalem is the latest tussle since U.S. President Barack Obama shifted the diplomatic ground dramatically when he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at their May meeting that all settlement construction had to stop because otherwise his plan to resuscitate peace moves between Israel and the Arab world would be blocked. MIDEAST: Defiant Netanyahu Plays his Jerusalem Card Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler