Tacloban

Two years after a super typhoon devastated the Philippines and sounded a global alarm on climate change, a massive rebuilding programme has had big successes but at least one million survivors are still without safe homes.

A plane carrying top aides of Philippine President Benigno Aquino overshot a runway in stormy weather today, authorities said, shortly after Pope Francis's plane took off from the same airport.

Storms greeted Pope Francis when he arrived in the central Philippines city of Tacloban on Saturday to pray for the dead and comfort survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, the country's worst natural disaster that killed 6,300 people barely a year ago.

Thousands of people in the Philippines sought shelter in churches, schools and other makeshift evacuation centres on Friday as monster Typhoon Hagupit bore down on the disaster-weary nation.

Ports were shut across the Philippines, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, and some local governments ordered forced evacuations on Friday as super-typhoon Hagupit swept towards eastern coasts of the island nation.

Authorities in a Philippine city ravaged by super typhoon Haiyan were today faced with how to keep residents still living in tents after the 2013 disaster safe as a new, powerful cyclone threatened to bring giant waves ashore.

Pope Francis will bring a message of hope when he visits the Philippines in January, Church officials said on Friday, on a trip that will see him tour areas devastated by last year's super typhoon.

Philippine communities shattered by Super Typhoon Haiyan a year ago are starting to bustle again as a mega-reconstruction effort takes root, but millions of survivors still endure brutal poverty and are dangerously exposed to the next big storm.

Tens of thousands of students in the central Philippines began the school year on Monday in steamy tents and other makeshift classrooms, seven months after Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated the region.

The Philippines said "Thank you" on billboards around the world on Saturday in gratitude for the massive outpouring of international help after a typhoon that killed about 8,000 people three months ago.

Schools reopened on Monday in badly damaged central Philippine towns for the first time since one of the world's strongest storms ever to hit land killed thousands two months ago.

At least two people were killed and nearly 600 others were injured by fireworks and gunfire in New Year celebrations in the Philippines, officials said on Wednesday.

More than a thousand dead victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan lay unburied on Saturday, seven weeks after the region was battered by the Philippines' deadliest storm.

A sister living on the other side of the world gave Roberto Retanal what he needed most to piece his humble home back together.

Survivors of the Philippines' deadliest typhoon spent a gloomy Christmas Day surrounded by mud on Wednesday as heavy rain drove many inside their flimsy shelters, dampening efforts to retain some holiday cheer in the deeply devout nation.

Two years after a super typhoon devastated the Philippines and sounded a global alarm on climate change, a massive rebuilding programme has had big successes but at least one million survivors are still without safe homes.

A plane carrying top aides of Philippine President Benigno Aquino overshot a runway in stormy weather today, authorities said, shortly after Pope Francis's plane took off from the same airport.

Storms greeted Pope Francis when he arrived in the central Philippines city of Tacloban on Saturday to pray for the dead and comfort survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, the country's worst natural disaster that killed 6,300 people barely a year ago.

Thousands of people in the Philippines sought shelter in churches, schools and other makeshift evacuation centres on Friday as monster Typhoon Hagupit bore down on the disaster-weary nation.

Ports were shut across the Philippines, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, and some local governments ordered forced evacuations on Friday as super-typhoon Hagupit swept towards eastern coasts of the island nation.

Authorities in a Philippine city ravaged by super typhoon Haiyan were today faced with how to keep residents still living in tents after the 2013 disaster safe as a new, powerful cyclone threatened to bring giant waves ashore.

Pope Francis will bring a message of hope when he visits the Philippines in January, Church officials said on Friday, on a trip that will see him tour areas devastated by last year's super typhoon.

Philippine communities shattered by Super Typhoon Haiyan a year ago are starting to bustle again as a mega-reconstruction effort takes root, but millions of survivors still endure brutal poverty and are dangerously exposed to the next big storm.

Tens of thousands of students in the central Philippines began the school year on Monday in steamy tents and other makeshift classrooms, seven months after Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated the region.

The Philippines said "Thank you" on billboards around the world on Saturday in gratitude for the massive outpouring of international help after a typhoon that killed about 8,000 people three months ago.

Schools reopened on Monday in badly damaged central Philippine towns for the first time since one of the world's strongest storms ever to hit land killed thousands two months ago.

At least two people were killed and nearly 600 others were injured by fireworks and gunfire in New Year celebrations in the Philippines, officials said on Wednesday.

More than a thousand dead victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan lay unburied on Saturday, seven weeks after the region was battered by the Philippines' deadliest storm.

A sister living on the other side of the world gave Roberto Retanal what he needed most to piece his humble home back together.

Survivors of the Philippines' deadliest typhoon spent a gloomy Christmas Day surrounded by mud on Wednesday as heavy rain drove many inside their flimsy shelters, dampening efforts to retain some holiday cheer in the deeply devout nation.