BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi forces launched attacks on the capital's northern and southern flanks to clear out Sunni insurgents, al-Qaida fighters and Shiite militiamen who were chased from the capital and Anbar province during the first four months of the Baghdad security operation, military officials said Monday.

A top U.S. military official said American forces were taking advantage of the arrival of final brigade of 30,000 addition American forces to open the concerted attacks.

"We are going into the areas that have been sanctuaries of al-Qaida and other extremists to take them on and weed them out, to help get the areas clear and to really take on al-Qaida," the senior official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the operation. "Those are areas in the belts around Baghdad, some parts in Anbar province and specifically Diyala province."

Al-Qaida has proved an extremely agile foe for U.S. and Iraqi forces, as shown by its ability to transfer major operations to Baqouba from Anbar province, the sprawling desert region in western Iraq. There was no guarantee driving the organization out of current sanctuaries would prevent it from migrating to other regions to continue the fight.

The death toll in sectarian violence Monday skyrocketed after a brief period of relative peace. At least 110 people were killed or found dead Monday, with 33 tortured bodies showing up in Baghdad alone.

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Palestinian president tells Bush time is ripe for peace talks

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, emboldened by an outpouring of international support in his showdown with Hamas militants, on Monday told a receptive President Bush that it was time to restart Mideast peace talks.

Bush planned to relay their thoughts on how to proceed to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at a meeting in Washington Tuesday, a White House spokesman said.

Abbas' Hamas rivals were headed in a vastly different direction, facing deepening isolation after their violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.

Abbas expelled Hamas from the Palestinian government last week after the Islamist group routed his forces in Gaza, leaving the president's more moderate Fatah movement in control of the West Bank. Olmert made no public statements Monday but Israel has expressed its desire to negotiate with a Palestinian government without Hamas. It remained unclear, however, how much peace talks could accomplish.

Israel and Egypt have sealed Gaza's borders, raising fears of a possible humanitarian crisis. After a weekend run on basic supplies, Gazans were calmed by Israeli assurances that humanitarian aid would go through. But Israeli officials said they had not figured out how to deal with Gaza's Hamas rulers.

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Yahoo chairman Terry Semel ends six-year tenure as CEO

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo Inc. Chairman Terry Semel ended his six-year tenure as chief executive officer Monday and will hand over the reins to co-founder Jerry Yang in the Internet icon's latest attempt to regain investor confidence.

Semel, 64, will remain chairman in a nonexecutive role.

Besides naming Yang as its new CEO, Yahoo appointed Susan Decker as its president. Decker, who had been recently promoted to oversee Yahoo's advertising operations, had widely been seen as Semel's heir apparent.

The Sunnyvale-based company announced the shake-up less than a week after Semel faced off with shareholders disillusioned with Yahoo's lackluster performance during the past 18 months — a malaise that wasn't reflected in Semel's compensation.

Despite Yahoo's struggles, Semel received a package valued at $71.7 million last year. That was more than any other CEO among 386 publicly held companies covered in an Associated Press analysis of executive compensation using new SEC disclosure rules.

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Obama calls campaign memo on Clinton a 'dumb mistake'

NEWTON, Iowa — Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Monday said his campaign made a "dumb mistake" when it circulated a memo criticizing rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's financial ties to India.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Obama disavowed the memo which carried the headline — "Hillary Clinton (D-Punjab) — and referred to Bill and Hillary Clintons' investments in India; her fundraising among Indian-Americans; and the former president's $300,000 in speech fees from Cisco, a company that has moved U.S. jobs to India.

"It was a dumb mistake on our campaign's part and I made it clear to my staff in no uncertain terms that it was a mistake," Obama told the AP in a brief interview in which he referred to the memo as "unnecessarily caustic."

Last Thursday, Obama's campaign sent the memo to reporters, demanding that it not be attributed to their campaign. The Clinton campaign obtained the document and sent it to journalists. Since then, it has created a furor in the Indian-American community and raised questions about Obama's claims that he is above attack politics.

"It is not reflective of the long-standing relationship I have had with the Indian-American community," Obama said in the interview.

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Study: Clot-busting drug may also improve frostbite treatment

SALT LAKE CITY — An anti-clotting drug used to treat strokes and heart attacks can also restore blood flow to frostbitten fingers and limbs, greatly reducing the need for amputation, according to a new study.

Doctors at the University of Utah who conducted the research on a small sample of patients hope it marks the start of a move beyond the traditional — and limited — treatment for frostbite.

"What it does is help to rescue that tissue that is damaged but not yet dead," said Dr. Stephen Morris, one of the authors of the study, which was released Monday in the Archives of Surgery medical journal.

Patients who received the thrombolytic therapy at the university's burn center were more likely to keep their frostbitten fingers and toes than patients who went without the drug.

All patients had similar degrees of frostbite.

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Jon Cryer of 'Two and a Half Men' marries TV Guide Channel host

NEW YORK — Jon Cryer married entertainment reporter Lisa Joyner in Mexico this weekend. Cryer and Joyner, host of TV Guide Channel's "InFANity," were wed Saturday in Cabo San Lucas, Cryer's spokeswoman, Karen Samfilippo, said Monday.

He co-stars with Charlie Sheen in the hit CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men." Cryer also starred as the nerdy outcast Duckie in the 1986 teen movie classic "Pretty in Pink."