Op-Ed Contributors: Arab Bloggers Size Up Obama. Excerpts from a dozen Middle Eastern blog posts reflect the region's hopes for — and doubts about — the president-elect.

Settlers Who Long to Leave the West Bank. While most settlers vow never to abandon the heart of the Jewish homeland, some say they want to move back to within the pre-1967 borders of Israel.

Raanana Journal: Shiva, Gangland Style, Behind Burly Guards and Security Cameras. When Yaakov Alperon, referred to by many as Israel’s Tony Soprano, was killed, members of his large clan and associates gathered to sit Shiva, the traditional Jewish mourning period.

Palestinian Forces Dilute Hebron’s Volatile Brew. Hebron, the West Bank’s most explosive city, is undergoing a shake-up through the introduction of hundreds of Palestinian security officers.

Iranian Ex-President Says Chief of Atomic Agency Is Unfair. Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said that a report released by the International Atomic Energy Agency about Iran’s suspected work to develop nuclear weapons was ambiguous.

Protests in Baghdad on U.S. Pact. More than 10,000 supporters of Moktada al-Sadr gathered to protest the Iraqi plan to sign the security agreement.

Iran Executes Man in Spy Case, and Blogger’s Arrest Is Reported. The semiofficial Fars news agency said Ali Ashtari was executed after being convicted of spying for Israel, amid growing tensions between Iran and Israel over Iran’s nuclear program.

In Ramadi, Real Rebuilding, With Fresh Paint. Some of the lessons that reconstruction watchdogs have been expounding on appear to have been taken to heart.

Iraq Needs Security Pact for Order, Officials Say. Iraq’s top security officials urged ratification of an accord with the United States, amid dire warnings if it is not.

In Qatar, an Art Museum of Imposing Simplicity. There is nothing timid about the ambitions of the new Museum of Islamic Art that opens in Qatar next week.

Jidda Journal: As Taboos Ease, Saudi Girl Group Dares to Rock. Saudi Arabia’s first all-girl rock band has an underground hit as the country’s harsh code of morals slowly thaws.

Iraq Ally Lists Were Altered, Study Shows. Historians researching early alliance-building efforts by the Bush administration say there seem to have been alterations to lists of nations that supported the war.

18 Are Killed in 3 Bombings in Baghdad. Three bombs exploded during the morning rush hour, killing at least 18 people in what seemed to be a calculated show of insurgent defiance.

World Briefing | Middle East: West Bank: Palestinian President to Seek Early Votes. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, intends to call presidential and parliamentary elections for April, apparently in an attempt to head off a constitutional crisis and a further challenge to his authority by the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Dubai: Sex Sentences Suspended For British Couple.

World Briefing | Middle East: Oman: Owner Says Trawler, Not Pirate Ship, Was Sunk. A suspected pirate ship that was sunk last week by the Indian Navy in the Gulf of Aden appears actually to have been a Thai fishing trawler, according to CNN, citing the ship’s owner.

2 Americans Killed in Attack on Their Patrol in Iraq. Two Iraqis opened fire on American service members, killing a marine and a member of an American military advisory team.

Bin Laden Driver to Be Sent to Yemen. Salim Ahmed Hamdan will be released from Guantánamo Bay to serve the final month of his sentence in Yemen.

To Soldiers, Bush Describes Wide Benefits From 2 Wars. President Bush boasted of military successes in Afghanistan and Iraq and said he had helped bring democracy to both countries.

Iran Arrests 3 Militia Volunteers as Israeli Spies. The three would be tried within a month and if convicted of “moharebeh,” crimes against Islam and the state, they would receive the death sentence, the prosecutor said.

Backers of Iraq-U.S. Pact Seek Votes in Parliament. Analysts said the pact under discussion goes far beyond a typical status-of-forces agreement in giving significant oversight powers for U.S. military activity to the Iraqis.

Books of The Times: Two Men’s Visions of Israel, Linked if Not United. In A. B. Yehoshua’s new novel, two men mirror warring visions of Israel.

Iran Raises Its Enriching Capability. Iran said its main uranium-enrichment plant was now equipped with 5,000 centrifuges — a sharp increase from the 4,000 it announced in August.

Israel Prepares to Indict Its Premier in Double-Billing. Israel’s attorney general is preparing to charge the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, with crimes including fraud and breach of trust over accusations of double-billing for flights.

World Briefing | Middle East: Yemen: Troops Fire on Opposition Protest. Yemeni troops in Sana, the capital, wounded 23 opposition demonstrators who were calling for a boycott of April parliamentary elections, 3 of them critically.

