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Typhoon changes course, to only clip Philippines


    MANILA (Reuters) - A "super typhoon" bearing down on the Philippines has slightly changed course and is only expected to clip the far north of the archipelago later on Saturday, officials said.

    Typhoon Parma brought rains and strong winds to the Philippines' eastern seaboard, but largely spared Manila and other densely populated areas on the west coast where nearly 300 people were killed in floods a week ago from an earlier storm.

    A storm signal posted for the capital region overnight has been lifted, said officials from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

    On the eastern coast, about 2,600 people were left stranded because of impassable roads in the Bicol region and on the island of Catanduanes, relief officials said. But there were no reports of casualties.

    Philippine authorities declared a nationwide calamity on Friday and evacuated 62,000 people from the eastern coast as Parma approached.

    Typhoon Parma, about 120 km (75 miles) east of the main island of Luzon, was moving northwest at 17 km per hour and was likely to make landfall in the far north of the country, in the province of Cagayan, on Saturday evening.

    (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Bill Tarrant)