WORLD BRIEFS

MEXICO: 2 dead, 1 hurt in suspected drug war violence

A shootout in the northern city of Monterrey killed two suspected drug cartel gunmen and wounded a soldier Friday. Suspected gang members also blocked roads leading out of the city for the second day, to impede security patrols. Gunmen opened fire on an army patrol outside the gates of a prestigious private university in Monterrey, Mexico's third-largest city, the army said in a statement. Soldiers seized guns, ammunition and hand grenades at the scene. The wounded soldier is in stable condition.

SIERRA LEONE/Mining accident hoax unsettles officials

A top official in Sierra Leone's government said he raced to a town in the country Friday after news reports said at least 200 people had been killed in a mining accident there, only to find out it was a hoax. Minister of Mineral Resources Alpha Kanu said that when he, dozens of police officers, soldiers and firefighters arrived in Bo - the quiet African mining town 150 miles south of Sierra Leone's capital of Freetown - they found miners at rest and preparing for customary Friday prayers. "It's a complete hoax," Kanu said. The rumor, he said, began with local radio stations, then was picked up by international media.