Philippines battered by year's strongest typhoon; 9 missing

The year's most powerful typhoon slammed into the Philippines on Monday, triggering landslides and floods, cutting power and communications and leaving 9 fishermen missing, weather and disaster officials said.

Typhoon Utor, packing winds of 140 km per hour (87 mph) near its centre and gusts of up to 170 km per hour, weakened slightly after hitting the country's north and is moving slowly west-northwest at 19 km per hour, the officials said. The coastal town of Casiguran in Aurora province suffered the worst damage, after Utor set off landslides that blocked its access road. (Reuters)