U.N. Reports That Taliban Is Stockpiling Opium. The Taliban’s action is part of an effort to support prices and preserve a major source of financing for the insurgency.

Suicide Bomber Kills Four in Kabul. A suicide car bomber plowed his Toyota into rush-hour traffic in Kabul, killing at least four civilians and wounding up to 17 , authorities said.

Amnesty Plan in Iraq Draws 18 Insurgents. Eighteen women associated with Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia that are known to have planned suicide bombings have turned themselves in to American-led forces.

Iraq Backs Deal That Sets End of U.S. Role. The Iraqi Parliament ratified an agreement that sets out a three-year timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

World Briefing | Middle East: Israel: Militants Attack Military Base. Palestinian militants in Gaza blasted a military base in southern Israel with mortar fire late Friday, wounding six soldiers.

Egyptian-Born Scientist Leaves U.S. After Losing Suit. The scientist, Abdel Moniem Ali el-Ganayni, had filed a lawsuit saying the revocation of his security clearance was punishment for criticizing the Iraq war and President Bush.

Bomber Kills 12 at Shiite Mosque Before March Against a New Security Pact. A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up just inside the courtyard of a Shiite mosque in a town south of Baghdad on Friday.

Wary Iraqis Weigh Deal That Shapes Their Future. Iraqis are still trying to absorb what the newly-ratified security agreement that sets a 2011 withdrawal of American troops will mean — for the country and their own futures.

News Analysis: A Loosely Drawn American Victory. The security agreements mark the beginning of the end of the war, but the terms of the agreements create uncertainties that could disrupt the smooth withdrawal of American troops.

OPEC, Struggling to Move in Concert, Considers Cutting Output. Faced with plunging oil prices and shrinking revenues, OPEC suggested it might lower production for the third time this year.

Rocket Kills 2 Contract Workers at U.N. Compound in Baghdad. A rocket fired into the Green Zone Saturday struck a spot near the United Nations compound, killing two contract employees and wounding 15 others.

Dubai Provides Iranian Artists a Bridge to the World. At art auctions in Dubai over the past two years, Iranian artists have found an eager market for their work.

World Briefing | Middle East: Iraq: Turks Bomb Kurdish Separatists. Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish separatist positions in northern Iraq on Monday. The head of Iraq’s border guards in Dahuk Province, Col. Hussein Tamor, said no civilians were hurt. The Turkish military confirmed the strike.

World Briefing | Middle East: Gaza: Israelis Turn Back Libyan Ship. A Libyan ship headed to the Gaza Strip with 3,000 tons of aid, flouting an Israeli blockade, was turned back Monday by the Israeli Navy, ending the first high-profile attempt by an Arab country to break the blockade. Analysts said the incident showed that Arab and Islamic nations, while eager to end Gaza’s isolation, would not risk military confrontation with Israel. The freighter Al Marwa was approaching the Gaza coast when it was stopped by an Israeli Navy vessel and ordered to turn back. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that the ship had complied and that no force had been used. Israel imposed the blockade after Hamas, a violently anti-Israel militant group, seized power in Gaza last year.

End of Immunity Worries U.S. Contractors in Iraq. A major question is whether the new pact permits the Iraqi government to prosecute Americans for past crimes, such as the shootings by private security guards.

More Iraqi Dead Last Month, but Fewer Than Last Year. The number of civilian deaths last month was 148, compared with 118 in October and 156 in September.

Iran’s Leader Criticizes U.S. Policies Around World. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that growing world problems like war and poverty are the result of American mismanagement of global affairs.

Find of Ancient City Could Alter Notions of Biblical David. Archaeologists are unearthing a city overlooking the Valley of Elah that could reshape views of the controversial period when David ruled over the Israelites.

Deprogramming Jihadists. The Saudi government is trying to rehabilitate violent Islamists by addressing their psychological needs. Could therapy be the best sort of counterterrorism?

Kurds Defend Policies in Sharp Rebuke to Iraqi Government. Iraq’s prime minister had said the Kurds were pursuing several unconstitutional policies, including the development of an oil business independent of Baghdad.

Two Bombings Kill at Least 30 Iraqis. Suicide bombings in Mosul and at a police academy in Baghdad recalled levels of violence before the troop surge.

A Solemn Israel Buries Dead From Mumbai Attack. A somber Israel on Tuesday buried six victims of last week’s terrorist attack on the Jewish outreach center in Mumbai, including Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivkah.

‘Chemical Ali’ Gets Second Death Sentence. Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as Chemical Ali, was sentenced to death for a second time Tuesday for his part in crushing a Shiite uprising in 1991.