US US President George W. Bush reaches out to US allies and Americans put off by the war in Iraq and declares progress toward "ending tyranny in our world" will be central to his second term in office. US US President George W. Bush embarks on his second term in office with world leaders expressing hope that future relations with Washington will be marked by more openness and greater consensus on the international level. Iraq A deadline set by Islamist kidnappers to kill eight Chinese laborers expired with no word on their fate, and nine British soldiers were reportedly wounded by a powerful explosion in the Shiite dominated south of Iraq. Asia The newly appointed head of international Red Cross operations to help victims of the tsunami disaster appealed to the international community for a massive boost to investment in disaster risk reduction. Mideast Hundreds of Palestinian security forces were being deployed to the northern Gaza Strip with orders from their newly elected leader, Mahmud Abbas, to prevent attacks by militants on Israel. Mideast Two Palestinian boys were shot dead by Israeli troops in separate incidents as Muslims celebrated a major religious holiday, Palestinian medical sources said. Ukraine Ukraine's parliament sets Sunday as the day for pro-Western reformer Viktor Yushchenko to finally be sworn in as president of the former Soviet republic in an end to months of political turmoil. India India and China are set to upgrade their bilateral ties with the start of their first strategic dialogue on Monday, a foreign ministry official said. Guinea Guinean police were questioning dozens of people and clamped a tight lid on the capital Conakry following a reported assassination attempt against ailing President Lansana Conte. Britain Police have compiled a list of key Irish Republican Army (IRA) suspects in Britain's biggest ever bank robbery and sent it to the British government, BBC radio Ulster reported.