A typhoon has blasted through the northern Philippines, leaving at least 38 people dead and forcing more than half a million to flee its wind and rain.

Chinese officials tried to defuse discontent following days of student protests in ethnically Tibetan areas, saying a plan to teach classes only in Mandarin Chinese was not aimed at wiping out Tibet's native tongue, state media reported today.

Large numbers of Tibetan students staged marches in western China to protest the forced use of Mandarin Chinese in area schools, according to reports.

Violence spilled over from Tibet into neighbouring provinces today as Tibetans defied a Chinese government crackdown and the Dalai Lama warned that the area faced “cultural genocide” and appealed to the world for help.